Greetings.

Here's an interesting question that has baffled me for a long time.

All of the articles I have read say to forget about optimizating web
pages to focus on a 'one-word' keyword, implying that it is impossible
or near-impossible to achieve a high (top) ranking with the search
engines using a single word.

However, obviously, 'someone' has to come up as being number one when
a single word is searched for and this is most certainly by design and
not by chance.

Why are the methods that these people employ not known to SEO experts?

Hi Respree, thanks for asking!

The methods for top ranking of single word phrases -are- known, and
virtually the same as used for multiple word phrases, however, the
method isn't the problem. It's the variability and return on
investment that's the sticking point. The results for single word
keyword searches change much more frequently. SEO reports on single
word optimization often read like: "on such and such a date, for 18
minutes, your page http://www.yourpage.com, was returned as the top
search result for 'yoursearchterm'.

There are many sites vying for popular one word terms -- the top 20
positions could easily be exchanged daily and/or weekly. There's quite
an investment of time and energy needed to keep one's site at the top.
The question becomes whether or not that effort is justified.

Analysis of search behaviors demonstrate that one and two word
searchers are shoppers, three or greater word searchers are much more
likely to be buyers. Single word findability would therefore best be
considered a branding technique, three and four word phrase
findability would targeted sales technique.

I think you'll find this short discussion and illustrative chart (from
Brett Tabke of Webmaster World) of keyword phrase length choices to be
enlightening.

Webmaster World -- Number of Words in a Keyword Phrase
http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum8/246.htm

And from Ginette Degner with ServiceBrokers.com:

"Don't go after generic keywords. Generic words are not how the
average person really queries a search engine. I have found a user
will type in a generic or single word like "animals," then realize
what they asked for was too broad in scope. They have to narrow it
down, like "animal pictures," "baby animal pictures," and the list
goes on. If you can just focus on very specific key phrases, you will
have more success in the long term, hold a position longer, have less
competition for focused phrases, and find that users will stay on the
site longer because your site answered their questions."
(http://www.servicebrokers.com)

Both Brain Hemispheres -- Top Mistakes Made in Optimizing Webpages
http://www.bothbrains.com/articles_37.html

I hope this helps fill in the blanks. Questions? Feel free. :-)

---larre