SEO Tip number 2: Use Keywords as Much as Possible

Last time, we emphasized how writing better can help boost your blog’s search engine ranking. This time we’ll be talking about keywords. Keywords help search engines understand what your content is all about. When you have chocolates for a keyword, then it’s clear to them that your blog is about chocolates.


Basically, these are what keywords do to your blog:

• Search engines index your blog using these keywords
• People will find your blog easily
• Search engines will rank you better (depends on how you’re using your keywords)
  

The last part comes with a pair of parenthesis because if you’re just putting too many keywords with the intention of getting more traffic and more visibility on those keywords with an absent or weak consistency with your actual content then you’ll end up in “Google’s sandbox” where you either get less indexing or no indexing at all.


Maximize the benefits you get from keywords by putting them in some or all of these areas depending on what best fit your blog:

***Arranged in order of importance***

• Keywords in the title tag
  This is the title that appears in your browser’s topmost portion or, in tabbed cases, in the tabs. This can be your blog’s title or your post’s title. It’s best if you have a blog title that serves as a keyword for what your blog is generally all about. Also, every time you write a post, make sure that it contains keywords relevant to your post’s body.


• Keywords in the body text
  Your keywords must also be found in your post’s body text, especially in the opening paragraph. This is where you’ll generally form other related keywords and keyword phrases. Always remember that they should help make sense of your post and not stand out as if accidentally placed in there. However, if too many keywords would demise your post’s reader experience, don’t sacrifice it. Readers should always come first.


• Keywords in H1 tags
  They are also called header tags along with H2, H3, and H4. They add emphasis to your blog’s headings and sub-headings similar to bold (b/strong) or italics (i/em). Although it’s not too necessary, it must be emphasized in well optimized page and very useful for organizing page content.


• Keyword in your domain name
  Okay, this part hits me clearly. What’s “ulupong” got to do with earning money online or blogging? Anyways, if you’re just about to buy a new domain or start a new blog, think of a name that makes sense with the general topic or niche of your blog.


• Keywords in anchor texts
  Anchor texts are weighed highly in search engine algorithms, because the linked text is supposed to be relevant to the landing page.


• Keywords in images
  The Alt and Title attributes are usually the ones involved here. Their values should contain keywords also. The image filename also has to be, at least, relevant to your post. It might not help you that much in rankings but when it comes to image searches, which most search engines incorporate nowadays, it’s definitely a plus.


• Keywords in bold tags
  Not critically important but try using it at least once or twice in your posts.


• Keywords in meta tags
  Back when the search engines were still young and naïve, these tags were heavily used to index every site available in the web. Today, although there are still who argue that it’s still useful, SEO leaders hardly believe they have any importance at all. These are “meta description” and “meta keyword” tags which is found in your blog’s head tags.

Keywords can be a pain in the ass if you’re not used in actively incorporating them in your blog but the reward will always be great as long as you use them wisely and appropriately.

The only thing that’s a big “DON’T” in keywords is overusing them which basically tears your blog’s value apart unless yours is a “splog”.

If you have anything else to add here, please feel free to do so in the comments area.



technorati tags: SEO tips, keywords

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