Since 2009 • Sterling Heights, Michigan
SEO is centered around the keyword search. This is because keywords are an integral part of any article or post. They should be placed carefully within the headline, throughout the body copy, the SEO title, and the meta description. So, it doesn’t make much sense to use keywords that don’t really work, after going through the trouble to place your keywords properly.
So how do we find words that work? Well, that is what I want to explore in this article.
The easiest way to get good keywords and keyword phrases are through search tools. You simply enter a word or phrase into it’s search engine, and it spits out hundreds, or even thousands of search terms used by real human beings. It gives you vital information on each key phrase, including search volume, and a “Competition” rating of either high, medium, or low. From here, it is a simple matter of selecting the words or phrases with the highest search volume and lowest competition score.
You can try this yourself by using the Free Keyword Tool from Wordstream. Google also has the Keyword Planner if you have a Google Ads account. It is designed for use in ad placement, but basically works the same as Wordstream.
Of course, keyword research can get much more in-depth. Some companies offer specialty tools for a price. They say these tools improve your use of keywords. They may be right, especially for smaller niche markets that can really hone in on a few choice phrases.
But that is not going to work for businesses that have tons of competition in their own local market. Too many of their competitors know how to optimize their sites. In these cases, the road to the top of the search engine rankings is going to be more difficult, but it can be done.
It is going to be quantity and quality of content that will elevate your search engine rankings. As long as it is all centered around quality keywords, and optimized properly, that is. In the case of most sites, this means some type of textual blog, where each separate article can be centered around a different, high quality keyword search phrase.
By continually adding content that is relevant to your business, and optimizing it around quality keywords, your internet presence will eventually grow to be recognized as a knowledge base by the search engines. This is what will eventually increase your rankings.
Of course, populating a blog with tens, or hundreds of informative, relevant articles is a lot simpler said than done. And a subject for another article. But regardless of whether you are writing your own business blog, or you are relying on a third party to create content for you, the keyword search is primary to successful results.
