What are keywords?
Keywords are ideas and topics that define what your content is about. In SEO terms, these are the words and phrases that users type into search engines to find content, also known as "search queries". When you summarize everything on your page - all images, videos, text, etc. - down to simple words and phrases, these are your main keywords.
As a website owner and content creator, you want the keywords on your page to be relevant to what people are searching for so they are more likely to find your content among the results on the search engine results page (SERP).
Why are keywords important?
Keywords are important because they are the link between what people are looking for and the content you provide to fill that need. Your goal in search engine ranking is to drive organic traffic from the SERPs to your website, and the keywords you target (i.e., the ones you want to include in your content, among others) determine what kind of traffic You have to pick up. For example, if you own a golf shop, you might want to rank for “new clubs” — but if you're not careful, you could end up attracting visitors interested in finding a new place to dance after dark.
Keywords are about both your audience and your content, as they can describe what you offer a little differently than how your audience is actually searching for it. To create content that ranks well organicallyeBringing visitors to your website means you need to understand their needs - the language they are using and the type of content they are looking for. You can do this by talking to your customers, joining forums and community groups, and creating your ownkeyword searchwith a tool likeKeyword Explorer.
With the you will learn more about how to understand and listen to your customersMoz Keyword Research Certification.
Was sind Long-Tail-Keywords?
Keywords can be broad and far-reaching (often referred to as "top keywords" or "starter keywords") or a more specific combination of terms - often referred to as "long-tail keywords."
Targeting and ranking for individual keywords seems to be your end goal as they often have an enticingly high rate.search volume, which means more people are looking for them. However, they usually have it extremely difficultCompetition. For example, you might want your clothing store to rank under "Clothing," but it will be difficult to rank across sites like Amazon, H&M, and Nordstrom.
Adding to this stiff competition, unique keywords can be annoyingly vague. When someone searches for "dog," you don't know if they want a list of dog breeds, information about dog food, a place to buy a leash, or just a website with cute pictures of dogs.
Long-Tail-Keywordsusually have a more clearly defined intent. For example "best organic dog food for a puppy" or "cheap dog walkers in Seattle". You may find that long-tail keywords have less competition and give room for a smaller website to break into the SERPs and make a name for itself.
Want to understand how long-tail keywords can help you get a head start in the SERPs? OSEO Keyword Research Guidecan help!
“The long tail of search is the unlimited space for low-volume (and generally low-competition) keywords. Tactically, long-tail SEO focuses onCompete for a large number of low-volume keywordsinstead of focusing on a small set of high-volume keywords.”
Dr. Pete Meyers -Long-Tail-SEOnot a moz blog
Where to Use Keywords for SEO
There are some basic keyword usage rules that you should follow to get started. Each page of your site should use unique keywords in areas that bots and humans typically search for to reassure them that you have what they are looking for.
Some of the most important areas to place your primary keywords in include:
URL
title tags
meta description
Page title (H1)
Subtitles (H2)
body of your content
(Video) What are Keywords and How to Choose Them? 1.1. SEO Course by AhrefsAlternative Image Attributes
Many of these elements can be customized after you publish your content. Except for the URL, which you shouldn't change.
A URL is the web address of your page and appears in search results, is used to build links, and is displayed in the address bar. URLs must be constructed in a way that is easy to read and includes your target keywords. Use a simple and understandable URL structure from the start to avoid future changes.
Title tags appear in search results and in the browser tab. They have to be written for humans and optimized for robots, which is a difficult balance! As this is a prime property all your skills of conciseness and encouraging clicks will be put to the test. This leads to an important point: the pitfalls of clickbait. You may think you'll get more clicks by offering enticingly vague titles for your content, but by obscuring what the page is really about, you obscure the true intent of the page and reject some of the power of keywords.
Meta descriptions appear in search results, are known to impact user behavior, and in some cases can be rewritten by Google. Add a unique meta description for each page and don't forget to include your target keywords.
H1 tags appear in your page content and can help format your content for human consumption and demonstrate the relevance of the topic to robots.
The body of your content should of course contain the keywords you are targeting. There's no point in just throwing keywords at your page. Your goal should be to create compelling content that provides real value to the user. Writing high-quality, accurate, unique, and engaging relevant content for human visitors that sends strong signals to our robot friends at Google is often the most time-consuming and rewarding part of optimizing your content for target keywords.
Often ignored by site owners, image alt text offers value to visitors who cannot view images, and can have the added benefit of providing bots with context for your images.
Putting your keywords in these areas is the easiest way to target your content to searchers. It won't get you to the top of the results right away, but it's an essential SEO; If you don't follow these basic steps, you may not be classified in any other way.
Keyword research best practices
Conduct keyword research to better understand your audience and gather industry relevant keywords
Combine your keywords withuser intent
(Video) How to Choose the RIGHT Keywords for SEOUse your primary keywords in title tags, on-page content, H1 tags, and if possible in your page URL, meta description, and alternative attributes—only where it makes sense, of course.Don't fill in keywordswhere they make no sense!
Conduct keyword research regularly to stay up to date with trends
Use keywords to formulate a content strategy
While you can often start with a keyword and create content around that term, sometimes your content already exists and you need to figure out how to match it to your keywords. To do this, create something called "Keyword Map Content." Creating this map can help you understand the impact of your existing content and identify pain points or gaps that need to be filled.
Because keywords define every page of your website, you can use them to organize your content and formulate strategy. The easiest way to do this is to create a spreadsheet (your "keyword content card") and identify your main keyword for each article. You can customize your spreadsheet according to your own requirements, add keyword search volume,organic traffic,site authority, and any other metrics that are important to your business.
Ideally, you want every page on your site to target a unique primary keyword. In general, your homepage will target a very broad industry notion, and as you create category pages, product pages, and articles, they will delve deeper into your niche and address more specific needs.
"So when it comes to using product synonyms to scale your SEO strategy, the key is to align the user's search intent with a product use case that helps them."
Adriana Stein - not a moz blog
frequently asked questions
How do I discover popular keywords?
You can discover popular keywords by looking at competitors in your industry and by understanding the keywords your customers are searching for. A great way to discover popular keywords is to use themMoz Keyword Explorer-Tool. Just enter a keyword related to your main topic and the tool will show you other related keywords along with a search volume metric. You can filter to see the keywords with the highest search volume. But be careful, frequently searched terms are not always the best keywords!
What is a keyword strategy?
A keyword strategy is a plan that you create based on the results of your keyword research. This includes the target keywords you choose and where and how you place them on your page. Your keyword strategy supports your broader SEO strategy. Strategies involve setting goals and working to achieve them; They help you measure the success of your hard work.
How many types of keywords are there?
We talked about "head" keywords, also known as "seed" keywords and "long tail" keywords. There are, of course, all those keywords between the head and long tail that you could call middle keywords. You can break down all of these keywords into more specific types of keywords, e.g. B. Brand or product-related terms (i.e. when brand is in the term, e.g. "Harley Davidson motorcycle parts") and keywords based on location (e.g. "best coffee in Seattle").
What is a primary keyword?
A primary keyword is a keyword that the content revolves around. The main keyword is the main topic of the page. This primary keyword can be used as a starting point to find other keywords related to a given topic.
What is the difference between a keyword phrase and a keyword?
A keyword is a word, usually these "start" keywords. While a keyword phrase is made up of multiple words, these are typically "long-tail" keywords. A keyword has a high search volume and is very competitive, and a keyword phrase usually has a lower search volume and is less competitive
keep learning
What is keyword research?
Understand exact match keywords
Target multiple keywords on a single page
SEO Beginner's Guide: Keyword Research
Der SEO Keyword Research Master Guide
Moz Academy Keyword Research Certification
Webinar - Increase Volume: Powerful Keyword Research
Use your skills
All your keyword research in one tool.
The SEO keyword research tool with 500+ million keywords driving traffic.