SEO: Keywords for Planning and Clarity
Keywords are the essence of SEO (search engine optimization). That’s because everything you do to optimize a Web page should be based on a set of keywords that define that page. No two pages should involve the same set.
Most Web pages – most websites – should begin by defining what keywords you need to work with and then writing content around them. Sometimes, Web pages are written and the keywords are gathered later. The latter can work (especially when it’s for a news oriented or subject related page in which the object of publication is to get the news or information out and SEO is a secondary goal), but the former is better.
Use Keywords Your Audience Will Use to Find You
Keywords aren’t just the main subject words for the page. The keywords are the words someone will most likely use to search for information that will result in finding your page. Therefore, you need to know your audience and your topic pretty well before you choose your keywords. If your subject is “hats,” you shouldn’t choose “chapeau,” unless your audience is chiefly French or French Canadian. You shouldn’t choose “caps” unless your audience is chiefly baseball fans, nor helmets unless your audience is into cycling or football, or perhaps spelunking. If it makes sense to use “hats” it may make sense to make it more meaningful with “blue hats” or “casual hats” or “dress hats.”
Keep your list of keywords down to four or five. Define them well for your audience and use them early in your content. Although Google doesn’t index a keyword list (meta data), other search engines do – in particular, I have found Yahoo valuable for keywords lists. Therefore, I suggest that you include a keyword list, even if you focus mainly on Google for your search strategy. (Some in your audience may like Bing or Yahoo as a search engine and you will miss out their finding you, if you don’t.)
If you do a keyword list in your meta data, some people will advise you to separate them with commas. I have found through experience that it doesn’t matter. I don’t use the commas and my sites place well. However, when I don’t use commas I make sure I list them in order that they appear in the copy, and I place keywords together that are associated (appropriate for keywords with multiple associations) in order of association. Don’t repeat words – use each word only once.
Keywords Shouldn’t Be Strangers
The keywords that you arrive at in your list should be reflected throughout your page: In your content, anchor text (links), alt tags, file names, domain paths, image names, navigation names, and most important, in your meta data – page title and description. All these together create relevancy that the search engines want to find during indexing.
Do not use keywords in your list that do not appear in your content. That’s keyword stuffing. If you have keywords in your page title and description that don’t appear in your content, there won’t be relevancy and you won’t be ranked for them. If there are keywords in your content that aren’t in your page title and description, you won’t be ranked for them. Thus, if someone searches for “blue formal hats,” they may find lots of sites listed well ahead of yours and perhaps not yours at all if “blue formal hats” isn’t coordinated in your meta data.
Be Local to Be Competitive in a Tight Field
Local search is very important for competitive businesses. Make sure you incorporate locale into your meta data and content if that will be key for setting you off from your competition. City or regional information is especially helpful.
Keywords can be a huge tool for making sure your audiences can find you in a search. All it takes is knowing what you’re doing and where to use them.
Topics I will introduce you to in the days ahead include:
- Introduction
- Meta Data Makes the Difference
- Content and the Role of Relevancy
- Links add Value and Authority
- Keywords for Planning and Clarity
- Promotion Implies Relationships
- Site Prep Paves the Way
- Resources for Staying “Clued Up”
Alan Eggleston is a freelance Web writer and Web editor for E-Messenger Internet Consulting Inc. Join him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.
