Intro to Keywords: What are keywords, and how do I use them?

Think of your last Google search, whether it was the forecast for a weekend trip or how many people watched the WNBA draft. You probably typed in “local weather” or “WNBA draft viewership” because, as humans, we naturally want as much information in as little time as possible.

The exact same dynamic plays out in the world of content creation and marketing with these neat functions known as keywords. 

What are keywords?

Keywords are specific words or phrases that capture the essential topics or ideas of a piece of content. When it comes to digital marketing, keywords are integrated into your copy with the goal of drawing traffic toward your content and improving your search rankings. They are used in various contexts, such as:

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Keywords help search engines understand the content of a webpage, making it easier for users to find relevant information through search queries.
• Marketing: Keywords are used in advertising and marketing to target specific audiences and improve the visibility of ads and promotional content.
• Content Creation: Writers and content creators use keywords to ensure their work is aligned with the interests and search behaviors of their targets.

Keywords are used by nearly every website. Sports pages use athlete names to push breaking news articles. A retail comic store could use superhero names to promote its collection. Perhaps you even stumbled upon this blog by Googling, “What are keywords?”

In essence, keywords are simply a bridge between content creators and their audience, facilitating better communication and information retrieval.

Why are keywords important?

Keywords are so important because of their role in SEO strategy. This completely organic digital marketing strategy attempts to help your content rank high in search engine results, and keywords are instrumental in this process. Essentially, the more keywords that appear in your content, the greater the chances are for it to appear higher on a search engine and generate traffic for your website.

How do you determine your keywords?

Finding the right keywords involves just as much strategy as crafting your work. There are several research methods to do so. A good deciding factor in determining if your keyword is effective or not is to identify a term that has a good search volume, while also not being very competitive. 

Google also has free tools to help determine keywords, such as Google Search Console, Google Analytics and Google Trends. Paid tools, like Moz and Semrush, are also available when you’re ready to take the next step in your keyword journey.

How do you use keywords effectively?

Figuring out how to be effective while using keywords can be difficult to navigate. Here are a few tips to get as much usage out of keywords as you can.

Dos:

• Use a multitude of keywords throughout your piece of content.
• Make sure your keywords are relevant to your topic.
• Ensure your keywords occur naturally within the text.

Don’ts:

• Load all of your keywords on one page. It can lead to your pages competing against each other.
• Stuff a lot of keywords unnecessarily, it can confuse search engines.

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