How to Use Keywords
Blogging 101: How to Use Keywords. The importance of keywords in digital marketing is impossible to overstate. After all, many of your blog’s readers find it because they initially searched for a relevant keyword. Online marketing professionals have gone back and forth on the role of SEO keywords over the years, but regardless of changes in the industry, they will continue to be an integral part of any digital marketer’s toolbox for years to come. Whether you’re just starting out or are a seasoned blogger, it’s always helpful to reevaluate your use of keywords. Here are some of the best ways to integrate them into your blog.
Consider user intent.
When people search for a certain phrase, they are most likely looking for specific information related to it. Think about why someone would be trying to find out about your chosen keyword and create content that addresses their questions. That way, the keywords become an integral part of your blog rather than just shoring up the numbers for SEO purposes. Getting into the minds of readers will help you to create content they want to read, which increases its value. Answering their questions will ensure that your content stays relevant and ranks highly.
Build content around keywords.
Rather than adding your targeted keywords as an afterthought, you should be using them to drive your content creation. Use them to select what topics your blog will cover, and let them guide the structure of your writing. This way, you will incorporate keywords organically into your blog articles rather than creating dissonance between keywords and content. Savvy readers know the difference between a thoughtful, useful article and one that is empty promotion. Of course, you should also avoid the overuse of keywords to ensure that readers stay engaged rather than tuning out your blog as noisy spam.
Use strategic placement.
Consider where you place your keywords as well as how many times to use them, since too much overcrowding will lead readers to disengage. They should be spaced throughout the body text of the article in places where it makes sense to include them and feels natural. It is very important for SEO to include keywords in the blog’s URL, and, of course, in the headline of the article. If your chosen keywords are being used to inform the topics you write about, it should be easy to place them in headlines, image Alt-tags, URLs and meta descriptions, thereby increasing SEO value and enhancing your content marketing strategy.
Stay focused.
When creating an article for your blog, focus on one or two phrases to avoid diluting your content and confusing the message. Too many different keywords appearing in a post will hurt search rankings and cause readers to become frustrated when they came to your blog to learn about one topic. To avoid this problem, be sure to stay on-topic and relevant with your keyword-centric content. One way to keep your blog focused is to create a schedule detailing when you will cover each topic and its associated keywords.