Keywords or “key phrases” are now essential components of digital marketing. Without them, it would be very challenging for search engines to find us and index our website correctly. Every day, millions of users type a specific word or phrase into Google to search for particular topics; if we learn to use keywords, we increase our chances of leading users to our pages on the same subject.
Choosing the right keywords
First and foremost, we need to use keywords that are relevant to our business. This is a process that requires extensive research, and there are several aspects to consider:
- Relevance: Keywords should accurately describe the content of our pages and be relevant to our business. Google is very skilled at ranking pages based on their relevance.
- Search volume: Always consider which keywords are the most popular, meaning they are used by a large number of users. You can use a free Google tool for this purpose.
- Specificity: When selecting our keywords, we must be careful not to be too generic. Even if some keywords have high search volumes, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are suitable for our business, as they might be used by many websites.
- Competition: Investigating the competitiveness of keywords and checking how many sites include them is another aspect that rewards us. Using specific keywords can attract more relevant traffic to our business and help us stand out from the competition.
Types
You can make an initial distinction of keywords based on search volumes:
- “Short-tail“: These are keywords composed of one or two words. They are typically generic regarding the topic and often have high search volumes. (e.g., “shoes,” “sneakers”)
- “Long-tail”: These keywords are more specific and have less competition due to their lower search volumes. They consist of 3 or more words. If used skillfully, they can easily generate conversions. (e.g., “red high-heeled shoes”)
Keywords can also be classified based on their function:
- Informational: Used by users to get specific answers about products or topics. These can be included within a blog that covers that particular subject. (e.g., “what shoes to use for running”)
- Navigational: These keywords specifically pertain to a brand. It’s useful to study them to measure our brand awareness. (e.g., “Adidas shoes”)
- Transactional: These keywords are action-oriented, typically related to the purchase of a product or service. They are often placed within landing pages to drive conversions. (e.g., “buy shoes”)
How to use keywords?
Once you have selected the keywords for your business, you need to learn how to use them strategically on your website pages. Using keywords accurately is crucial for good search engine rankings and increasing your website’s traffic. Here are some tips for effectively using keywords.
- Include keywords in your content naturally, without overdoing it: Overloading your text with keywords can be penalized by search engines.
- Insert keywords into various page elements: titles, subtitles, text, URLs, and image tags, as they help search engines understand the page’s content.
- Use synonyms and variations of keywords to increase the relevance of the content and prevent them from being repeated too often.
Improving your ranking
Using keywords correctly will yield excellent results for your marketing strategy. Understanding our objectives is always the starting point to figure out how to proceed. Keywords are not the only crucial element for the positioning of our website. There are other equally vital aspects to achieve a higher ranking and greater visibility, including site performance, content quality, and user experience.
Want to learn more?
If this topic has piqued your interest, and you want to know more about best practices for using keywords correctly, you can rely on us: with an initial free analysis, we can advise you on how to implement this strategy for your business. Make your voice heard on the web!
