SEO keywords are words or phrases that searchers input into search engines and which make it possible to find your website more easily. Here, you can learn more about what are SEO keywords.
SEO keywords were once a major ranking factor for websites. Back then, all SEO experts needed to add several keywords in their web content in order to get optimum ranking for them. This was a practice called keyword stuffing. The practice resulted in poor search results from search engines. Updates to Google and other search engines’ algorithms eventually reduced the impact of SEO keywords on search results.
Today, there is much debate on whether SEO keywords still play a part in website rankings. Well, SEO keywords are still important. However, the way they function has changed considerably.
The impact of SEO keywords now depends heavily on your choice of words. The right keyword amplifies your SEO efforts and vice versa. Choosing the right keyword is possible through a process called keyword optimization.
Keyword Optimization
Keyword optimization is the process that helps you to arrive at the right keywords to use for your website. This process is very important at the beginning and throughout your search marketing campaign. It involves the following three-step process:
Keyword Research:
This is the process of looking for words and phrases that people use in search engines, especially the ones that are related to your website’s content. This step gives you an idea of what people are looking for. There are various keyword research tools you can use to achieve this.
Keyword Analysis:
This step provides information on the keywords that are currently bringing traffic to your website. It helps to strengthen the work you’ve done in keyword research. You can get information on the frequency of keyword usage and the level of competition for them at this stage. This information will help you with making your final choice of keywords. Several keyword analysis tools are also used for this step.
Keyword Choice:
This is based on the conclusions drawn in the previous two steps. You can now proceed to select highly relevant keywords. These keywords should be closely related to your business or website content.
Your keyword choice has a direct impact on your website’s rank in the following ways:
1. Content Optimization
Keywords can be viewed as building blocks for optimized web content. After making the right keyword choice, you can then proceed to develop content based on it. This allows the keyword to become a natural part of your content.
This practice is more compliant with search engines than having multiple loose strings of keywords in your content. You can also rework written content to suit keywords you choose later on. The keyword choice must always relate directly to the content you are creating.
2. Website Is Optimized For Semantic Search
Keyword choices are often a single word or, at most, a phrase. However, there are so many ways any keyword can be rewritten. These rewritten versions are called semantic keywords.
Semantic keywords are based on the idea that no single phrase means only the exact line of words typed. Search engines try to include the search intent of search queries in their results using semantic search.
Your keyword choice informs which semantic keywords you need to include in your content. Being optimized for semantic search gives you a better chance of ranking for the keyword you have chosen.
3. Increased Website Traffic And Conversion Rates
The right keyword choice ultimately drives more traffic to your website. When your website ranks well for a keyword, you will get higher traffic as well.
Higher traffic often translates to a higher conversion rate. This is because more people are driven to make buying decisions based on their search results. Satisfied users and customers will likely come back, and possibly refer other people to your website. All this adds up to an increase in your website’s rank.
4. Keyword Relevance And Better Targeted Audience
Keyword relevance refers to how related your keyword choice is to the pages of your website. Search engines use this information to know what your page is about. This then contributes to how your website ranks in search results. Keyword choice plays a key part in determining keyword relevance.
Choosing a keyword that is relevant to your target audience is equally important. Choosing and phrasing keywords to suit your target audience means better-targeted traffic for your website. The target audience helps your website rank better because they already have an idea of what they want from your website.
5. Navigating The Competition
The right choice of a keyword might be the edge you need to beat the competition. There are always several keyword choices to select from. They are broadly categorized into the most popular keywords and the least popular ones.
Usually, the most popular keywords have the highest competition. It is often difficult to rank for those keywords. Navigating the competition as a newer website could be as simple as choosing low competition keywords. Your newer website would rank easily for those keywords. Then, you can gradually expand into other competitive keywords.
6. Improved On-Page SEO And Streamlined Marketing Efforts
On-page SEO is a broader term that directly relates to page content. On-page SEO factors are basic and very controllable. One of these factors includes keyword choices.
The right keyword choice brings you one step closer to an optimized on-page SEO. Other components of on-page SEO include HTML code, title tags, alt tags, and meta description.
Keyword choices also help you to streamline your marketing efforts. Regardless of whether it is paid or organic marketing, keywords play a major role. The right keyword choice will enable you to determine the kind of content you need for marketing to get people to notice your website.
Conclusion
The contribution of keywords to your website’s ranking is not nearly as significant as it used to be. However, it still adds up when done optimally.
Content optimization is better achieved with the right keyword choice. You also get to expand into semantic search possibilities. Your choice of keywords directly influences web traffic and conversion rates.
With the right keyword choice, you can attain keyword relevance. With this, you get a better-targeted audience. You can gain an edge over the competition based on your choice of keywords. Overall, keyword choices improve your website’s on-page SEO, and this ultimately improves your website’s rank.
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