Every day, people turn to search engines to get their questions answered, whether it’s asking where the nearest restaurant is or how to optimize their search engine results. As a business owner or marketer, the goal is the same: drive traffic to your website and convert site visitors into customers.
The Value of a Blog
Blogging has always been a great way to create content for your website and generate more views. Combining keyword research and blogging creates a surefire way to drive users to your content and website. When creating a blog post, you should always aim to answer the question that your audience is asking so that they can always find your site.
Creating a blog for a website is worth the effort because blogs make for great evergreen (or long-lasting) content and can be used to target trending topics. If you’re looking for an effective way to bring traffic to your website, blogs are a good idea because they are free and can continue to rank well and pull in site visitors for years depending on the relevancy of the topics you are writing about and your use of keywords.
Keyword Research
To find keywords, there are platforms like Moz that can help you identify words to target as well as track specific keyword rankings over time for both local and universal search results. To land on some keywords that work for the topic of your blog, search for ones that are relevant to your intended audience and have a higher search volume.
While you may think that using a keyword frequently in your blog post will help its rankings, this is actually not true. In fact, this will hurt your SEO because Google considers it keyword stuffing. Instead, use keywords in ways that will be natural for a good reader experience and answer the question that the visitor is seeking out on your page. If a site visitor finds the answers they are looking for in your blog, then they are more likely to click through other content you have and you will reach your goal of converting them.
Where to Use Keywords
But where should you include the keywords? There are a few key places that will help you optimize your search engine results. The obvious first place to focus your one or two targeted keywords is within the body of the blog post. Remember to not go overboard when using the keywords and instead use some relevant variations.
The keyword should be included in the URL and title tag (or headline) of the blog and it should be used at the beginning of the title if your blog has a longer title. The meta description—which is the short description on a search engine result page that gives the reader an idea of what the blog post is about—is another area of value for keyword placement.
By utilizing these tips, you can optimize your website’s search engine rankings and gain more site visitors. If you need help identifying keywords or implementing a strategy for your business, contact Starkmedia today and we’ll be happy to help!
