Hi Frank,

One of the best things that Google Analytics shows us is what is working and what isn’t. If you think you have found THE long-tail that works, and it doesn’t after a month or two, then try something else. I will typically go back over archived content and readjust it for search engines. If a particular word is hitting more than another, then I will make it a primary keyword. It is more than worth your while to learn and know Google Analytics intimately. Google Webmaster Tools is extremely valuable as well.

SearchStatus helped me the most by finding out how many times certain keywords were mentioned as content for the site. You can SEO the crap out of meta-data on a beautiful Flash site and still be beat by great on-page SEO with unique content on an okay looking site. Before I write content, I sit down and think about why I’m writing, who is my audience, and what keywords/phrases need to be in the content. Thanks for the comment Frank!