Using Keywords to Achieve Search Engine Optimization
A keyword is a word that forms all or part of a search engine query-the word or phrase that Internet users type in a search box when they are seeking information in a search engine.
Keyword phrases must be carefully selected and placed strategically throughout your web pages to draw users to your content.
Note: When we refer to “keywords” in this context, we’re not referring to the “keyword” metatag that is in included in some metadata. Keyword metadata refers to a particular field filled out in an html document. Search engines don’t pay a lot of attention to these fields, although sometimes they are used in site descriptions. The search algorithms that search engines have use adjacency, frequency, and field position in the actual text to determine how search terms (keywords) are weighted in a result that is displayed in response to a search.
General Best Practices
- Search engines prefer pages with at least 250 characters.
- Use the keywords a user will use to find your website or web pages, not the keywords you want your content to be found on. Use words on your page that resonate with your target audience and are descriptive of your site. For example, consider using the search term “car sales” rather than “vehicle auctions.” Get inside the mind of the user.
- Map keywords and phrases to their implicit intent . How are the keywords related to how the visitor is trying to solve their problem? How do the keywords and phrases relate to what stage visitors are in their seeking process? What would the visitor consider a success based upon the keyword? Use these keywords to plan internal hyperlinks that provide the most relevant and persuasive content.
- On your home page, select phrases that describe the general theme of the site, but don’t try to cover everything on your home page.
- For your site’s internal pages, identify the most important subject of that page and pick words that are specific to that subject.
- Hint: Looking for a key phrase you want to target? Search for it in Google, MSN, and Yahoo! and see what results come up. If the results aren’t relevant to your product or service, it’s not a key phrase you want to target-no matter how many hits it gets!
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