SEO Keywords: How To Choose Well To Rank Well

What are SEO keywords?

Keywords are words or phrases a person types into the search box when using a search engine like Google or yahoo to find information. SEO Keywords are the words and phrases YOU use to get your blog to rank well in the search results when a person searches for information using those same words and phrases.

Why are SEO keywords important?

Because, if you want your blog to show up in search results, preferably as close to the top as possible, you need to effectively use your keywords to get the search engines to match your blog to that topic.

The first step in this process is to figure out what the best keywords are for your blog.

Make a list of words and phrases YOU think the average person would use to search for the information on your blog. Then, go to family and friends. Tell them the general purpose of your blog and ask them to list the words or phrases THEY would use if they were looking for the information on your blog. If you’re gutsy enough, try interviewing some strangers as well. This is a great way to find out what real readers will search for instead of what you think they will search for. The purpose of this research is to find as many keyword phrases as possible that match both your blogs topic AND actual phrases people use to search for your information.

Once you have a good-sized list to work with, it’s time to review all your options, narrow down the list and select the keyword phrases you are going to use for your blog. It’s a good idea to have a final list of several related, but not identical, keyword phrases. This way, your blog can compete for ranking in several areas. Over time, you will be able to see which keyword phrases give you the best ranking and draw you the most qualified visitors and you can use that information to further focus your keywords and your blog.

When narrowing down your list, keep in mind the following mistakes to avoid:

• Choose Keyword phrases containing 2 to 4 words. Don’t select single word terms, especially if they are highly competitive and dominated by larger, more popular websites. You won’t able to compete effectively for these terms and are unlikely to make any progress with them. It’s better to focus your efforts in areas where you can compete effectively and get good results.
• Don’t make your keywords too broad. If your blog is about employment tax law, do not select “tax law” as one of your keyword phrases. You’ll end up competing with sites that cover every type of tax law. Instead, focus on “employment tax law.” This narrows your competition to the specific topic you cover and will result in more qualified traffic. The people who end up on your blog are there because they were looking for the topic you cover.
• On the other hand, don’t make your terms too specific or too technical. If you narrow your keywords too tightly or use words that are unfamiliar to the average person, people won’t search using your phrases and your blog will show up in fewer results, possibly not at all.
• Don’t pick just one or two phrases for your entire blog. Instead, you should first pick one or two phrases that cover your topic in general to be used in the meta keywords tag for your homepage. Then you should pick one or two keyword phrases for each category on your blog to be used for optimizing your content each time you write an article.

You should now have  enough information to get started on creating your keyword list. Your keywords are the foundation of SEO, so I recommend that you to take some time and choose them carefully. Get as much feedback as possible from a variety of people and keep refining your list until you find the right keywords to describe both your blog’s topic and your ideal reader’s search words.

In my next post, I’ll teach you how to use your keyword list to optimize your content and your blog for best results.