Current Keyword Strategies
As a writer, you have little control over keywords. Your client gives you the keywords that she wants you to use and her desired density, and you need to follow those requests. Hopefully your client knows about the latest SEO techniques and changes in Google algorithms, but even if he doesn’t, your job is to fulfill your client’s request, not to choose keywords that you think would be better.
Having said that here are some tips on incorporating keywords most effectively.
Place Keywords in Your Subheaders
Readers appreciate subheaders with accurate keywords because they can easily tell what the next section will tell us. Scanners can also see your ideas just by scanning your subheaders. Similarly, subheaders with keywords are an easy way for algorithms to assess what your content is about.
Identify Your Keyword Concept
Google’s algorithms no longer focus on single keywords. Rather, they’re interested in your keyword concept/theme — what your page is focused on.
If your client has given you keywords to use, definitely include them at the desired density. Just don’t feel limited by the specified keywords. Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) looks at all the words on a webpage and decides what that page is about based on the groups of related words that appear most.
So, if you’re trying to optimize a page about keyword techniques, you shouldn’t just use the phrase “keyword techniques”. Include words like SEO, LSI, ranking, algorithm, and longtail as well.
Words that are related to your keyword concept will help with rankings, even if they aren’t the exact ones that your client provided. So, use the keywords and density that your client requested, but if there’s another word that fits more naturally into one of your sentences, use that too.
Longtail Keywords: Be Number One in Specifics
You can be number one! Yes, your website can have the highest ranking, it just needs to have a specific keyword. Let’s face it, ranking highly on a broad and popular keyword is unlikely, but if you make your keywords more specific, you have a better chance of reaching the top.
Look for ways that you can modify the keywords your client gives you to make them more specific and focused on what the client is providing.
If “cupcakes” is one of your keywords and your client is a vegan bakery on Long Island, use the longtail keyword “vegan cupcakes Long Island” as well.
You’re still using the keyword “cupcake”, but you’ve also made that keyword more specific by modifying it with “vegan” and “Long Island”. Your client has a much better chance of ranking first for “vegan cupcakes Long Island” than for “cupcakes”.
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