Choosing the right keywords is your #1 tool for success at SEO.
When you are building a website, it is important to realize the important role that keywords, and keyword phrases, play in your website’s search engine rankings and ultimately, its traffic. As a web design company in New York, one of my important keyword phrases is “web design New York” I know that people are searching for this term, and when they do, I want my website to show up in Google’s search results so they can find it. This is why I have incorporated this phrase into my website content, and into its title and meta tags.
Using keywords throughout your website is an important part of Search Engine Optimization—the process of making your website more attractive to the search engines.
I’m going to provide a simple outline on keyword research, and tell you how to make keywords work for your website—so that your website can experience higher search engine rankings and greater potential for visitors.
1. Identify relevant keywords
There are many free resources to help you identify relevant keywords—but first, I suggest sitting down and thinking. What keywords would people search for to find your business? Write them down. Once you’ve come up with a list, use a free keyword tool, like the Google AdWords Keyword tool. You can plug in the keywords you’ve come up with, and it will suggest others based on competition and traffic level.
2.Make those keywords specific to your business
The goal of choosing keywords is to be realistic and specific. The keywords should truly reflect your business. The more popular the term is, the more competition you will have—so it’s best to keep your keywords specific so you will have the best chance of getting high rankings for them.
3. Check out the competition
Check out your competition for certain keywords by typing them into the Google search bar. Which sites come up on the first page? Read their content, and check out their title tags—you can see them in the browser at the top of your screen. Have they used this keyword a lot throughout their site? If so, there may be some tough competition for this keyword. When in doubt, be more specific.
4. Professional web design
Now that you’ve determined your keywords, it’s time to think about where to put them. Keywords should be presented throughout your site—in the content of each page, and in your meta tags and title tags for each page. If you aren’t sure what meta tags and title tags are, you can have a professional web design or Search Engine Optimization company help you.
*Don’t overload
The search engines are smart, and so are your visitors. If you are overloading your keywords within your website, they will know. Remember, your website should be attractive to the search engines—and to your potential visitors! A site that is overflowing with keywords is rarely engaging to the human eye.
*Every page is important
It’s important to remember that each page of your site is its own entity. Every page is crawled by spiders and is a place where visitors can land. By including different keywords on each page, you increase your potential for visitors.
5. Determine how much traffic you’re getting from each keyword & monitor your rank
Most website hosts will provide statistics. These statistics will tell you important information about your website, including how many people are visiting your site, and how they’re getting to it. I like using Google analytics—and it’s free. All you have to do is signup for it, then enter your website information, copy your code and have your webmaster add it to all your website pages.
Find out which keywords are sending traffic to your website. Then search for each keyword in a search engine to determine your site’s ranking. What number are you? If you come up 10th for a certain keyword, and it has produced x number of visitors, imagine how many visitors you’d get for that term if you came up 3rd? Think about how you can improve your ranking for that keyword.
Keywords are vital to your website’s search engine rankings. By understanding how to find the right keywords, and then using them properly within your site, you can expand your website tremendously. Check out our blog for more tips on “Turning Your Website into a Lead Generating Machine”.