You know that using keywords is important for your website, but you’re unsure how to use them effectively.
Keywords are an important ranking factor to Google when it comes to your website.
This is because keywords help search engines answer the questions that people ask them
It is important to determine the relevance of the keyword to the content and the website. So, for example, if you sell ballet shoes, it’s helpful to add keywords that are related to ‘ballet’ and ‘shoes’ to your content so that Google can make the connection.
This in turn helps search engines determine whether or not you are an expert and authority about this particular topic and where you should therefore rank on search engine results pages (SERPs).
When keywords are used correctly, the more likely your website is to rank higher on SERPs.
Before we dive into how to use keywords in your content, let’s talk about a few mistakes people make when it comes to keywords in general.
Mistakes People Make When it Comes to Keywords
1. Not doing research on the keywords you choose
Keyword research makes it easier for your ideal client to find you at the right time with the right message. It also helps search engines make your content discoverable (Google calls this practice “crawling”) so that they can rank it higher on SERPs.
2. Keyword Stuffing
Keyword stuffing is when you use the same keyword multiple times on the same page. This is known as keyword cannibalisation, where your keywords begin to compete with each other to rank higher on SERPs.
3. Not Using Search Intent
As we discussed in the previous section, search intent helps guide our prospects through the buyer’s journey. Without taking search intent into account, you disregard entirely where your buyer is on the buyer’s journey based on the content that you have created. Keywords are a tool that helps us to achieve our SEO goals, but content is king.
How to Use Keywords in Your Content
How Many Keywords to Use?
One way to consider how many keywords to use can be based by their topical relevance. Ask yourself whether it makes sense to include this particular keyword? Does it flow naturally into the text? Long-tail keywords can be hard to incorporate naturally.
For your primary keyword:
- This keyword describes the core topic
- For every 500 words, you can use three keywords
- It could be added to:
- The first sentence
- Your Title and or heading
- Your call to action
For your secondary keyword:
- This keyword compliments the primary keyword
- You could use it at least once
For your alternative keyword:
- This keyword compliments the secondary keyword
- These can be sprinkled throughout your content
- You can use it once or twice
Now that you have your primary, secondary and alternative keywords as an idea, you can start writing and add them accordingly.
Where to Place Keywords?
So, how do you use keywords effectively on your website? By adding them to the following places:
1. Page Title
Title tags are pieces of HTML code that define the title of the web page.
This is the title that appears in your search results and can vary from the actual title when you enter the page.
For example, the page title is “what is a page title?” but when you click the link the title is just “page title”.
For this example, we typed in what is a page title as our keyword. This is likely to have a high keyword difficulty and Campaign Monitor has already put in a lot of work to get that ranking.
So there are so many factors to what keyword you can choose and why.
Source: Google
The same goes for adding keywords to the article title as Campaign Monitor did “Page Title”.
2. Article Title
This also lets the searcher know that there is a connection to the page title that they just read in their search results.
3. Meta Description
A meta description is a summary of what a web page is about.
This is used to describe what the web page is all about to both Google and to searchers. This can help searchers decide if they want to visit the page or not.
By adding your keyword here, it will help the algorithm pick up on the connection and rank you accordingly.
4. Heading Tags
Heading tags are HTML that rank content headings based on importance, with <H1> the highest and <H6> the lowest.
For example:
- H1 is the title
- H2 is the subheader
- H3 is the subsection
Heading tags are what users first see as they are highlighted and help them evaluate whether or not they want to continue reading.
5. Content
Keywords can be added to the content itself. For example the first 200 words. Since the first few sentences are all about introducing the contents of the page, it is a great way to easily weave them into the content.
Keywords are important for your website and content because they help search engines determine the relevance of your site to potential customers.
While you write you can keep your keywords in mind and add them as you write if it fits naturally.
6. Alt Text
Search engines use this information to help categorise images so that they show up on search results.
Descriptions can also be helpful for those who cannot see the image, as you’ll have a better chance of being understood if there are keywords included in your passage describing what is shown!
7. Anchor Text
Anchor text is the clickable text on a web page. For example, anchor text is often in blue.
It allows you to go from one page to another. It’s important that anchor text clearly communicates what a person can expect when they click the link. This is a great place to add keywords.
Anchor text can be used to link to an external resource. For example, Semrush’s Keyword Overview tool or an internal resource to one of our blog posts Your 2022 Guide to Shopify SEO.
By adding keywords related to your product or service, you can help Google connect the dots and show your site as an expert on that topic.
This will help improve your ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs) and bring more qualified traffic to your website.
Have you tried using keywords in your content? What results did you see?
Now that you know how to use keywords in your content, you can start to implement them into your SEO strategy. Proceed to the next section of the KAMG SEO Content Hub to begin to learn what off-page SEO is.
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