Economics study the maximum utilization of scarce resources. I would like to think of SEO in the same light; not in terms of tools but in space. To succeed, you have to maximize the available space because every inch matters. Well, admittedly there are other factors such as time but let’s focus more on space today. Wikipedia defines keyword as “ the words that are used to reveal the internal structure of an author’s reasoning. While they are used primarily for rethoric, they are also used in a strictly grammatical sense for structural composition, reasoning, and comprehension. Indeed, they are an essential part of any language.”Well, you have a different meaning for it in the web world but there are parallels. To paraphrase, keywords tell in a nutshell the content of the website thus it defines what the writer or the owner is trying to say. Keywords lend structure and coherence as well. Indeed, the use of them is essential knowledge to any would-be optimizer. Here are my tips for maximum keyword utility:
1. Use keywords your target audience will search. You have words that you think will work eh? But sometimes, those words aren’t the ones they’re looking for. Try the Google keyword tool or other free keyword tools available on the web. Use relevant terms as much as possible (unless you are targeting a very unique market) and use those that are most popular with readers.
2. Use the shortest possible title with all the keywords. Think density. Remember that those crawlers and bots only “read” texts so you want to put your keywords in strategic places such as your title which means that it has to be keyword dense. For example, if you had a title that was 20 words long, of which only three of those words were searched words for your audience, the potency of your title is 15%. But if your title was seven words long, of which three of those words were your search word targets, then your potency is now 43%. Your top key phrase should be at the start of your title.
3. Use your keywords throughout the article. Rule of thumb: sprinkle don’t stuff. Trying to stuff it, aside from being unethical, is completely futile anyway since Google ignores this method of getting noticed.
4. Your URL should be relevant to your content. Do you think your target audience will type in “Alsace Limited”? If not, then it’s probably not how you want to start the title of your site or url. If this is going to be the name of the site, it’s fine to start it that way. But if not, you’ll get more traffic by making sure your url is relevant to your content.
Keywords are a key to ranking high on search engines but don’t be TOO conscious (being conscious is different) about it. Make sure that there’s a natural flow to what you’re doing because even if crawlers and bots don’t dig into your idea, your readers might love it.