Keywords: What They Are, Why You Need Them, and How to Find the Right Ones

Keywords: What They Are, Why You Need Them, and How to Find the Right Ones

You are probably aware that keywords are an essential part of great search engine optimization for your website. But do you know why? More importantly, do you know how to choose the right keywords and how to implement them on your website? Don’t worry; we’ve got you covered! We’re going to break down everything you need to know about keywords and how to make them work for your business website.

What Are Keywords?

Put simply, keywords are the words that define your website for search engines, i.e., the words consumers would use to search for a business like yours, which is why it’s crucial for the right words to be chosen. Keywords can also include a combination of words known as a long-tail keyword or keyphrase.

How Do You Find the Right Ones?

Identifying the right keywords and key phrases is essential to good SEO. There are a couple of ways to do this:

Think like a customer

  • What are your ideal consumers looking for? How does your product or business solve their problems?

Use Google keyword planner

  • Google’s keyword planner is a free tool that helps you identify the best keywords for your website. It shows you how many people search for specific keywords and provides suggestions for related keywords that you might not have considered.

Use Google Analytics

  • Use Google Analytics to look at the list of queries that brought users to your website and use the keyword insights to determine the relevant keywords to incorporate into your content.

See what the competition is doing

  • What words or phrases do your competitors use? Look at the keywords your competitors are using in their content and identify any gaps or opportunities.

Use long-tail keywords

  • Long-tail keywords are longer, more specific phrases that people are searching for. They are often less competitive and can help you reach a more targeted audience.

Don’t overdo it

  • Unfortunately, in addition to using the wrong keywords, overusing keywords is also a big no-no. Using too broad or too many can confuse search engine evaluations of your site, resulting in a lower ranking. Be sure to take into consideration the relevance of the words or phrases.

How to Implement

So, once you’ve identified the right and best keywords for your site, how should you use them? There are several ways to implement keywords effectively for your site:

  • Keyword Mapping: This means assigning a keyword to each page. Mapping allows for the organization of pages and of keywords. This organized website content structure means more efficient evaluation for web crawlers, which means a higher rank.
  • Blogging content: Utilizing good keywords in blogs satisfies several Google Ranking Factors. And informative content allows for more opportunities for other sites to link to your site, increasing the authority of your content.
  • Image information: Image information is very helpful for accessibility, but it’s also an important place to use keywords.
  • Mix it up: Be sure to use not only individual keywords but phrases and groups of words as well, creating a mix of options. The combination ensures that there is a broad net of available keywords.

Hammersmith Support Can Help

If all of this sounds great, but is not in your skill set, we can help! The Hammersmith Support SEO service is ideal for taking your SEO to the next level. This includes driving traffic and increasing ranking. Sound great? Then give it a spin! Schedule a 30-minute consultation to discuss how out SEO service can help drive more traffic to your website.