Using Keywords for Beginners

Part of making a website visible is using keywords properly. Keywords are words and phrases that tell search engines what the article or webpage is about and therefore make the webpage index-able. But how does the webmaster choose the best keywords for website marketing?

Understanding Keywords for Dummies

Effective use of keywords for SEO entails knowing fatal mistakes to avoid when trying to make a website visible. Keywords are the key. Witty puns, parochialisms or slang phrases, for example, are meaningless to search engines. Web searchers are unlikely to use these phrases when searching for information on the internet. Examples of such phrases include “wow recipes,” or “wicked places to stay,” etc. The following SEO mistakes should also be avoided.

• Broad generalisations should also be avoided. Phrases such as “hotels in London” or “how to lose weight” are not specific enough and web searchers are more likely to use more specific phraseology. It is better to make the key phrase specific by using qualifying words. “How to use weight with herbs,” or “cheap hotels in Kensington,” are better
• Avoid using highly competitive keywords and phrases. Using keywords that everyone else is using is unlikely to make the webpage visible if it is to be buried amongst thousands of other search results.
• Use keywords and phrases that are in context to what the article is about. Avoid using a header “art materials for oil painting,” if the body of the text is more about watercolours. Using appropriate keywording will trigger contextual adverts to display alongside the web content and will help the webmaster earn Adsense revenue.
• Avoid guessing which search terms the visitor is likely to use. Google’s Adwords keyword tool is an excellent resource for the webmaster

Finding the Best Keywords Step by Step

The webmaster who wishes to create a search friendly webpage should think about which keywords to include. Finding the best keywords can be achieved by the following:

• Brainstorm the sort of keywords likely to be used
• Go into the Google’s Adwords keyword tool and type in these phrases
• In the “choose columns to be displayed,” select “show all” from the drop down menu
• Several columns will be displayed showing a result of associated search phrases, as well as those typed. By clicking on “search volume” the programme will sort each search phrase found in order of search volume.
• Various other columns will inform on how much revenue an ad click will yield and what the yearly trends are for each search term. The webmaster can make informed decisions on which keywords to use.

Unique Keywords with the Matrix Method

A keyword that has high search volume and high monetary yield is not necessarily a good keyword to use if thousands of other webmasters are using the same keyword. To find out if this is the case, the webmaster may type in the keyphrase captured in speech marks into the Google search bar. If more than forty thousand results come back, competition is too high. If less than ten thousand, the keyword is a fair choice. Less than a thousand would make this an excellent keyword, particularly for niche websites. This method is known as the Money Word Matrix Method.

The webmaster must take care to avoid highly unusual or long tail keyphrases that searchers are unlikely to use, even if competition is very low.

Best Keywording for a Website

With the information garnered on which keywords to use, the shrewd webmaster should scatter high volume keywords, high revenue keywords, synonyms and niche keywords throughout the web article. This is likely to attract more visitors to the site. The strongest keywords should be placed within the headers in title case and in the introductory paragraph. Others can be scattered throughout the body. Using too much should be avoided. This is known as “keyword stuffing” and could do harm to the webpage’s ranking.