You found great keywords - now what?
After the, let's admit it, pretty boring keyword research process, you've finally identified some keywords that are a perfect fit for your business. Congratulations!
It's time to implement these keywords effectively to optimize your website and content.
Remember, we're in the business of convincing Google that our content (a landing page, product page, blog post, etc) is an excellent fit for the keywords we've found.
Now, how can we do that?
There is a lot you can do, more than the scope of this guide will cover, but here are a few key points you should know about.
Primary keyword and secondary keywords
When you write content, having a main topic you want search engines to recognize and rank on is good practice. This topic is the primary keyword and should be the most important term in your content.
However, just focusing on the primary keyword isn't enough. You also need to consider secondary keywords, which are words and phrases related to your primary keyword.
These secondary keywords provide context and support to the primary keyword and help your content rank for a broader range of search terms.
By using secondary keywords, you can expand the reach and relevance of your content, making it more attractive to potential readers.
Let's take a look at some examples:
Topic: Home Gardening
- Primary keyword: "home gardening tips"
- Secondary keywords: "beginner gardening guide", "urban home gardening", "garden care at home"
Topic: Yoga for Beginners
- Primary keyword: "beginner yoga poses"
- Secondary keywords: "easy yoga routines for starters", "yoga basics for beginners", "starting yoga at home."
See how the secondary keywords fit nicely into the primary keyword?
That's exactly what you're aiming for.
Where you should use your keywords
OK. We've got primary keyword, we've got secondary keyword - life is good.
Now what? Here are some ideas to put those shiny keyword to good use:
Page title
Your primary keyword should appear near the beginning of your page title (the good ol' <title>...</title>).
Your title tells Google what your page is all about. Plus, this is the first thing searchers see when your page appears on search results.
It's OK to include secondary keywords as well. But make sure your primary keyword gets the spotlight it deserves.
You should also be aware that after ~60 characters, Google will truncate your title, so stay within the 50-60 characters range.
H1 tag
Your page should have a single H1 tag, no more, no less.
Google and searchers alike also use this tag to understand your content. Unlike the title, it has no character limit. Try to use your primary keyword here as well.
Page URL slug
As far as Google is concerned, Keywords in the URLs are a ranking factor (i.e., they have an effect on your ranking).
Try including your primary keywords in your URL slug if it makes sense.
If you wrote a blog post about Home Gardening, and your primary keyword is "home gardening tips", you can aim for a URL slug like this:
https://www.yourdomain.com/blog/ home-gardening-tips
Page content
When it comes to the actual content of your page, your primary keywords should be included in the first paragraph or at least in the first 200 words, as it helps Google understand the page's topic.
Then, repeat your primary and secondary keywords throughout the rest of your content in paragraphs and sub headers (H2, H3 tags) and images alt text.
Meta description
Your page meta description is not a ranking factor. However, it's there to improve your click-through rate (CTR) from Google.
When a searcher stumbles upon your page, Google will show your page title and the description from your meta tags.
It's your chance to convince the searcher to click on your link, not someone else's. Make good use of it.
Get all these places covered, and your SEO game will have a solid start.
But, and it's a big but, avoid keyword stuffing…
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