Keywords are the words people type into search engines when they’re looking for products, services or information. More than half of all online quality sales leads begin with a keyword search. There are more than 200 search engines worldwide – which means your keyword list is the most important starting point when optimising your website for search engine optimisation (SEO).

Research your keywords

Since your keyword list is the integral tool in optimising your website, you need to make sure that your list is comprehensive and relevant to attract online traffic to your website – and beat your competitors. There are keywords and keyword phrases, for example ‘electrician’ (keyword) and ‘certified electricians Newbury’. Using keyword phrases gives your website more relevance to online searches.

Target your market

When compiling your keyword list you need to have your target audience in mind. Do your products or services appeal to a specific audience? Your first steps should by identifying what keywords or key phrases your competitors use to get top placings in search engine result pages. Once you’re aware of what keywords your competitors are using then you can begin to build your own keyword list. Look for areas in your business that makes you unique from your competitors. For example, if you’re an electrician and offer a referral discount, then you may consider have a keyword phrase something like ‘electrician competitive rates’.

Relevant keywords

Your keyword list needs to be relevant to the landing website pages. Online visitors don’t spend too long scrolling through webpages if they don’t find what they’re looking for within the first few seconds. So make sure your landing pages – those tagged with the keywords – offer online visitors the specific information they’ve searched for.

Need a little help?

There’s plenty of help available from SEO companies that are able to research keywords specifically for your website. Many software packages are easily available that offer you keyword research tools to help you filter the relevant keywords for your website. Having a little help from the professionals is worthwhile as they’ll have the skills to decipher topics related to your website that online users are currently looking for. They’ll also have the know-how of extracting what search phrases people use to find specific products or services, plus the keywords that drive online traffic to your competitors.

Dare to be different?

Our initial thoughts are to use the obvious keywords which no doubt are used by most of our competitors. So try to avoid filling your keyword list with the most popular keywords. Consider keywords that may link with a topical event or current trends – and that are still relevant to your website.

What’s next?

Once you’ve researched and compiled your keyword list you can begin threading them throughout your website content. This needs to be done carefully so you don’t patronise or bore your online visitors. Try to not to overload your SEO content with keywords so that it doesn’t make sense. Instead, use careful thought and write your content so that it is engaging, but at the same time carries your keywords to ensure optimisation.

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