Keywords are the words and phrases that people use when they search for content online. When someone enters these keywords into a search bar, they are presented with a list of articles that have been published on websites relevant to their search query. Keywords help to indicate what content is valuable or relevant to them as an end user, and allows brands to target the right audience and engage them into action.
In this article, we’ll discuss how to use keywords naturally in copywriting, and how to measure the effectiveness of your keyword strategy without relying on analytics tools.
The Anatomy of a Keyword
Before we begin using keywords in our copy, let’s take a quick look at what they are and how they work.
Keywords are phrases used in combination with words rather than single words. When someone uses a keyword in a search query, search engines will try to match the words in the text with the keyword in the search query. So, if you’re writing a sales piece on the benefits of a travel insurance policy, you might want to include the words “travel insurance” and “sales” in your text. But if you are writing about the 2015 World Luxury Brand Awards, you would not want to include the keyword “brand” too many times in your text as it may not match up with the content that you are trying to promote.
The Importance of Keywords
Brands must now embrace the importance of keywords in content strategy, as search queries are increasingly becoming the main method customers use to find services and products online. In 2015, more people searched for products and services online than they did phone calls or face-to-face interactions. In fact, according to HubSpot Blogs research, 64% of consumers have searched for a product or service on the internet before buying the item in person. That’s pretty powerful information!
If customers find your content relevant when they are searching for solutions to their problems, you can bet that they’ll be back for more. Moreover, when used effectively, keywords can enhance a user’s experience on your site by increasing the site’s SEO (search engine optimization) ranking and driving more organic traffic to your content.
For example, if you’re writing about fashion and you want to include the word “handbags,” you probably wouldn’t want to use the word “handbags” in your article multiple times. Instead, you’d want to use the keyword “handbags” in your text to describe the fashionable accessory as well as include the keyword in your headlines, subtitles, and URL (uniform resource locator, or web address). When someone enters the keyword “handbags” into a search bar, they will see multiple articles about fashion and style, as well as resources such as fashion magazines and blogs that discuss handbags.
Types of Keywords
While there are many benefits to using keywords in your content, it’s important not to become over-reliant on them. Instead, try to include them naturally in your copy without any tricks or shortcuts.
There are four types of keywords you should use in your content:
- Broad keywords – These are the words and phrases that customers use to find content that is most relevant to them. Try to use these keywords naturally in your copy, as customers will type them into a search bar to find the content that they are seeking.
- Phrase keywords – These are single words or phrases that you can insert into your copy to make it more relevant to customers. You should avoid using these keywords in your title as it may make your content difficult to find. However, you can use them in your URL, subtitles, and headings to draw more customers to your content.
- Negative keywords – These are the words you should avoid using in your content as it may lead to your content being flagged as “not relevant” by search engines. For example, if you are writing about fashion, you might want to avoid using the words “handbags” or “wallets” as they are frequently used as keywords by scammers who try to trick customers by presenting fake products and service that look identical to those of well-known brands. Since customers have already established a connection with the well-known brand, they will be more likely to be tricked or disappointed if they use the words “handbags” or “wallets” in their search queries.
- Fuzzy keywords – These are the terms customers use when they have a general idea of what they’re looking for but aren’t sure of the exact product or service. So if you are unable to find an exact match for the word or phrase they are searching for, you can be confident that your content is relevant and will help them find what they need. Fuzzy keywords are a great way to attract customers to your site as they are looking for solutions to a general problem which your content addresses directly.
As you can see, there are a variety of ways you can use keywords to improve the relevancy of your content, and ultimately, the user experience.
Measuring the Success of Your Keyword Strategy
While it’s easy to get excited about the idea of using keywords to get more traffic to your site, it’s important not to get carried away. The truth is, no one metric will indicate whether or not your keyword strategy is successful. But if you’re looking for a general measure of how well your strategy is playing out, you can follow these steps:
- Look for keywords in your article’s text. You can use special software or online tools to assist you in this task.
- Count the number of times you see each keyword. You can do this by copying and pasting your article’s text into a Google sheet or similar document and using the “Find and Replace” function to locate all instances of each keyword.
- Now you have your list of keywords, you can measure the effectiveness of your strategy by looking at the volume of traffic those keywords are driving to your site.
- Is the traffic you’re getting from each keyword a large or small audience? The larger the audience, the more effective the keyword is in directing traffic to your site. If you want to reach a broad audience, try words and phrases that are widely used across a variety of industries and topics. Conversely, if you want to target a more specific audience, look for words and phrases that are only relevant to your niche.
- Check out the competition for each keyword you’ve identified. This will give you an idea of what other brands and websites are doing in terms of using the same keywords in their content. In many cases, you can see from the list of results what types of products and services other websites are offering, as well as estimate how successful their strategy is in driving traffic to their sites.
- If you’re using SEO to help get the word out about your site, be sure to monitor your search engine rankings for keywords and metrics that indicate the success of your strategy. We’ll discuss how to do this in more detail in the next section.
The Anatomy of a Solid SEO Strategy
If you’re looking to get the most out of your keyword strategy, you need to develop a solid SEO strategy that will allow you to gain the most for your efforts. In this section, we’ll discuss the various components of a successful SEO strategy.
On-page SEO
On-page SEO is the part of SEO that takes place on your website itself rather than in the links that point back to your site. On-page SEO is vital to the success of your strategy, as it can determine how well search engines are able to rank your content. If the content on your site is well-written and informative, and addresses all of the relevant keywords and phrases used in the search query, you can be confident that your content will perform well in search engine rankings.
To start, make sure that your site is configured properly in terms of web page speed and functionality. After all, if Google can’t understand how to navigate your site easily and quickly, they aren’t going to be able to accurately assess the content and rankings of your site.
Once you’ve optimized your site for usability, take the time to look at each individual page and make sure that the text is formatted and the content is relevant and engaging. In most cases, the text on a page will be the same as the content that preceded it, but you should always try to put additional effort into the content of a unique page. While it’s tempting to copy and paste the same content as the rest of your site, doing so can hurt your SEO ranking if the page doesn’t offer a good user experience.