In this post your're going to find clarity with your keywords. I have to be honest, I love keywords. Not only do they help you get found by the right people they also help your content stay on message, more on that in a minute.
Keywords draw search traffic, and this means you can use them in any content that's searchable. This includes YouTube video descriptions and Facebook posts, Twitter updates, social medial profiles and anywhere you have to add a bio. That's right, anything that can be searched and anywhere you can found by prospects means you need to use keywords.
What Are Keywords?
Keywords are the phrases that people (preferably those lovely people looking for your products and services) type into the search box of a search engine. The search engine then scoops up a heap of pages and says “ta da! this is just what you're searching for… go and click something!”.
The customer of a search engine is the searcher or the person looking for answers, it's not you, it's not me and we are only rewarded with better placements on the search page when someone is looking for that specific piece of content that we've created.
Think about how you search when you're looking for something. Although they're called keywords, you often type sentences and questions into the search engines and if you're Ben's nan you even say please and thank you :).
Keywords where you type between 1 and 3 words are known as short tail keywords. If you type in 4+ keywords in the search engine it's now a longtail keyword.
Example:
Short tail keyword: Homemade Milkshake
Longtail Keyword: How to make a homemade chocolate milkshake
Longtail keywords are superb for attracting in the perfect clients simply because the searcher knows what they're looking for.
Where to Find Keywords?
There are tools you can use to work out what your client attracting keywords are. Good keywords are the ones that people use, preferably people with a budget, also known as buyer keywords. My favourite conversation with the coaches I work with is something along these lines:
Me: “What keywords are you currently optimising for?”
Them: “Finding clarity”
Me: “Who searches for finding clarity?”
Them: “Business owners who are looking for help with sleeping at night”
Me: “And…”
Them “Erm…. Erm…. Ermmmm”
And there you have it, clarity may be what they get but it's not what they're searching for.
The among the most popular are the Google AdWords Keyword Tool, which is free to use. You can enter keywords around what you do and the tool will tell you how many searches your keywords get. It will also suggest other keywords to use. Remember this tool is designed to sell you Adwords, so look around at other tools.
I use Market Samurai and Longtail Pro, among others. If you are on a budget, I recommend you get the free 30-day trail with Market Samurai, follow their guides and you'll swiftly earn enough to purchase the tool. There's also the SBi plugin for self-hosted WordPress sites that also have a trial that will help you get started.
A paid keyword research tool is worth its weight in gold simply because it will show you a lot of the hidden gem keywords that the Adwords tool doesn't.
How to Use Keywords
There is no carved in stone guidelines where to use your chosen keywords. If possible, you should use the keyword in the title, headings and first paragraph of your content. Using Yoast SEO on your WordPress website will help you put the keywords in the right place on your site and in your content. I also use SEOpressor to optimise for several keywords and add in schema aspects to the content.
The idea is to use the keywords as naturally as possible. Don't think that having lots of them in your content will make it perform better. When you “stuff” your content with keywords it becomes harder to read. We've all seen those pages that repeat the same phrase over and over and over again, and the majority of the time we click away. Keyword stuffing can also get your site penalised by the search engines.
Keywords need to be read by human beings. Adding keywords in white text to a white background so the search engines can see them but people can't see them will also earn you a penalty. When it comes to keywords and your SEO, think of them as one ingredient for the recipe, and too much of them changes the flavour.
Keywords Are Not the Be-All End-All Of Getting Found
Although they go a heck of a long way in seeing you get discovered by the right people. Keywords are important for getting your content displayed in search engines, but it's not everything SEO. What's most important is that your content is original, helpful and the best quality you can manage.
What will you be discovered for?
Sarah
Great reminder thank you Sarah in reminding me to use keywords. I was about to type up a blog and forgot to consider keywords.
I want to be discovered as an artist. Unfortunately though it’s a lot harder to blog and get discovered in the creative field, because unlike a straight forward business that finds someone’s “pain” and figures out what keeps them awake at night, and their ideal customer is Mrs X with 2 kids and dog and shops at John Lewis, – with art, people don’t stay awake at night worrying what they can put on their blank wall. Nor do they probably give much thought as to the ideal present for their loved one.
It’s not their “pain” that I have to solve but their “joy” I deal with. Keyword search is harder as a result. I’d love to read a blog about “what do you blog about when you’re ideal customer can be various people of various ages and various incomes and they don’t have a pain or stay awake at night” type of blog and don’t realise they need your product so are not searching for it. Great post though, and I’ll keep trying to think of keywords 🙂 x
Hiya Joan, in the blogging group is a video especially for you and how to write about art in order to attract in buyers. It was recorded late at night via FB live, when it was very humid! And here’s a link to the post that answers the question too https://www.wolfcraftsurvival.com/but-i-have-more-than-one-ideal-customer-what-now/
Hi Sarah,
I use Yoast for keywords. Once the green light is on, then I can publish. I was never a keyword fan….maybe it was because when I first came into the blogging world, almost everything I read back then was keyword stuffed and made no sense lol.
I like the way you explained how a person that wanted to be found by “clarity” dug down deeper and used the “overwhelm” word. You are so awesome!
When it comes to long tail pro….I do have to use that more often so thank you for reminding me of that one.
At the end of the day, I focus more on writing for others that keywords. But then when I’m editing in my back office I will notice that my friend Yoast reminds me to put my mind into some SEO.
I can be a scatter brain sometimes.
-Donna
Writing for human beings, for the people we want to connect with is at the heart of good SEO, because it’s all about the reader, which is what you’re about too. I have to admit I don’t optimise every post, but the ones I do optimise for tend to do okay 🙂
Hi Sarah,
That’s great content to help people understand this keyword thing. It can be so overwhelming for beginners but I think you make its understanding so simple.
I do use a couple of keywords tools and Google Search Console is one of them. Unfortunately, people don’t understand the value of this free tool. It’s what helps you see the things that are working already for you so you can optimize and get better results.
Thanks for the clarity in this post Sarah and do have a wonderful weekend
Hey Sarah,
Great job in explain what keywords are and how they are used. I usually use them if I’m promoting a particular tool, product, or service.
I’m glad that you mentioned to avoid keyword stuffing. You can definitely get penalized for it, especially if your post don’t make sense at all. Search engines are much smarter and can easily pick this up.
Great share Sarah! Have a great week!
That made it really clear Sarah. Thank you. My problem is the old chestnut – no idea what I want to be searched for!
That’s a common one. What do you tell people you do? That’s probably what you want to be found for, and if it isn’t… you need to be telling a new story around what you do 🙂