SEO: The 5 Crucial Places for Keywords

Remind me again, what are Keywords?

Keywords are the words and phrases that Internet users type into search box of a search engine, such as Google, to find websites that match what are looking for. Some keywords get thousands of unique searches a day while others only get a couple of hundred. At the same time, some high trafficked keywords are very competitive online because many businesses are trying to get referrals and traffic from users when they search for those keywords while others are not.

Example: An organic chocolate company in Chicago might have keywords like these:

• Chocolate Truffles
• Dark Chocolate Truffles
• Organic Chocolate
• Organic Dark Chocolate
• Organic Chocolate in Chicago IL

How do I choose the best keywords for my business?

When choosing keywords for your business, it is important to put some time and thought into researching keywords. There are some good free tools online such as the Google Keyword Research tool that can help get you started in researching keywords relevant to your business. These tools can be very useful for getting insights about how many users are searching for a given keyword and how much competition there is for the keyword online. This also gives you a sense of which keywords you should be using on your website and how effective they will be in marketing your site online.

Now that I have keywords, where do I put them on my website?

In order to optimize your pages for keywords, you'll need to include those keywords on your site. However, you can't just put them anywhere and you most definitely don't want to fill up your pages with them. There are certain places on your website that are more optimal than others for good SEO. Here are the most crucial places your keywords should go:

• Titles - Titles are the HTML element used to describe the topic of a webpage. You'll find them in the title of a search engine result page and in the top bar of an internet browser.
• Descriptions - Descriptions, also known as meta descriptions, are shown in search results below the title and URL.
• Headings & Content - Visitors are much more likely to stay on a page if they can see the terms they had searched for on it. Be careful not to fill up your content with keywords.Focus on what matters to your audience, not how many times you can include a keyword or keyword phrase in that content.
• Image Titles & Alt Text - These tell search engines what an image is about, which helps it be found in a search.
• URLs - Including keywords in your URL if they accurately describe the page contents helps search engine direct visitors to your pages

Example:

Remember, SEO is not about incorporating as many keywords as possible. It's much more about picking content topics relevant to your target audience. Google will rank websites higher on their search results pages when the visitor finds what they are looking for. If someone searches the term "chocolate in Cullman" and the top website is full of keywords that say that, but the website itself isn't actually about chocolate or a business that sells it, that person is going to get frustrated and leave to keep searching. It will hurt your SEO if you fill your website with keywords that don't actually reflect the business you are or the services you provide. So, using keywords on your website that reflect your business and services will help get the people who are searching for you straight to your website.

Not sure how to proceed? We can help! Our staff here are experts and know all there is to know about keywords and search engine optimization. We can help get your business' website the attention it needs and get you the results you want!

Contact us to learn more! Give us a call at @BUSINESSPHONETOLLFREE@, stop at our office at 403 E Lincolnway in Downtown Cullman Alabama, email at @BUSINESSEMAILADDRESS@, or use our online contact form here.