Keyword Optimization Is About Learning To Use The
Right Words To
Get
The Most From Your SEO Endeavors
Using Keywords - SEO Based Writing
What Are Keywords And Why Do We Need Them?
How Do You Know What Keywords To Use?
How Do You Actually Use Keywords?
Selecting The Right Keyword Mix
Google AdWord Keyword Tool
What Are Keywords And Why Do We Need Them?
When it comes to Search Engine Optimization, Keywords are EVERYTHING. This is because Keywords have two fundamental sides to them: 1) They are the actual words, concepts, and phrases people type into a Search Engine in order to find information on a subject, and 2) They are the actual topic being discussed on a webpage, in a blog post, or an entire website somewhere on the internet.
Why they are so important is because when the two match, the Search Engine tells the person doing the search where to find that page, blog post, website, etc. The more exactly the two match, the higher up the list that specific page, etc. will appear. Of course, the Search Engines don't just display things related to one website, etc. - they display a list that includes everything that the Search Engine has gathered information on related to that same topic.
Because of this fact, if you don't pick the right Keywords to use on a website, etc. no one will know it even exists. It will end up buried in a mound of information so vast that it might as well be that the website didn't exist in the first place.
How Do You Know What Keywords To Use?
Knowing which Keywords to use is an art unto itself that relies on a great deal of practice and research. When it comes to Keywords there are two main elements that define what their usability is for any one purpose. Those elements are:
1) Usage - is the amount of times people are actually typing the specific Keyword into a Search Engine over the course of an average month. The more often that Keyword is used the higher it's usage rating. Unfortunately, the higher it's usage rating the higher the demand will be from other people who also want to use that same Keyword. In this way, focusing on a very highly used Keyword is a great way to burry your website in that vast mound of information - never to be seen again.
2) Specificity - is the specific focus of the Keyword (or Keyphrase) itself. Specificity is related both to the number of words used (more means more specific) as well as which words were used. As an example, "hot apple pie" is a somewhat specific, however, compared to "hot apple pie dallas texas" it isn't even in the same league. In this regard, adding a geographical reference (like dallas texas) increases the specificity by eliminating all other parts of the world.
Specificity is very, very important in Keyword selection because the more specific the Keyword the less demand there will be for it. However, it also means the more valuable it becomes. The more specific a Keyword being used, the more likely the person using it will be looking to "do" something (buy a product, hire someone, sign up for something, etc.). This is because people use Keywords for different purposes. The more general Keywords are used for gathering information, while the more specific ones are used when they're ready to use that information.
As an example, looking up "computers" means the person is after very general information about computers only. There is so much usage for that word it will return anything and everything to do with computers. As the specificity increase, the closer the person comes to action. Using "buying dell computers cincinnati ohio", for example, says the person is most likely actually looking to buy a computer somewhere in Cincinnati Ohio. Thus, the more specific the Keywords attached to a website etc., the more likely people will be looking to "do" something - which means a greater potential for making sales, being hired, etc.
The trick (and where the art part comes into play) is to figure out which combination of Keywords to use. You don't want to use just the most specific Keywords because you want to be found when people are looking for information too. This means to effectively be able to use Keywords you need to use a variety of them.
How Do You Actually Use Keywords?
The main trick to using Keywords is to actually use them. On a website, for example, it isn't enough to just stick them in a Keywords Meta Tag and call it good. Some Search Engines define it as Spam (Yahoo! for example) if the Keywords listed in the Keywords Meta Tag aren't actually used somewhere in the content of that same page. It also isn't a good idea to list too many keywords together on any individual page of the website. Aside from diluting the Relevancy of that page, it can also be considered Keyword Stuffing.
The great thing about using Keywords is that there are many different places you can use them. On a website, for example, you can use them in the Title Tag for each individual page, in the Meta Description Tag, as Anchor Text (the visual text for a link), in the Alt Text (alternative text displayed in place of an image), and in the actual text content of the page itself. This allows you a good opportunity to scatter the Keywords throughout the webpage without having to resort to Keyword Stuffing.
You can also use Keywords in any type of written work from the actual content of the website, to blog posts, and online articles. This can be very helpful when it comes to promoting a website as well as assist in getting higher Search Results. As mentioned over and over, you do have to be careful not to cross the line to Keyword Stuffing. However, as long as you avoid doing that, you can get very creative in how you use Keywords as part of any written work. That in turn can possibly help to make the work that much more enjoyable to read. After all, no one wants to read something that is overly repetitive, monotonous, or that appears to be bouncing around a number of different topics.
Learn More About Using Keywords - SEO Based Writing
Selecting The Right Keyword Mix
Where Keywords get really tricky is in finding just the right mix of Usage and Specificity. If you focus too heavily on one over the other you may find you get lots of visitors but no customers, or you may only get twenty people a month coming to the website. Even if every one of them becomes more than just a visitor, chances are that's not a good enough volume.
The main key to success in using Keywords is to find a combination that gives you a wide range of options, yet also connects directly to the central theme you're working to create. Looking at this website for example, this particular page uses "keyword optimization, keyword, keywords, seo, search engine optimization" as the Keywords listed in the Keyword Meta Tag. Because this topic isn't about any one location or geographical area we can't include any of those elements. We also don't want to just stick to the most commonly used Keywords because there's too much competition for them. So, because we are limited in what we can use, we focused first on "keyword optimization" then used the more general terms behind it.
That is also something important to know about using Keywords in the Keyword Meta Tag. The order keywords are listed should go from most specific to most used with the main theme and/or "brand name" being listed last. This is because that main theme / brand name will be listed on every page of the website. You want the most Relevant thing for each page listed first. You can alter the order in any way you like - just make sure the individual page theme or topic is the one that comes first (like Keyword Optimization on this page).
Aside from that, there really is no hard and fast rule about how many Keywords to use on any one webpage or written work. The nice thing about highly specific Keywords is that they also contain the more general ones in their mix. For example, if your selling pies "hot apple pie houston texas" also includes "hot apple pie", "apple pie", "apple pie houston" and "apple pie houston texas". You may not want to use all of them, but they are all included as part of the highly specific Keyphrase.
To learn more about actually using keywords (and there is a lot to doing so), be sure to check out the section on SEO Based Writing.
Google AdWord Keyword Tool
When it comes to knowing which Keywords to use you need to know if they are even being used by others - let alone how much they are being used. One of the best tools to do that is the Google AdWord Keyword Tool. This is a free service provided by Google to help people do some basic Keyword Research. The thing to remember is that the more specific the Keyword (or Keyphrase) that you use, the less Usage there will be for it. Because of this, there are times when seeing a small number for the Usage stats still means it's very valuable. The key to that is looking at how big the market is for that Keyword. If there are only three other people who likley want to use the same exact Keyword, and there are two hundred usages per month, then that's probably a very good number.
If on the other hand there are three hundred other people who may need to use that same keyword, then two hundred usages per month may not be as good. However, if you can still get yourself to the top of that list of people using them, then it may be that you can get everyone to come to you. That's why you want to make sure to use a good mix of Specificity and Usage. Just don't pass on a Keyword just because the usage volume doesn't seem very big. Look at it in relation to how many other people will be wanting to use it too.
Check out the Google AdWord Keyword Tool
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