Keywords are the terms your ideal client is typing into Google or another search engine when they are looking for something online. “Life coach in Minneapolis” and “business coach for virtual assistants” and “how to get more sales from my website” are all examples of keywords. Knowing the keywords you’d like to be known for is critical for attracting “organic” traffic to your site, but that’s only one part of the equation. You also have to use your keywords strategically.
As you create content for your website, whether it be a new page or a blog post, consider how to incorporate the keywords people are searching to find content like yours. If you aren’t sure how to figure out what keywords are important for you to use, setup Google Analytics to start tracking which keywords bring people to your site already.
Are you ready to use your keywords on your website in ways that will actually help people find your content? Read on for 6 places to put your keywords to boost the online visability of your website.
Page Titles or Blog Article Titles
Do you struggle to write titles for your website pages or blog articles? Or, do you like using cute, clever blog post titles? Keep this in mind: The subject is the keyword field that Google and other search providers give the most weight to. Don’t waste this space!
Focus on creating a clear, consice title that says exactly what your article or post is about. Use this space to put keywords that potential visitors will search on Google or other search engines so your article has a better chance of showing up higher in the search results.
Sub-Headings in Articles and Website Pages
Everyone today is in a hurry. People rarely read an entire article from start to finish. Instead, they skim it quickly for the most important points before deciding if they want to invest their time to read it more completely. Because of this, it is important that you write your content in such a way that caters to the readers behavior.
If your post or article is more than a few paragraphs long, be sure to include sub-headings to give the quick readers an overview. Not only are you providing time-pressed visitors a birds-eye view of the article, but sub-headings also tell the search engines what your content is about. Be sure to use your keywords strategically in your sub-headings so Google (and others) know how to classify your posts.
Image Titles and File Names
Search for nearly anything on Google, and you’ll see images appear at the top of the search results. These images will almost always have file names and titles that correspond to the keyword you’ve searched. You can — and should — make use of your chosen keywords by naming any images appropriately and setting the titles and alt attributes to clearly describe what the image is.
Go through the images you have on your website, and the photos or files you have included in blog posts. Update the titles of the photos and the file names to ensure they reflect the content you are using the phote or file alongside.
Meta Descriptions
The meta description is the snippet of text that shows up below a listing in Google and other search engines. With WordPress, you can either explicitly declare a meta description with the use of a plugin such as WordPress SEO by Yoast or let Google decide what to use.
While the meta description itself has no weight when it comes to your search results placement, it can have a great deal of impact on whether or not someone clicks through to your site. Take care to write a compelling description that contains the keyword you want to be found for.
Add Inbound Links
As you’re creating new blog posts and pages on your site, it’s a good idea to link from one page or post to another. This serves two purposes: it helps readers learn more about a subject by having additional pages to read, and it helps the search engines find and explore other content on your site.
In both cases, it’s helpful to use keywords as the “anchor text” for these links. In other words, hyper-link the keyword when linking to the related page or article. It’s a clear declaration to both human readers and non-human search engine readers that the content linked to is about a specific subject.
Use Keywords in Your Content
It should go without saying that including keywords in the bulk of your content is important not only for search engines but for readers, too. However, don’t make the mistake of using the same phrase over and over again. Doing so will turn your readers off. Instead, use variations of your keyword throughout the text of your article. You won’t bore your readers, plus you’ll reinforce your main point with the search engines, which are now smart enough to recognize synonyms and rank your content accordingly.
Don’t worry if you don’t get your SEO perfect right out of the gate. It can take time to properly optimize a website for search — and some would argue that it’s a never-ending job — but do keep these 6 areas in mind for every post you make and your site will be much easier to find in a search.
Do you need some help converting your site into Web Pages That Sell? Get in touch with us and let us know where you want to start!
