Why are SEO keywords important to include in written articles? Because search engines are robots that read text and code serve results based on what it reads. The Google search engine uses keywords within the text of articles to find the best possible website page for a given search. For instance, if someone searched “best SEO Calgary”, Google would use its keyword algorithm to bring up the most relevant results.
Google uses a variety of criteria to determine which web page to display, but SEO keywords are an important signal to Google that indicates the page’s purpose.
If you are writing about keyword research, but you don’t mention keyword research anywhere in your article, it will be difficult for the Google search engine to figure out the page is about keyword research.
Google search engine is also trying to find out the intent of the user search so that it can optimize for the best results. Some searches are more general than others, and some searches are more specific.
User Intent for Search Engine Optimization
You might also see search engine optimization tools categorize by intent such as:
- Informational
- Commercial
- Navigational
- Transactional
The search engine rankings are highly influenced by intent.
If a user types in “where to buy a keyboard”, then you can be sure that’s a commercial type of search. The user wants to buy a product.
But if the search is more informational, such as, “what keyboard is good for gaming”, then the search engines will show a different set of results.
It is always good to do a general search of the keyword you are trying to rank for. Look at the results. What type of results are there? Are they retail stores? Blogs? Local Maps?
If you want to rank for a commercial search, then you need to include product keyword phrases in your title and throughout your content.
Here are some examples of commercial keywords:
- Buy product X
- Best price for product X
- Where to buy product X
- Shop for product X
- Product X for sale
If you want to rank for an informational search, then you need to include keyword phrases that answer questions.
Here are some examples of informational keywords:
- How to do task X
- What is the best way to do task X
- What are the benefits of doing task X
- How to get started with task X
If you want to rank for a navigational search, then you need to include keyword phrases that help people find what they are looking for.
Here are some examples of navigational keywords:
- Find product X
- Download product X
- Access product X
- Go to product X website
If you want to rank for a transactional search, then you need to include keyword phrases related to making a purchase or transaction.
Here are some examples of transactional keywords:
- Product X coupon code
- Product X promo code
- Product X discount
- Buy product X
- Checkout product X
SEO keywords are important to include in written articles because they help search engines understand the topic of the article and match it with relevant searches.
When choosing SEO keywords, it is important to think about the intent of the user search.
Long Tail Keywords are the low-hanging fruit of SEO.
They’re easy to find and target, and they can be very effective in driving traffic to your website.
But what are they, and why are they so important?
What are Long Tail Keywords?
Long tail keywords are simply longer, more specific versions of regular keywords.
They’re usually made up of 3-5 words, and they’re much more specific to what you’re selling or writing about.
For example, let’s say you sell shoes. A regular keyword would be “shoes”, but a long tail keyword might be “women’s size 7 black leather pumps”.
Someone searching for the latter is much more likely to be ready to buy, because they know exactly what they want.
Why are Long Tail Keywords Important?
There are a few reasons why these types of keywords are so important for SEO.
1. They’re More Likely to Convert
As we just mentioned, they’re much more specific, which makes them more likely to convert.
If someone is searching for “women’s size 7 black leather pumps”, they’re probably pretty close to buying. But if someone is just searching for “shoes”, they could be anywhere in the buying process.
2. They’re Less Competitive
Since long tail keywords are so specific, they’re also much less competitive than regular keywords.
This means that it’s usually easier to rank for long tail keywords, which can lead to more traffic and sales.
3. They Help You Rank for Regular Keywords
Finally, long tail keywords can also help you rank for regular keywords.
Reverse Engineering with Search Volume
If you want to get an accurate understanding of how important certain keywords are to your business, you need to start with search volume. This is the number of times that people have used a particular keyword or phrase in their web searches. The higher the search volume for a keyword means it’s usually more competitive, but also means it likely drives revenue in some way.
There are several different ways to reverse engineer search volume. The first is to use a keyword research tool like Google Keyword Planner or SEMRush. These tools will give you an estimate of the monthly search volume for a particular keyword or phrase.
If you start with search queries that are high in search volume and low in keyword difficulty, your chances of driving organic traffic from your target audience are higher.
Target keywords with a low search volume mean that people don’t usually search for this type of thing on Google. You can just ignore that search term and move on.
Looking at keywords in SEO is also a great way to prove your minimum viable product or get ideas for products. If someone is searching for a unique flavour of jam, you might decide to make it and then optimize a page for that specific product.
Avoid Keyword Stuffing
If you stuff your content with nothing but keywords in an attempt to improve your website ranking, this is called keyword stuffing. Although this was once a common practice, it’s now considered black hat SEO and will get you penalized by Google.
Keyword stuffing is not only detrimental to your SEO, but it’s also harmful to your readers. Nobody wants to read a wall of text full of only keywords. It’s vital to keep in mind that you’re writing for humans, not robots.
Including keywords throughout your content naturally is a good way to help improve your SEO. But don’t go overboard with it. A couple of strategically placed keywords will do the trick. A relevant keyword makes sense to place in specific spots as a part of a larger SEO strategy.
Including Keywords in Meta Descriptions, Page Titles, and Headings
META descriptions are the short blurbs that appear under each page’s title in the search engine results pages (SERPs).
While your meta descriptions don’t directly affect your ranking, they can influence whether or not people click through to your website from the SERPs.
If you want people to visit your website, it’s important to make sure your descriptions are interesting and contain the relevant keywords for each page.
The same goes for your page titles and headings.
Page titles should be concise and contain your target keyword. Headings (H1, H2, H3, etc.) should also be used to structure your content and include relevant keywords.
Both page titles and headings tell search engines what your page is about, so it’s important to use them wisely.
Keywords are also important to include in the body of your article.
While you don’t want to stuff your content with keywords, using them strategically can help search engines understand what your article is about and index it accordingly.
The bottom line is this: including relevant keywords in your title, descriptions, headings, and body copy can help improve your website’s visibility and click-through rate from the SERPs.
So if you want people to find your website, make sure you’re using keywords thoughtfully and judiciously throughout your site.
Using Internal Links to Optimize Your SEO
Using the keyword in your internal linking strategy is another important factor in optimizing your SEO.
Anchor text is used to give the search engines context about where the link corresponds. For example, if I’m linking to another page on my website, the anchor text would be the words I use to hyperlink that page.
The types of words and phrases you use in these internal links contribute to the rank of your blog post.
Overall, search engine rankings and search engines, in general, are influenced by the SEO keywords we use in our text. Make sure you conduct proper keyword research and identify the right keywords to enhance your chances of showing up higher in the search results.