What are Keywords?

Keywords are terms or phrases that, when implemented into your website, can help connect you with people who are looking for what you do. In other words, when the keywords you use on your site are in alignment with the search terms people use to find the specific products or services you offer, there’s a better chance Google will present your website higher in the search results.

For example, if you were a dentist in Los Angeles, CA, phrases like “Dentist,” and “Dentist Los Angeles” would be good keywords because they’re actually terms people use to find a dentist in Los Angeles, CA.

Picking the Best Keywords

The quality of your keywords makes a big difference in how effective they are. Many factors go into determining which keywords are best for your website and blog, including:

• The size of your site
• How long it’s been around
• How many people are searching for a specific keyword phrase within the region(s) where you do business
• How much competition you’ll be facing for that particular keyword or keyword phrase
• How relevant a keyword phrase is for your business or organization

Making Your List

When optimizing content, you don’t want to have just one keyword phrase that you hammer on ad nauseam. Instead, you’ll want to create a well-rounded list of keyword phrases for every web page and blog post. Depending on the topic and the content length, this list could include 3–5 keyword phrases or more than a dozen. 

No matter the length of the list, make sure every single phrase is relevant to the topic, service or product you “discuss” in your content. Some call this “topic-based SEO,” among other things, but we just call it good writing.

For instance, if you have a pet food store that caters to dogs, well-written copy won’t be limited to dog food. You’ll want to talk about food for puppies as well as for older dogs … about different breeds of dogs and what foods might be best for them … and don’t forget dog treats! You might even want to cover how the foods you sell affect not only canine general health, but also canine dental health. You get the idea. Well-rounded keyword usage helps produce well-rounded content that’s good for the human eye — and for SEO.

Want to learn more about keywords and optimizing your website? Check out A Holistic Guide to Online Marketing by Joey Donovan Guido (our fearless leader over here at Cuppa SEO). Or, contact us anytime to schedule a complimentary consultation — we’re happy to take care of optimizing your website for you!

More SEO Tips …
– Optimizing Your Website: SEO By The Numbers
– Does Every Website Need SEO?
– 5 Simple Ways to Optimize Your Blog for Better SEO
– Soup Up Your Sub Headlines with SEO

The post Selecting the Best Keywords for Your Website appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

Shocking as it may be, the one-time deal is true. Well, at least partially. Perhaps a more accurate statement would be, “search engine optimization (SEO) for your website is a one-time deal.”

When you think about it from a technology standpoint, it’s pretty amazing SEO remains the gold standard for getting your website “seen” by search engines. Though some adjustments have been made because of changes in search engine algorithms, the standard practice of SEO has been in place since the late 1990s!

As a Cuppa SEO reader, you probably know that. However, did you also know once your website is optimized with rich keywords, no monthly “tweaking” of them is necessary? Yep, it’s true. Unless you add a new page or image, etc., once your website is optimized, that’s it.

Unfortunately, you’d be amazed at the number of SEO service providers who charge monthly retainers to keep clients’ website keywords “fresh.”

You see, SEO is both a one-time setup and an ongoing process. You apply it to your website first and then bump up your traffic and search results through blogging and social media activity. As an example for the website part of the picture, we audit a client’s website and identify every page, image, URL, nook and cranny for search engine optimization opportunities. A keyword report is generated to identify which keywords will pack the most punch for your business, and we use them to get the attention of search engine crawlers. Think of it this way: search engine crawlers are “blind” and keywords are the braille allowing them to “see” what needs to be indexed for a search engine results page (SERP). So, this means you want the keywords on your website to remain fixed, to make sure search engines recognize your site as a credible source to be displayed on a SERP. It also means you need to generate ongoing, keyword-rich content to attract even more attention from the search engines.

Now, to some readers, this information may not be all that new. But, when thinking about the many customers who have come to us after experiencing retainer-based “freshening” that did more harm than good to their site’s authority — not to mention depleting their budget with no results to show for it―a quick SEO recap seemed appropriate. In fact, you may want to pour it into your mental cup and drink up.

The post Search Engine Optimization is a One-time Deal? appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

If you’re a business owner, you’ve probably heard the term, “keywords” referred to more than once in relation to your website. And although you may know they’re a critical element in search engine optimization (SEO), you may be wondering what keywords are exactly — and how the heck do you use them?

Keywords are Like a Phone Number

Keywords are words or phrases that help define what your website, and each of your web pages, is about. When researched and implemented correctly, they help Google and other search engines find you when someone is searching for what you do, sell or talk about.

Like the digits in your phone number, the sum of all of your keywords — coupled with the content on each of your web pages — tells Google exactly where to find you. In other words, keywords are identifiers that help search engines pair a person’s query, like “ice cream Madison WI,” with relevant results — in this case ice cream parlors in Madison.

Where you wind up in search results is contingent on many factors, including how well your site is optimized with keywords, how relevant your content is, how large your site is, how long it has been around, as well as other factors.

Based on these criteria, when someone searches for a particular phrase Google looks for matches and provides a list of results in the order of relevance Google’s algorithm, which is called Google Panda, believes is best.

What are the different types of keywords?

Main Keywords
Exactly what they sound like, these are the main keywords you’ll use on a web page. For instance, for this blog post, my main keywords phrases are, “what are keywords” and “keywords.” Through a bit of research, I’ve gleaned that these are good keywords to use for this particular topic. They have a good amount of searches each month, and they have very little competition from other marketing & SEO agencies.

Semantic & Secondary Keywords
Semantic and secondary keywords play a supporting role in the optimization of a web page. They’re good to use, but don’t have the oomph that a main keyword has, typically for a couple of reasons: (1) they have low search numbers, and/or (2) they have high competition. Someone who’s novice at SEO may use these as main keywords, or may overlook them completely. Two secondary keyword phrases in this article are “SEO keywords” and “long-tail keywords,” while “marketing and “Google Panda” are semantic keywords.

The truth is that using semantic keywords can sometimes unite a web page in a way that Google really likes — helping improve its authority and ranking in search results. Think about it, would you rather read an article that repeated the same keyword phrases over and over? Or one that offered some amount of variety and nuance?

Long-tail Keywords
This is a fancy term for using keyword phrases that are on the longer side. Typically, they fall into the semantic or secondary keyword category, but sometimes these longer phrases actually pack a lot of punch. Long-tail keywords are usually specific, like “wooden MacBook Pro laptop stand.” This exact phrase, researched in a linear fashion, actually gets ZERO searches per month. But its specificity helps produce excellent results, as each word is a defining element — especially “wooden.” Broken down into smaller elements like “laptop stand” and “MacBook laptop stand,” this phrase yields higher monthly search results.

Sometimes long-tail keywords start off with only a small amount of hits, only to gain popularity over time as a service or product gains traction in your industry — making the phrase a more important component of a website.

How to Gain an SEO Advantage

At best, individuals who don’t fully understand SEO people typically choose keywords they believe people are searching for. At worst, they don’t purposefully choose any keywords at all. This puts them at a disadvantage vs. a business that has taken the time, or hired a professional, to create a keyword report and implement optimal keywords into their website.

To gain an advantage over your competitors, you’ll need to make sure you’re using the very best keywords on each of your web pages in key areas including title tags, page copy and headlines. These aren’t always the keywords that get the most hits per month. Instead, they’re the ones that are going to have the most impact on getting you found. If you’re not sure how to do this, Cuppa SEO can help with a customized keyword report and SEO implementation that optimizes every nook and cranny of your website.

Ready to learn more?
Whether you have questions about keywords and SEO, or are ready to move forward with optimizing your website, feel free to contact Cuppa SEO to set up a complimentary meeting to discuss things further. We’re happy to learn more about your business, your goals and your immediate needs.

The post What are Keywords, and How Can They Help Your Website? appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

To me, keywords are like the frosting on a cake. They can attract someone to try a slice, but if the cake is stale even the best frosting can’t save it.

Your content works the same way. It needs to be fresh, rich, relevant and delicious. If it’s stale, the search engines and the people who visit your site will be left with a bad taste in their mouth.

Content is part of good SEO. More than ever before, it plays a large role in where you rank with the search engines — and it’s always been the deciding factor of where you rank with humans.

Google Panda, the king of search engine algorithms, has gotten so smart that it can assess the quality of your content much like the human brain can. Great content now trumps keywords, but that doesn’t mean you should stop using them.

Solid keywords, with a good search to competition ratio, coupled with fresh content is your best recipe for success on your website and blog.

I recommend a hot cuppa coffee for good measure!

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