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Behind The SEO Curtain: How To Add Keywords In The Right Places

Behind The SEO Curtain: How To Add Keywords In The Right Places 6
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SEO, or Search Engine Optimisation, is the art and science of making your website attractive to search engines. The end goal? To clinch top rankings in search results, amplifying your website’s visibility and fostering potential customer engagement. Using keywords for SEO is the cornerstone of this strategy, as search engines use keywords to understand the content and purpose of your web pages.

Picture keywords as the compass that navigates search engines to your website. They signal the relevance of your content to the search queries your target audience uses. Without keywords, your website might be lost in the vast ocean of the internet. However, adding keywords isn’t enough – you need to know where and how to strategically put keywords in your website

This guide aims to simplify that process, offering valuable insight into how to add keywords to optimise your website and boost your online visibility.

Unleashing the Power of Keywords: Prime Locations in your Content and HTML Elements

Now that you understand the importance of keywords, let’s discuss exactly where you can put keywords in your website content. The first place to consider is within your visible body text. This is the primary source of information for both your users and search engines. When using keywords for SEO, you should include them naturally within your content. But there’s more to it.

The best practices for using keywords for SEO in your content include:

  • Launch with your keyword: Use your keyword in the first 100-150 words to help search engines grasp your content’s theme.
  • Sprinkle keywords throughout: This should be done naturally, ensuring it fits with the context and doesn’t disrupt the flow of the content.
  • Leverage related keywords and synonyms: This strategy helps you sidestep keyword stuffing and makes your content more comprehensive.
  • Internal and external links: Where it makes sense, use keywords in the anchor text of your links. This gives search engines additional context about the content you’re linking to.

As for HTML elements, using keywords in title tags, meta descriptions, and header tags are critical SEO practices. We will discuss these in detail below.

Supercharging SEO with Keywords in H1, H2, and H3 Tags

Headings are vital for both user experience and SEO. They make your content skimmable, helping users understand your content structure and assist search engines in determining the relevance of your content.

Best practices for using keywords in H1, H2, and H3 tags include:

  • Optimise your H1 with your primary keyword: Your H1 tag, typically the title of your page or post, should contain your primary keyword. This conveys the main topic of your page to search engines.
  • Limit one H1 tag per page: While you can technically have more than one H1 tag, it’s best to stick to one to avoid confusing search engines about your page’s primary topic.
  • Use secondary keywords in H2 and H3 tags: These tags are perfect for your secondary and related keywords. They lend context and depth to your content and inform search engines about each section of your page.
  • Structure your content effectively: Using H1, H2, and H3 tags aids in content structuring, making it easier for both users and search engines to navigate. Ensure each heading logically follows from the one before it to maintain a clear content hierarchy.
  • Make headings descriptive: Your headings should be descriptive and give a clear indication of the content that follows. Integrating keywords in a way that aptly describes the following content benefits both your users and SEO.

Leveraging Keywords in Page Titles and Descriptions for Better Visibility

Meta titles and descriptions are HTML attributes that provide concise snapshots of your web pages. They appear in search engine results and play a significant role in click-through rates.

Here’s how to optimally use keywords for SEO in these elements:

  • Include your primary keyword early in the title: As a direct SEO ranking factor, your title tag is a heavy hitter in the SEO game. The closer your keyword is to the start of the title, the more weight it carries with search engines.
  • Create unique titles for each page: Each page of your website should have a unique title to avoid keyword cannibalisation and to allow each page to rank for its unique set of keywords.
  • Keep your title under 60 characters: Google typically displays the first 50-60 characters of a title tag. Keeping your title under 60 characters will ensure most of your title is displayed.
  • Include primary keyword in meta description: Including your keyword in the meta description can help users see the relevance of your page to their query.
  • Make your meta description actionable: Incorporating a call-to-action can motivate users to click on your page when it appears in search results.
  • Keep your meta description under 160 characters: Like title tags, meta descriptions have a display limit. As part of meta description best practices, keep them under 160 characters to ensure they are fully visible in search results.
  • Write for your audience, not just search engines: While it’s important to include keywords in your titles and descriptions, they should be written in a way that appeals to your users and clearly communicates the value of your page.

Harnessing Alt Tags and Image File Names to Boost Your Keyword Relevance

While search engines have grown increasingly sophisticated, they still can’t “see” or “understand” images in the same way humans do. They rely on alt tags and image file names to understand them. Therefore, it’s a great opportunity to boost your keyword relevance. 

When you are using keywords in your alt tags and image file names for SEO purposes, here’s how to add them in:

  • Use keywords in alt tags: Alt tags are used by search engines to understand what an image is about. Including your keywords in the alt tags can help reinforce the topic of your content. For example, if your keyword is “composite wood decking,” an appropriate alt tag might be “alt=’close-up of composite wood decking'”.
  • Be descriptive: Alongside including your keywords, ensure your alt tags accurately describe the image. This offers valuable context for search engines.
  • Use keywords in image file names: Prior to uploading an image to your site, name the file with your keywords in mind. A descriptive, keyword-rich file name is another signal to search engines about your content. For example, instead of “IMG_1234.jpg,” you might use “composite-wood-decking.jpg.”
  • Use hyphens to separate words in file names: Search engines interpret hyphens as spaces, so use them to separate words in your image file names. This makes the file name more readable to search engines.
  • Keep file names short: While it’s crucial to be descriptive, aim to limit your file names to a few words. Lengthy file names can be harder for search engines to interpret.

Breadcrumbs: A Hidden Gem in the SEO Toolkit

Looking for more places to put keywords in your website? Use breadcrumbs – they serve a crucial navigational purpose and can positively impact your SEO efforts. Breadcrumbs typically appear near the top of a webpage, just below the header, where they provide users with a clear and hierarchical path from the homepage to the current page they are browsing

The primary function of breadcrumbs is to enhance the user experience by making navigation more intuitive and efficient. They allow users to understand their current location within a website’s structure and provide an easy way to return to previous sections or the homepage. This feature is especially beneficial for websites with a complex hierarchy or a large number of pages.

What is breadcrumb in SEO?

From an SEO perspective, breadcrumbs are beneficial as they allow search engine crawlers to understand the structure of your website more effectively. This, in turn, can positively impact how your website is indexed and ranked.

Let’s understand the structure of breadcrumbs:

  • Home: The starting point of the user’s journey. It represents the homepage of your website.
  • Category: This level represents the general category or section of the website that the user is currently in. It provides a broader context for the content they are viewing.
  • Subcategory: This level provides a more specific subcategory within the broader category. It helps users understand the content’s context within a particular section.
  • Current Page: The final level represents the specific page the user is currently on. It indicates their exact location within the website’s structure.

For example, if you run an online flower shop in Singapore and one of your key offerings is “birthday bouquets,” your breadcrumb might look like this: Home > Occasions > Birthday Flowers > Sunflower Delight. This breadcrumb trail not only aids navigation but also includes relevant keywords like “Birthday Flowers”. 

Now, you know how to use breadcrumbs to add keywords. However, it’s essential to tread carefully when you’re doing so for SEO. Going overboard with optimisation can lead to penalties from search engines. 

Over-Optimisation: The Fine Line Between Enough and Too Much

In the pursuit of using keywords for SEO, one common mistake is over-optimisation. This often manifests as keyword stuffing, where your content is overloaded with keywords to the point where it reads unnaturally.

It’s easy to think that more keywords will lead to better SEO, but this isn’t always the case. Search engines are becoming increasingly sophisticated and can detect when keywords are being used unnaturally. So while keywords are important, they should never compromise the quality or readability of your content.

Keyword Density and TF-IDF: Common Metrics

To maintain that delicate balance, you can use certain metrics like:

Keyword density

Keyword density is the percentage of times a keyword appears on a page compared to the total number of words. It’s crucial to bear in mind that there’s no hard and fast rule associated with keyword density. Google doesn’t provide a definitive guide specifying the exact number of keywords your content should contain. 

Rather than repetitively injecting your target keyword into your content, a more effective strategy would be to thoroughly explore the topic at hand. This involves covering all related subtopics that your potential customers are likely interested in.

To unearth these subtopics, look to high-ranking content for guidance. Start by searching your target keyword on Google. Open up several top-ranking pages, meticulously examining each one, particularly the common subheadings. 

Simultaneously, use keyword research tools such as Semrush or Ahrefs to identify related keywords or phrases. From there, you can incorporate them into your content. This approach not only satisfies user intent but also positions your content favourably in the eyes of search engine algorithms.

TF-IDF

TF-IDF (Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency), on the other hand, can be used to assess keyword significant by comparing its frequency in a document (a web page or a blog post, for instance) against its prevalence across a larger set of document (like all the pages on your site or the entire web). The TF-IDF score can provide insights about keyword relevance and help you avoid keyword stuffing. 

A high TF-IDF score suggests that a keyword is more crucial to a specific document, which can contribute to better search engine rankings. It can help ensure that your content remains focused and contextually relevant.

Moreover, by analysing the TF-IDF scores of the top-ranking pages for a specific keyword, you can gain insights into what search engines consider to be important and relevant content for that keyword. This can guide your content creation process and help you create more SEO-optimised content.

These are one of many metrics and tools that can guide your SEO strategy. Using these metrics can steer you in understanding how often a keyword should be used, and in what context, ensuring you’re not over-optimising while maintaining strong SEO.

Striking the right balance

Remember, SEO isn’t about gaming the system. It’s about understanding how search engines work and aligning that with creating an excellent user experience. By using keywords strategically, you can help search engines understand your content, match it with relevant searches and drive qualified traffic to your site. 

That being said, your SEO efforts don’t stop there. Whether you’re new to SEO or a seasoned pro, there’s always more to learn. It’s a continually evolving field, and keeping up-to-date with the latest best practices and trends is crucial. That’s where our SEO resource hub comes in. Featuring in-depth guides, it’s your one-stop shop for all things SEO. Visit our SEO resource hub and begin your journey to becoming an SEO maestro today.

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