Let’s cut the BS and get straight to the point, because a lot can be said when talking about Keywords and world domination. Google sorry, I meant Google. Must stop doing that.
The problem with the topic at hand is that it is the most crucial in the SEO process, and therefore the amount of information that can be, and regularly is shared is insane. Needless to say I am avoiding most of the how to’s and the why’s at this point – you can find plenty of that at my blog, and sticking solely to the important bits.
Here are my top 7 tips on how to use your keywords to dominate the world. Ahem… Google
1) Define your Keywords, as well as your primary keyword
The main one that defines your niche, and gets the most searches. You know – that broad as you can get phrase that you will ‘never actually rank for’ (Yes, well – we’ll see)
2) Use this primary Keyword throughout your site
Get into the habit of using the key phrase as often as possible when publishing relevant content and for times when nothing else really applies, and do it consistently.
3) Brand your website to match your primary keyword phrase
If you are targeting ‘make money blogging’ for example, then gear the monetized content and the referrals to this theme. Don’t leave money on the table after you have done all the work to get the ‘keyword’ in the first place!
4) Target your primary keyword on the home page
On top of the consistent use of your primary keyword throughout the site, your home page should be focused primarily on this phrase and this phrase alone. Do not attempt to target three or four keywords on this page. Let the focus solely be the primary keyword.
Trust me – by the time you’re done, you’ll be catching so much long tail traffic, you’ll wonder how on earth SEO bloody works*
*You know you know SEO when it makes absolutely no sense what so ever.
5) Never target the primary keyword on any other page or post
Never targeting primary keywords on any other page or post that is not directly relevant. It’s perfectly OK to utilise your primary keyword everywhere, but if you want to catch longtail traffic, then make sure you don’t actually target it if it is not the specific keyword for that page. (By ‘target’ I mean to purposefully place it in the title tags and alt text etc.)
Mmmm, Organic Long-tail Traffic.
Let me give you an example:
If you are targeting Pool cleaners for example, then instead of targeting pool cleanes and related products and services, you should target much much broader topics like ‘top poolside entertaining tips for the summer’ – whatever, the point is – the broader you go, the more longtail traffic you will catch and the more powerful your primary keyword becomes
6) Stick to one keyword phrase on each page!
Too often I find myself wanting to add a string of associated keywords to each post that I write. I need to stop, and you need to take heed, because this is only hurting your long term SEO efforts. By targeting one particular keyword or phrase per post you increase its strength, therefore increasing the likelihood of associated longtail traffic. Confusing? By George you’re getting it then!
7) Internal Linking
Continually link all of these pages together. The power of internal linking is often overlooked, but linking to older posts (pages) with the relevant keyphrase reinforces the existing strength that your keywords already have.
7 and a bit) Where to put them, the quickest guide you ever read
I suppose I had better give a quick run down on where to put the keywords for maximum effectiveness, so here’s the no BS bullet point list. Keep in mind that you don’t have to do to each thing every time.
- Page Title
- Description (META Tags)
- Keywords (META Tags)
- Image Alt Text
- Post Title*
- *Hot Tip: Keep your witty title and change the permalink to include your keyword. Instant URL with keyphrase Thank YOU very much 🙂 )
- At least twice in first three paragraphs
- Once in last paragraph
- Subheadings (H1, H2, H3 tags)
- If you link out – use it (the higher on the page the better)
There’s a thousand more tips you will probably read on how to deal with the on page SEO side of effective keyword optimization, but in a nutshell that really is it – at least it’s what I do and it works a treat.
- What on page optimization tactics have you found to be most successful?
- Who do you think would win in a tag team fight between Dr. Evil/Mini Me and Pinky & The Brain?
(What? it relates to world Google domination!)