Keywords are the backbone of any successful Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy. With nearly 70% of online interactions starting through a search engine, harnessing the power of keywords can significantly boost your website’s visibility and traffic, as well as inform your content strategy.

How to Use Keywords to Optimize Your SEO Strategy

Ninety-five percent of all web traffic goes to sites on page one of Google’s Search Engine Pages Results(SERPs). So how do you make it to page one? SEO is always evolving and staying on top of your keyword strategy will make a crucial difference.

Getting Started

Before diving in, it is important to grasp how keywords function within SEO. Generally, keywords act as the bridge between what users are searching for and the content your website offers. Because keywords come from search queries, incorporating these words or phrases into your content strategy alerts search engines to find and rank your website pages. Search engines then show your content to users when they search those keywords. By strategically incorporating them into your content, you increase the likelihood of your pages appearing in the top search engine result pages (SERPs). The main three tips to research are ensuring your keywords are relevant, provide authority on the topic, and are searched often.

Keyword Research and Selection

Research is the foundation of any successful SEO campaign. By identifying the terms and phrases your target audience is using, you can tailor your content to meet their needs. Effective research and analysis will also allow you to uncover insights into user behavior, preferences and trends.

• Make a list of important topics relevant to your business: Put yourself into your ideal buyer’s shoes. Write down 5-10 topics that are important to your business, as well as the buyer you are trying to attract.
• Turn topics into Keywords: Next, look at each topic and identify words or phrases your ideal buyer would search for. It is also helpful to use a tool such as Google Analytics to search for keywords that are currently used within your topic.
• Uncover User Intent: Today, user intent is the most important factor in ranking high within a search engine. Your keywords should direct users to the problem they are looking to solve. One way to verify user intent is by looking up the keywords yourself. Skim through the results and assess. 
• Use tools to your advantage: There are thousands to help you analyze and refine your keywords. These tools can provide more, highly ranked words and phrases based on your initial collection. 

Finding and researching your keywords can be daunting but these steps will set you ahead when piecing together your overarching SEO and content strategy. 

How Keyword Research Informs Your Content Strategy

Conducting keyword research will give you deeper insight into current marketing trends and help you determine relevant topics for the content on your site. You can play this content to your advantage by implementing a call-to-action that will lead your potential buyer from the awareness stage to the point of purchase. It is also a great idea to look into your competitors’ keywords and content gaps. Use these gaps to inform your content strategy, filling the need with your insight and ultimately positioning your product or service as the solution. 

Optimize Your Pages With Keywords

Once you have solidified your keywords and developed your content, the next step is to optimize your pages. Ensure the keyword is in these places:

• Title Tag: Verify the keyword is in your HTML text as well as in your title. This will increase visibility in SERPS.
• Meta Description: The meta description is a snippet to help searchers understand the topic and how your content addresses it.
• Your First Paragraph and/or Heading: While it is not as important as it used to be, including your keyword in the first paragraph and heading is still a relevant way to improve your page rank.
• Content Body: Other areas to implement your keyword are within the content body, images, URLs, Anchor Text, Social Media links, Directories and External Listings.

Lastly, open an uninfluenced browser and search! Act as a potential buyer, navigating the search engine, your content and purchase points. This will help you discover inconsistencies between your intent, accessibility and optimization. It is also helpful to use tools such as Google Analytics to monitor your page and how it ranks over time. 

Mastering your keyword strategy takes time but is essential to optimizing your SEO efforts and driving organic traffic. With research, you will boost your ranking and hone your content strategy, further propelling your online visibility. Need help developing your content and keywords? Avista is here to lend a hand. Let us support you on your SEO journey to achieve only the best results. Get in Touch with us today.

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