SEO keywords 101

Getting to know what SEO keywords are

More than sixty thousand searches go through Google every single day. I- and others- cannot stress enough the importance of SEO. Without it, you are basically invisible.

Google has an algorithm that it uses to rank pages and websites that are searched for. Updating your website to please this algorithm is this fabulous marketing practice that we call SEO!

Understanding the exact mechanics of the algorithm is for the aficionados (which is mainly trial and error as Google is not very forthcoming with the exact algorithm facets they focus on). But there are some general guiding principles that you can work with to ensure that you’re in the game. And I can promise that if you’re not even covering the basics, then you are not even in the game, let alone have a chance against your competitors. 

Perhaps the easiest and quickest strategy is to have a look at your words. Do they match searchable content? Have you done your SEO keyword research to make sure you are optimising your website for keywords that actually gets searched for? 

Are you making use of semantic and longtail keywords as well? Keyword search terms are becoming more complex. Recently at least half of search terms are four words or more, making longtail keywords become increasing important. That means it’s more important for me to optimise for a longtail keyword phrase such as ‘hiring a great copywriting service’ as opposed to ‘copywriter’.

It’s important to strategically base your content (written and images) around your primary keywords and other relevant key terms as much as possible without making the content sounding naff. But make sure you don’t overdo it with keyword stuffing or keyword cannibalization. Search engines will recognise this and will not rank your site. It’s quite the precarious balance!

Modern SEO best practices places more of an emphasis on quality of a website, rather than quantity of keywords. This means it’s more important to have relevant and useful content on your site rather than a lot of “spammy” content and sites linking to yours.

SEO keywords

Keywords are a major ally in boosting your SEO. What words will people search with to find you in the chaos that is the internet? These are the words that you will use that sum up what your website is all about. It’s a good idea to create a list of these words with a reputable keyword planner. I love SEMrush, even though it’s expensive it’s definitely worth it for searching keywords, content and outreach ideas and seeing how you rank for certain words. ​Once you have your keywords identified, you have a base from which you can work and build your static website writing around, plan your webpages, know what images you should upload and what your blogging topics will focus on. 

Watch this video on how to search for keywords properly:

Want someone to search keywords for you?

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​Three top keyword tips for blogging:

​Keyword tip 1
Having a blog helps particularly if it is part of your website. Ranking is affected by how recent the content is and with a blog you are updating your content frequently.

Keyword tip 2
If you are a location based service, rather than just existing online, make sure you use your city and/or state as one of your most prominent keywords. This will help when people are searching. For example, someone may type “robes Hobart” to search for a robe in Hobart. If you sell robes and are located in Hobart or online, you should definitely utilise these keywords.

Keyword tip 3
Make sure when you upload your images, you are including keywords in their image names and titles as well as their “alt titles”. If you are using WordPress you’ll have both of these fields to fill in when you upload your images. The word must pertain to the image; otherwise you are in violation of Google’s policy. If you violate too many of Google’s rules you are at risk of being penalised by having poor rankings and nobody wants that!

This post contains affiliate links which I genuinely do recommend.