WordPress SEO Optimization Techniques
Your Keyword List and its Importance
- Building Blocks for Effective SEO and Website Promotion - Part 4 of 10
Your keyword list is one of the most important assets you will have. It is of utmost importance for ensuring that you have content on your website that will help drive traffic to your website through search engine optimization, as well as offering the necessary copy on your site to convince your visitors that they are indeed in the right place for their needs.There are several ways of creating your keyword list. Firstly, you should brainstorm all the keywords and terms that you associate with your business and products. This should include brand names, as well as geographical terms, industry terms, any jargon associated with the services and products, and so on. And don't just rely on your brain – ask friends, family, colleagues.
Imagine what your potential customers may also search upon, and the words that they may use to discover your website. It is important to get into the mindset of your potential customers because not only are you looking for the keywords that they will search upon, but you also need to begin understanding how to communicate effectively with them through your copy and content.
Then use the search engines. Typing in a few of your terms will show you who is in the top results, and you should then visit their websites to find keywords and terms which they are using. You should look not just in the visible text on the website, but also within the code of the site.
You can do this by clicking on View, Page Source in your browser menu. You will find keywords within the page titles and META tags which are generally at the top of the website code within the <HEAD> tags. There should also be keywords in the alt img tags which are the tags which show when you mouseover an image, as well as within the content and navigation of the website.
There are also many keyword tools which will help you to create your keyword list, such as Wordtracker, and within the Pay Per Click engines such as Google Adwords and Yahoo Search Marketing. These will also show the most popular and searched upon terms.
Look also for blogs that cover the subject of your niche. Many bloggers are extremely well-versed in search engine optimization and write posts that contain many keywords, and in particular, long tail terms. These are phrases that may not be in the top search results but will bring traffic over a longer period. These terms often attract high quality traffic to your website because of their specific nature, for instance “blog” is a keyword whereas “seo tips and tricks blog” is a long tail term.
Your keyword list is likely to expand and change over time, as your website or blog grows, and you develop your products and services. It is wise to create a spreadsheet or similar to record all your terms, and to regularly update it as well as check that you are writing copy and creating content that includes these keywords.
Hope this blog post was helpful to you, - - Your keyword list and its importance as an asset - -
Spunky Jones.
