SEO Basics: Everything you need to know about keywords
Written by Lilly Steel, Managing Director
Ever felt confused about SEO keywords? Have you wondered how just a few words can help drive more traffic to your site, without you spending money on ads or marketing? Keywords are the bread and butter of every SEO campaign, and they help search engines know where to place you on the results page. In this article, we’ll explain what keywords are, why you should care about them, and what they mean for your SEO.
Keywords tell Google who you are
Google is kind of like the helpful clerk at the grocery store who helps you find the product you’re looking for. But when there’s a million other products getting in the way, the clerk needs to know specific details about what you’re looking for, and they also need the product to tell them what it is, so they don’t give you onions when you ask for apples.
Google does the same thing but with the internet. To show you the websites you’re looking for, it asks details from you, and asks details from billions of other websites.. then matches you with the right ones. To Google, every website looks the same, so it relies on backlinks and keywords to distinguish between them.
Keywords tell Google what kind of site you are, what information you provide, how relevant you are to a user’s search, and so on. Search engines find these keywords by prying through your site’s pages and examining their contents. Thus it’s important that the content you post contains the right keywords.
Don’t underestimate the importance of keyword research
Using incorrect or irrelevant keywords in your SEO campaign can do more harm than good. You may gain traffic, but see a drop in conversion rate because you’re attracting the wrong kinds of visitors. Therefore doing your homework and finding a set of good keywords and key-phrases is essential for long term success with SEO.
Keyword research is finding a list of relevant words and search terms to include in your website’s copy and content. You need to tailor your research to your visitors and customers, ie. what are they looking for, and what questions will they have. Hence why so many blog posts start with “how to”, because so many people write search queries in a similar style when looking for instructional content.
There are dozens of free and paid tools for keyword research online, such as SEMRush (paid), Google Trends (free), and Ahrefs Keyword Generator (free). Good tools will tell you the search volume for individual keywords, and suggest more keywords related to your niche.
Don’t skimp on keyword research – use all the tools at your disposal to pick ones that have high scores and are relevant to user intent.
Why it can take months to rank for ideal keywords
On the internet your site will be competing fiercely with thousands of other sites in your niche, and there will be websites much older than yours that have earned their place in the search results. To increase your rank and have your pages show up in desired search queries, you need to put the work in to prove yourself to Google. Have a good track record, basically.
What this usually means is posting consistent, quality content with relevant keywords, and retaining users when they land on your site for as long as possible. This will tell search engines that you have the content people in your niche are looking for.
For example, imagine you’ve developed a new kind of brick for builders. It’s better than all the other bricks, and it’s cheaper too – so you want to get it out there. You need people searching things like “what bricks to buy” and “best bricks for houses” to land on your site and hang around – telling Google you should be shown in similar searches.
At first momentum will be very slow, as search engines won’t trust your site. A few visitors here and there. But after months of building momentum, Google will start placing your site higher up the results, as it recognises that your site is consistently providing relevant info about bricks, and users looking for info about bricks are spending time on your site.
How to use content to rank for your desired keywords
Main page copy will only go so far in pushing you up the search results. Google will know a little bit about your website, but it has no reason to believe you can provide better answers than your competitors.
To keep building momentum, you need to be publishing relevant and keyword-filled content that visitors want to read. Search engines will see this and recognise that you’re an active site. Blog content is hands down the best way to do this, and it’s a fantastic way to start ranking for your desired keywords and search terms.
Your blog content needs to be both readable, and inclusive of relevant keywords. From your headline to your main copy and your call-to-action, you’ll want to be using popular search terms throughout. Shout Me Loud has written a fantastic article explaining how to write blog articles that are SEO friendly.
Doing keyword research, writing quality content and optimising your site for search engines can be stressful for a beginner. If you’re daunted about starting in SEO, LS Media & Marketing’s talented consultants can help take away the hassle. Reach out today so we can create a simple but effective SEO plan for your site, and take the marketing weight off your shoulders.
