10 Tips for Finding a Focus Keyword That Really Works for Your SEO
by Robert Clough
Using the wrong keywords on your website is almost as bad as none at all. Here are some proven tips for finding that focus keyword that will work for your SEO.
So you’re looking for ways to boost your organic traffic. Optimizing your website is a must to get those new readers or customers to visit your site. You may have heard about strategies from White Hat SEO to using long-tail keywords.
Some websites turn to keyword stuffing, which is the wrong strategy. If you want to boost your search engine ranking, you must focus on using the right focus keyword for SEO. This term refers to the keyword you want your website or post to rank for.
Do you want your site to show on your reader or customer searches for certain terms? If so, you must use focus keywords that rank for that term. Don’t know how to find the right marketing keywords for your content?
We’ve you covered. Here are 10 must-know tips to optimize your website using focus keywords.
1. Choose Your Focus Keywords Before Writing Your Content
Many websites only focus on writing relevant content. When you write content without using marketing keywords, you risk missing the opportunity to bring organic traffic to your site. What topic will resonate with your readers?
Remember that to boost your rankings, you must share relevant content. After picking the topic, it’s essential to choose the right marketing keywords to guide your content writing process.
2. Research Alternative Keywords
Finding the best focus keywords will come down to your research. Test different keywords aiming for potential searches from your readers or customers. A great tool is search engines auto-complete such as Google, YouTube, and Bing.
Keyword examples are the focus term for a website of a surety bond provider in Texas. You may try to use surety bonds in Texas as your keyword.
But, you may consider using Texas commercial surety bond or Texas construction surety bond instead. These two keywords might bring more organic traffic due to less competition for ranking against other sites.
3. Don’t Use General Keywords
Many websites fall into the trap of using general keywords. These terms may be popular but, you won’t be able to rank well for these words. If you are a business owner, your website will be competing against national businesses for that top spot.
You should focus on using keywords that your customer might search. What are your customer’s everyday problems? How can you help them?
Do you provide local services? These questions can help you find relevant keywords tailored to your customer.
4. Use Your Keyword as Your Title Tag
Your title tag can’t be longer than 60 characters. It’s important to keep your keyword phrase in that range.
Don’t fall into the trap of stuffing as many keywords as possible in your tag. You should use your main keyword phrase as your title tag to tell search engines about the relevancy of your content.
5. Don’t Use Stop Words in Your Focus Keywords
Yes, your keywords should be grammatically correct and sound natural. But, it’s important to stay away from using stop words in your focus keywords.
Search engines such as Google and Bing only use keywords not sentences to rank your website. Therefore, you should consider leaving out any stop words in your keywords.
6. Always Try to Use Long-Tail Keywords
You designed your website around a topic or service aimed at a certain reader or customer. This might tempt you to use keywords related to the topic or service. An example is how a bond provider website may use bail bonds as their main keyword.
Even though this marketing keyword may be popular in similar sites, using it may not be the best strategy. High search volume long tail keywords are more competitive to rank for. If you want to optimize your website, you should choose focused keywords that fit your content.
In this example, that website could consider using Dallas Texas Bail Bonds as their keyword instead. It will boost the site ranking for local customers. Most customers that search a specific term are ready to make the purchase.
A great example is how Investor Mint uses long tail keywords such as “Live a Richer Life” and “Make Smarter Decisions” on their homepage. These are popular search terms among readers seeking financial advice.
7. Check the Search Volume of Your Keyword Phrase Using Google Trends
Choosing the best keyword is half the game. Before using it in your content, you must check the search volume of the term.
Google Trends is one of the best tools to gain insight into the search terms used the most. This tool allows you to compare the search volume between your keyword and other search terms. You should use this feature to learn how your focus keywords will compete against other terms.
8. Use Published Content as Reference for Potential Traffic Volume
Have you published content that ranks well for certain keywords? If so, how many visitors did it attract? You could compare the search volume of this term against your keyword.
This comparison can provide insight into the potential traffic volume of your new content. Keep in mind that you should only compare similar pieces of content.
9. Don’t Underestimate the Power of Secondary Phrases
You may think that using keywords is the only way to optimize your website. But, only focusing on the main keywords isn’t the best strategy. Optimizing your website takes a complete approach.
Besides focus keywords, you should also incorporate secondary phrases in your content. These phrases should relate to your focus keywords. Use them to enrich your content without overstuffing them.
10. Use Your Focus Keyword in Your Headline, Subheadlines, and Content
Some content writers think that using keywords many times in the content will help their rankings. That’s far from the truth. Keyword stuffing can get your website flagged by a search engine.
There isn’t a set formula for how many times you should use your focus keywords in your content. But, it’s recommended that you use it in your headers where possible. As well as scattering it around your subheaders, introduction, body, and conclusion.
Don’t force it though! Your writing must always sound natural to the reader.
Bottom Line
Using the right focus keyword in your content will do wonders for your organic traffic and rankings. It’s important to develop the best strategy for your website. Focus on your customer needs and your services or products to find the right approach.
Want to learn more ways to optimize your website? Read this article to learn must-know SEO tricks today.
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