By Guest Blogger MV Leighton
Getting to the top of search engines can be a daunting task. Not knowing where to begin can leave you feeling frustrated, while your site sits on the net unnoticed. Fret not because there is a solution. The best place to start is by using and understanding “key words” and how they relate to your site, while still attracting visitors. It’s of paramount importance that you do not get into the habit of keyword stuffing so your blog is not penalized by Google.
You can start by making a list of relevant words and phrases that pertain to your site and search for them in Google to see how many returns you get.
This will give you an idea of the competition you are facing. However, it is important to choose your keywords wisely. There is no sense in trying to compete with twenty different sites with page ranks of 7 or higher by using the same keywords they do because let’s be honest; your use of the same keyword is not going to help you out-rank them. Not to say you are not going to have some of the same key words, because obviously, it is essential and clearly works. The point is to find keywords that give you the chance to be a worthy competitor; words related to the content of your site.
If you choose words that people Google on a regular basis, only to find that when they get to your site, your content is not even remotely related to it, chances are they will leave and not return. This is what you want to avoid. You want people to visit your page, and keep coming back.
I am going to use examples that I used for the site carshowkiosk.com. Remember that these techniques can be applied to any site, under any situation and it is important to find your niche. The site name (carshowkiosk) has little competition so I will focus on other keywords that will have potential to drive traffic to my site.
My first choice for a keyword was “car show”. I typed it into Google and got 49,300,000 results. That’s a lot of competition to go up against for a small web site. By refining my keyword to “Michigan car show” I got a return of 2,820,000 listings from Google. By adding Michigan to my keyword, which suited my website better anyway, I was able to go from 49 million competitors, to just under 3 million, which are much better odds in this competitive game.
Getting your keywords to work for you to gain higher ranking is the next step. Link exchange is still the best way to get higher rankings in search engines.
When you make your links, use your keywords as the anchored text and not the site name.
Example link:
CarShowKiosk.com, your information kiosk for Michigan Car Shows and cruises.
Page optimization is also important.
- Whenever possible, include your keywords in titles, tags and headings.
- Make links to other pages within your site that include your keywords.
- When using alt tags for images, include keywords when relevant.
- However, do not spam your site with keywords, as this will only hurt your efforts and irritate your visitors.
Below is a picture of how keywords are used in the anchored text linking to internal pages, in the title of pages and within the site structure (address bar).
Remember to find keywords that fit your niche, are relevant to your particular site and that offer you a competitive edge.
Do not be afraid to research misspellings of your target keywords or phrases to gain an edge also; in fact, I encourage it. Try to include your keywords whenever and wherever possible in an applicable manner and get as many links possible with your keywords as the anchored text.
Updates: September 21, 2009 Google does not use the keywords meta tag in web ranking.
See also: Your Keywords Don’t Matter Anymore, Now What?
Related posts found in this blog:
How to select and use anchor text effectively
Deep link posts: Bring your readers back again and again
Blogging: Characteristics of pillar posts
Ten Traffic Promotion Tips for Bloggers
Blogging: Content is King
Building a blog with readers in mind
How to structure a reader and search engine friendly blog
Matt Cutt’s Whitehat SEO Tips for Bloggers: WordCamp 2007
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Teck
June 17, 2008
Thank you for this informative article
the article has helped me understand using
key words better…. :)
ian in hamburg
June 18, 2008
The technical side of blogging has always stumped me. I still can’t figure out how to properly tag my posts, or tag them so that the search engines find them. Somehow I managed to do it right on three posts, because no matter how old they are, they draw by far the most traffic. The other 160? Ignored, even though they’re slotted into categories and tags.
azureislands
June 18, 2008
Helpful and informative post…will look carefully at my key words…
Cheers
timethief
June 18, 2008
@Teck
Hi there. I’m glad you found Mike’s post to be helpful. :)
timethief
June 18, 2008
@Ian in Hamburg
Choosing keywords is less difficult for niche bloggers than it is for bloggers who cover a wide range of subjects. I suspect this is why your are having trouble. I believe the best advice is to pretend you are a reader and to make your keywords the search terms they are most likely to use to find a post like yours.
timethief
June 18, 2008
@azureislands
Thanks for the thanks. Your blog is always such a pleasure to view and to read. :)
Root
June 18, 2008
This has been a great post as usual. And very informative. FWIW I think keywords are a bit last year. Good content is just that : good content. The important thing is the architecture and the structure
timethief
June 18, 2008
@Root
Here’s your invitation to write a guest post on the architecture and structure . I’d be delighted to publish it. :)
Atlas
June 18, 2008
I still haven’t entirely wrapped my head around the whole keyword thing, but this article definitely helps. Thanks!
timethief
June 18, 2008
You’re welcome. :)
Chica
June 19, 2008
I’ve always thought that keywords were just a pain in my rear. I’m always found by keywords that don’t really relate to my blogs, but hmm this article I just may follow. Some sound advice there! :)
timethief
June 19, 2008
@chica
Hi there and thanks for coming and reading. You do have keywords in the natural flow when you “just write”. How about checking your stats to see which keywords readers are typing into Google and other search engines to find your blog?
Chica
June 19, 2008
Oh I’ve done that, I’ve seen some crazy stuff, and people do find me for what I write about. Other times I don’t see how their keywords matched my blog, but perhaps that’s just the way it is. For the people who end up on my personal blog, I usually write posts with their keywords, and make a humor post out of it. :)
timethief
June 19, 2008
The humor post idea sounds like an entertaining one. Sometimes I look at the search terms on my personal blog and crack right up. :P
robertstevenson
June 19, 2008
This article has cleared up the mystery of keywords for me. I intend to start experimenting with page optimization and proper keyword placement on my next post. Thanks for the great post, Mike.
timethief
June 20, 2008
Hi Robert,
I’m glad Mike’s article was helpful. :)
Root
June 21, 2008
I love the full width theme tt. Nice.
timethief
June 21, 2008
Thanks :)