Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Keywords and Writing for the Internet

Keywords are part of your foundation of your writing for the Internet. Let’s talk about Keywords. Many have written about this before, and I am sure I won’t be the last.

What is a Keyword?

First let us define what a Keyword is. According to Wikipedia, “a keyword is a word or concept with special significance, in particular any word used as the key to a code or used in a reference work to link to other words or other information.” The keyword would be the word or phrase the consumer would enter in a search engine to find you.

Now that you know what a keyword is, how does it relate to your business? I am going to talk in generic terms. In this example I want to sell donuts for Tim Horton’s Donuts in Amherst New York. So what would be some of my site main keywords?

If you answered the following you are on the right track:

  • Tim Horton Donuts
  • Donuts in Amherst NY (and Donuts in Amherst New York)
  • Amherst NY Donuts (and Donuts in Amherst New York)
  • Tim Horton’s
  • Donuts Amherst NY

So every post I would write would have two or more of these keywords 3 or more times. The keywords I am using in the body of the article would also be in the title and they would be the keywords for that post. And depending on the post you might also indicate other keyword that you do not regularly use but are relevant to the article you are writing. For instance if you wrote an article about Tim Horton’s Amazing Cream of Broccoli soup, you would add Cream of Broccoli soup as a keyword term for that post. You don’t regularly write about Cream of Broccoli soup, but you want to catch anyone searching about it.


What is Keyword Density?
We can’t talk about Keywords without talking about Keyword Density for a moment. Again quoting Wikipedia “Keyword density is the percentage of words on a web page that match a specified set of keywords. In the context of search engine optimization keyword density can be used as a factor in determining whether a web page is relevant to a specified keyword or keyword phrase.

So you now know what Keyword Density is, what should your density be on each article you write? Your keywords should be 3-5% of the total words in your post. So if you have a post that is only 100 words, you will need to bear that in mind when using keywords. You want to use your keywords where they make sense and are part of the natural flow of your writing. If it is unnatural, don’t do it.


What is Keyword Stuffing?
Otherwise you run the risk of Keyword Stuffing right? Well not exactly... Quoting my favorite resource one last time, Wikipedia says “Keyword stuffing is considered to be an unethical search engine optimization (SEO) technique. Keyword stuffing occurs when a web page is loaded with keywords in the meta tags or in content. The repetition of words in meta tags may explain why many search engines no longer use these tags.” Unethical would be the example shown in Matt Cutts post Avoid Keyword Stuffing. Remember how else the Search Engines are going to categorize your article if you do not write an article that helps them understand what it is you are writing about.


How do you chose what Keywords to use?

Well first think of all the terms you would use if you were going to search for the topic you are writing about. Donuts by Tim Horton Donuts in Amherst NY. What would you enter into the Search Engine to find what you are looking for? That would be where you start. Perhaps ask friends and family members what they might enter. There are plenty of resources to suggest keywords for your site. You may find that you will fine tune your selection of keywords as time goes by.


Keyword Resources:
Simple right? You would think so, but so many people make it seem so complicated. So go out there get your keywords straight sell some donuts! Only kidding… Go sell some houses or what ever else you might be selling! With the right keywords and usage you will be on page 1 searches for the Search Engines in no time!


Other Articles of Interest Regarding Keywords:

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