Websites have become the new digital lifeline for businesses.
But how to identify websites among thousands of websites?
This big question leads to an important aspect of finding a website – SEO.
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. In simple words, the practice is to let search engines like Google know that you have the relevant content that people are searching for.
In more plain words, it is the effort to present your website to the users looking for content that you have on your website.
But how do you do that?
First, you have no control over how the search engines work. Second, there are multiple websites having similar content.
There comes something called “Keywords” and “Keyword research.”
In this article, we will discuss keyword research and how it plays a major role in SEO.
What are keywords?
Keywords are basically groups of words or phrases that people search while they are looking for information on any search engine.
And keywords play an important role in the promotion of websites on the search engine result page.
Sometimes also called focus keywords or search terms, keywords generally describe the main idea behind your content on your webpage or blog page. That means the search engine can push your content ahead of others if they match the words used by people.
To put it another way, let’s assume you have a website about cookies and you specialize in gluten-free cookies.
In that case, since your main focus will be on gluten-free cookies, you would rank(getting a place on the search engine page) your website.
But before you want to rank your website, ask a couple of questions to yourself:
● What are the terms which people might use while searching for gluten-free cookies?
● What are the main terms for which you want to be found?
Your most obvious answer would be gluten-free cookies, isn’t it?
After ‘gluten-free cookies’ is the term which shows what is on your website. Because this keyword reflects what’s on the page best.
That’s your keyword or keyphrase – gluten-free cookies.
Note: When we say keyword, it is not a single word. It is actually a group of words.
Why are keywords important?
Today Google is the biggest and the most dominant search engine in the world.
But why?
Because Google has always tried its best to streamline the flood of information on digital platforms. Being said that, Google tries to present information in the most user-friendly way. It gives people what they look for.
For doing that smoothly Google always focuses on the quality of content more than anything else. And keywords act as the clue for Google to know what exactly it can find on a particular
page.
But is it only because of Google that you have to use keywords?
No, certainly not.
Whatever you do in your business, you have an audience or users for it. And it is for the users
you are rendering your services.
But how would they know that you are serving them or you can serve them the best?
That’s where you have to get into their heads to find out what they intend to get on your website or any website for the purpose.
Then you have to use all those search queries to offer a solution to people that will most likely attract them.
If you don’t use the keywords people are using to find something, you will never be identified.
Because neither Google(or any search engine) nor people will come to know what is on your
website. And certainly, you don’t want that to happen. Because then it will be a huge loss for your business.
We hope you have understood the importance of using keywords and more importantly, the right keywords.
Now the big question is “how to use keywords for proper SEO?”
How to use keywords for proper SEO
Earlier if you stuff your page with too many keywords, it used to rank higher. But now the time
for keyword overstuffing is gone.
Just imagine reading an article with too many keywords repeated every two lines. How would you feel?
Terrible, isn’t it?
Google, being the user-friendly search engine, feels the same. That’s why Google has shifted its focus more on natural language in recent years. That means whatever sounds unnatural is not fit to rank on Google.
What to do then?
Focus on creating quality content with moderate keyword use. Also, keep your language natural.
Let’s understand these two aspects in detail.
Moderating keyword use
Balancing your content with a moderate number of keywords is the first thing you should focus on. You certainly can not overuse or overstuff keywords. Such an act will make your content spammy and terrible to read – a significant reason for your page not to rank on Google.
On the other hand, if you use fewer keywords than required then also you will find it difficult to rank your page. Because Google will not be able to understand what to rank for on your page.
So you have to wisely draw a line between the underuse and overuse of keywords. Find a sweet spot where your number of keywords on a certain page is balanced.
For a general rule, it is recommended to keep the keyword count up to 1- 2% of the entire content on that particular page.
Use keywords naturally in your content
Apart from using the right number of keywords, it is important to use them naturally. When we say naturally, it means readers should not find your content illogical or incoherent to read.
It’s of no use to just force the keywords where they don’t even fit. Because that will make no sense and more or less, your content will become funny.
Remember that whatever you write should add value to your reader and that is exactly what Google always looks for in a page or post. Just focus on creating natural-sounding sentences with the right use of keywords.
That’s it. It is as simple as that.
