Your Keyword Search Strategy for Building a Website
Your initial keyword search strategy will not be a one time thing, it will be an ongoing process to achieve a better search ranking for those pages that may be under performing.
People search for information online. They don't know who or what might provide them the information they are searching for. That's where the search engine comes into play.
Regardless of what search engine is being used, the search engine takes it's responsibility seriously. They take pride in delivering exactly what their users are searching for, every time.
If you don't have a solid keyword search strategy while taking time to choose keywords and phrases carefully, your traffic will suffer.
Your Keyword Search Strategy
Below you will find some basic rules to follow in your keyword search strategy.
- When choosing keywords for your website, don't make the mistake of picking a keyword simply because it's high traffic and low competition. You may get the traffic, but your traffic conversion rate will suffer.
- Pick your keywords based on how relevant they are to your site, not potential traffic. Less traffic that converts is better than more traffic that doesn't.
- Optimize your Web Pages with 4 to 5 keywords maximum. The homepage should contain your top 5 keywords.
- Include relevant keywords in the following locations:
- Title Meta Tags
- Alt Tags in Pictures that are links as well that are links
- Anchor Text
- Header Tag Content
- Bold/Italic Tag Content
- Title Tag in Anchor Tags
- Text on top, middle and bottom of the page
- Meta Keyword Description
Do not try to keyword stuff a page. The optimal range for keywords is between 4% and 9%. If you go over the 9%, you are just asking for the search engines to penalize you.
Monitor the Social Web
SEO and Social Media are starting to work hand in hand. Monitor your competition to see what keywords they are ranking for. Once such tool that I highly recommend is SEM Rush.
- Using SEM Rush, simply enter the website address of a competitor and it provides a report of the main keywords, the volume and the cost per click for that keyword.
- SEM Rush also provides long-tail keyword tool, charts to compare SEO metrics as well as your competition's ads.
Keywords in your Domain Name
Putting keywords relevant to your content in your domain name will increase the chances of getting targeted website traffic for your niche.
Put yourself in the user's shoes
When weaving keywords into your site, think about if you were the user searching. If you use that long tail keyword phrase, will it result in the end user finding what they are looking for? If the answer is no, move on and select another keyword.
Now, let's look at some free keyword tools to help you find and research your keyword ideas.
Free Keyword Tools
Google AdWords Keyword Tool
Adwords is a free keyword search tool that I personally use all the time. Let's be real about it, Google is top-notch at what they do so I trust their keyword statics.
- Create a Google AdWords account.
- Login to Google AdWords, navigate to Tools and Analysis and Keyword Tool.
- Enter the word or phrase you are thinking of using as your keyword. At the bottom, the keyword tool will display different variations of your keyword to give you possible keyword ideas for your web page.
- Also included are keyword statistics that provide you with keyword competition, global and monthly searches for that keyword or phrase.
- The online keyword search with Wordstream provides you with data on how many times a keyword was searched on in a month. It also show searches that are related to that keyword.
- WordStream also offers a free keyword grouper that will automatically group a list of up to 1,000 keywords in relation to your keyword.
- Another powerful tool is their free keyword niche finder. You start with broad keywords such as "cars" to ensure no potential niche is missed. The results will give you ideas to find a hot niche you may have missed.
You have to host your website somewhere right? Why not go with a Site Build It all inclusive package that includes all the tools you could ever need to build a profitable business website.
- While you can still use the free keyword tools, having a tool like Brainstorm It is a must have to dominate your niche.
- Brainstorm It is a keyword selection tool to provide you with keyword statistics and suggestions to help you find the most profitable niches. Brainstorm It is an absolute must for a successful keyword search strategy.
- Not only that, but Brainstorm It provides you with two additional keyword tools that will bring back 10-20 times more keywords than every other third party keyword tool out there.
- If there's a keyword that contains your "niche" keyword out there, Brainstorm It will return it to you.
- Site Build It's Brainstorming tool goes above and beyond when it comes to revealing the true keyword competition.
- Site Build It offers a free 90 day trial. Once you use their tools, you'll see they are well worth the money (and it's not expensive).
In summary, your keyword search strategy will be ongoing throughout the life of your website. Choosing relevant keywords for your content will put you on the way to a better search engine ranking than your competition. If your end users love you, so will the search engines.
Dominate Your Niche!!
Related Articles
Choosing Keywords for Your Website
What are Long Tail Keyword Phrases and How do they fit into your Keyword Search Strategy
How to Choose a Winning Domain Name
Choosing What Type of Website to Build
How to Use The Google Keyword Search Tool
