In the most recent past we've heard a lot about how keywords are not the be all and end all of the search engine. While the way that Google operates their algorithms may change on a regular basis it is absurd to think that what you put into the internet won't be churned out!
A lot of newbies hear all the tech speak about "keywords" and "optimisation" and grab snippets from all over the place but unless they get some form of education be it in a course,or a qualification, or by extended reading, that's what it remains. Snippets. Knowing where to look to find the information can also take years. So here are some resources.
When a client hears that their Strategist optimises keywords usually it is just a whole lot of techno jargon that just goes right over their heads. So what exactly is it, and why is it important?
Keyword optimisation is associated with the research analysis and selection of the best targeted keywords that will drive qualified traffic from search engines to the desired url (website) This is part of, but don't be mistaken, not all of the process in Search engine optimisation.
I am often also astounded to see how many people will pay huge amounts of money for a once off optimisation service and then wonder why their page ranking indeed goes up, but then progressively drops.
Keyword optimisation is an ongoing task and requires maintenance with new keyword opportunities need to be discovered and cultivated. After all if you don't do it, the competition will.
By expanding the keyword database, and cultivating the target words, performing regular analyses and monitoring performance levels, site traffic, and leads will continue to grow.
All this may be very well, but if you don't start off with the right and most appropriate keywords, it could take a long time to get it right, and that means lost clients customers and leads.
It may sound all very simple and cut and paste, but actually most good strategists will tell you that keyword ooptimisation can be the single most difficult task involved in SEO.
Remarkably many people are not prepared to pay for skilled strategists to work on this part of their digital marketing and indeed do not understand the loss. If you dont have the correct keywords, you dont get the traffic, you arent found online and your site doesnt perform. In some cases the construction of a whistles and bells website is completely moot, because the lack of keyword optimisation, renders it undiscoverable.
To cut a long story short practicing search engine keyword optimisation should do these things:
- Drive traffic (not any traffic, but qualified traffic) to your website
- Analyse popular keywords by measuring the potential of traffic
Include effective content which incorporates optimised keywords into your website
- Understanding the language of your customers, means that you will know what they are searching for and how.
Keyword optimisation is vital in every aspect of digital marketing, content strategy and link building inclusing the grouping of keywords in Google Adwords, Ad groups, not however ignoring sites information architecture.
So how do you ensure that your site is keyword optimised?
- Your keywords must appear in the title tag -front loaded
- Link building strategy is an integral part of keyword optimisation -link text should be tracked and managed.Include keywords in your link names.
- Image alt attribute and filenames should be keyword optimised
- Despite the debate over met optimisation, there is little doubt that the keyword connection produces more clicks.
- URL slugs. Remeber your website url has several versions, use keywords to name pages and slugs.
- Site Architecture, Just as your site has a hierarchy, so your keywords should feature in the hierarchy in terms of their importance.
This article is the first in a series on keywords. Part two of this series will cover keywords for PPC campaigns
