Basic Blog Setup » Keywords

Creating Content that is Relevant for Readers and Search Engines

Nina East — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:54:09 +0000

i.e. How do people find you, and how do you make them stick?

If you want your website to stand out, you’ll need to pay a lot of attention to the types of articles you write. Readers want to be on the cutting edge of topics – often with very basic instructions – so that is where youwant to be to increase your traffic and get them to stick around on your site.

Content usually takes the form of articles, blog posts, audio and video too.

The first requirement of your content is that it be oriented for your potential customer or client. You always want to start with the “human” element first. Many people will tell you to focus first on all the techniques and technology, but that is like shooting yourself in the foot. Sure, you might get to the top of a search engine ranking, and someone might visit your site, but if what you provide is worded to attract search engine traffic vs. be of genuine help to the reader, well, you’re right back where you started. Traffic that doesn’t do you any good.

Obviously your content needs to be relevant to the topic of your website. If your website is about selling crafts, then the articles that you supply to your readers are going to need to revolve around that subject. In other words, don’t be talking plumbing if you cater to crafty moms. (I know this sounds obvious, but you would be stunned to see how many people miss the boat entirely on this one.)

Be Creative

There is a lot of content out there these days so it may seem challenging to come up with something new. One thing to remember is that even if someone has heard about it before, they haven’t heard about it from you in the way you would describe or teach it, so start with the basic information and add your special touch. Personal experiences go a long way to connecting with your readers and also providing them with information that would be hard to get anywhere else.

Consider using your own failures as fresh content. Did you try to combine a couple of marketing techniques that absolutely didn’t work? Create an article that highlights what readers “shouldn’t” do. What did you learn from it? Create an article that gives tips for success using that technique.

Earlier today I talked with a client about an upcoming networking event she is hosting. She was concerned because registrations were lower than anticipated. In the course of our discussion she “admitted” that she had skipped another networking event last week, and was now regretting it. It was the PERFECT subject for a new blog post…and her marketing newsletter.

Remember, your content can be spun off into other types of website media as well. You can create videos and audio files based on your content. It is a way to reach a wider audience who are more attracted to other ways to present relevant information.

(If I set your blog up for you, I already included the easy-peasy plugins to make this a no-brainer for you.)

Don’t Forget the SEO

Now that you have written ideas for your content, decide which keywords would work best in those articles. These are what will make the search engines stand up and take notice. But, remember you are addressing the human factor first. Your articles will read better (hence, be more valuable to the reader) if the keywords appear naturally. Don’t try to force them in spots where it sounds like you are just adding words to appease the search engine gods. Your readers will be turned off by such contrived content.

(Notice how I have worked in the keyword terms “keywords”, “search engine optimization” and “SEO”. I’ve used them a bunch in this post, but they make sense without sounding overdone.)

Special Features (techniques) to consider

Your content really serves three purposes: keep current readers happy, satisfy SEO requirements and draw new traffic. To meet the latter, try using these options in your content:

Bulleted points
Optimized article titles
Numbers in your titles

Readers usually scan articles first to see if they are relevant. When numbers appear in the title, they know that they will find a certain number of things that can help them. Bulleted points make for easier reading as do subheadings. Optimized catchy titles make them want to click on your link instead of others in the search results.

Is your content doing all it can for your readers and the search engines? If not, read this article again and then refit your articles to do the best job they can.

Keep your eyes peeled for the next article on using site stats to measure (and improve) your results.

What is Search Engine Optimization?

Nina East — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:10:55 +0000

Blogging is fun, but it’s also for business. Obviously.

And to be a successful blogger, you need to get noticed. No one will read or buy from you if they can’t find you. True? The question is…how do you get yourself out there – in a way that is easy, natural, and fun for you – so people CAN find you? That is where search engine optimization, more commonly known as SEO, comes into play.

This post is about what SEO is, and how you are going to use it. If you want to know more about why blogging gives you such a search engine advantage, you can read this post.

SEO What?

Search engine optimization, or SEO for short, is a series of tools, or thought processes and tasks completed on your web pages, that help your website or blog to get noticed by the search engines. Notice that both your “thought processes” and your “tasks” are part of your toolbox. Having a good “system” for how you think about and implement your SEO strategy is as important as the actual work itself.

Search engines use clever things called bots and spiders to crawl sites for anything that makes them relevant to search parameters entered by Internet visitors.

Most people either don’t know what they are looking for or they don’t know where to find it on the Internet. They rely on the search engines to do the work for them. (Think: Google)

The words that visitors use in the search boxes are termed “keywords” by Internet marketers. (Read this article for more detailed information about what keywords are.) When you use the same words in various places on your site, search engines will rank your web pages in relation to others using the same keywords. The websites that use research and optimization techniques the best, will end up on top of the list.

Why does being at the top of search engines matter?

Research has found that 60% of all web searchers will click on one of the top 3 sites they are presented with. The majority of those will choose the number 1 ranked spot.

That means if your site doesn’t appear in the top 3 sites, your chances of having someone visit your site have just dropped dramatically. Having one of the top three positions can result in a much greater amount of traffic. It’s not just the amount of traffic that’s important to note, though. You also want to have the right traffic. After the 3rd spot, the response from search engine users diminishes greatly. This means that the visitors that you get from position 4 and below are less likely to become paying customers.

How to Use It

So, how exactly do you get to the top spots in the search engines? There are several tools and resources that can help with creating top notch SEO for your websites. They revolve around keywords and keyword phrases but the problem is what words to use for your particular business niche.

Think like a customer. After all, you own a business but at times you are also a customer. If it were you, looking for what you have to offer, what words would you enter to find the information on your site? Chances are that you also represent your ideal customer, so your habits and intuition will tell you about those of your potential customers. This will be a short list but one that you can start with.

From there, use some online keyword software to get more ideas. There are programs like Overture that can take one keyword and return a hundred more for you to look at using in your content and elsewhere on your website. Many marketers also use WordTracker’s Free Keyword Tool to help them determine which keywords are hot. www.freekeywords.wordtracker.com These keyword programs get their results from various search engines so you can be assured that your keywords represent current parameters.

You can read about additional keyword tools here.

Search engine optimization is useful for content you create, but that is not the only place. Use keywords to get ranked through other places on your site and other sites, too. Here are just a few of the other places you’ll want to consider using keywords:

Headlines (for each web page and article)
Anchor text (for links within articles and elsewhere on the page)
Picture tags
Tabs (pulldown menus)

Search engine optimization helps you to create a relevant website for the search engines. After you take the time to set up your website with all the information customers will want to see when they visit, use your keywords. This gives the search engines what they need to rank you well so that those customers can find your products or services when it’s most important – when it’s time to buy!

Keywords & Blogging, Part 5

Nina East — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:12:38 +0000

Keyword Density: To Stuff or Not to Stuff?

What do you know about keywords? They improve how the search engines perceive your content. But, too many can also get you a bad name. Learn about keyword density and how to mix and match for the perfect combination.

A Keyword Myth

Common sense is not always the best approach, especially when thinking about keyword use. Your mind says that if such and such keyword is the one you should be using to attract customers, then it should appear everywhere. So far, you are right.

This next part is where many veer off track.

Putting a keyword or specific keyword phrase everywhere doesn’t necessarily mean stuffing your content like a keyword burrito. At one time, you may have gotten away with that but search engines have evolved much like anything else. They are smart enough to know that a keyword is not going to appear in every third sentence as the normal course. This is called keyword stuffing – and is a big no-no. Not just because it makes your articles and posts read like a first grader wrote them, but because it can actually HURT you in the grander SEO scheme of things.

Keyword Density

A search engine is a complicated mix of algorithms that the average person won’t ever hope to understand. All we know is that it tells the bots to do their thing and they do it, and that search engine companies change the algorithms when people have learned to “trick” them. The search engine robots search for keywords that are entered into the search box on thousands and thousands of sites, blogs and the lot indexed all over cyberspace.

Keyword density is a measure of how many of those particular words appear within text. For instance, if your article is around 500 words, bots will calculate how many times a certain word appears within that text. Internet gurus used to always say that a safe keyword density was anywhere from 3-10%.

But, search engines have their own ideas about what constitutes the proper density for their rankings. Now, it can be as low as 1-3%. For a 500 word article, that would be 5-15 occurrences for any keyword. Most err on the lower end just to be safe. Besides, in 500 words, encountering the same keyword fifteen times may seem a little banal depending on your subject matter.

Keyword density also takes into account the number of words in your target keyword. Long tail marketing has become popular and can further focus your content and website for a larger, well-defined market.

But keyword density also works for your website (blog site) in general. Using keywords in picture tags, as anchor text within content, as categories and tags, and as subheadings as well as headlines will also get you noticed. The content will get people to visit you over and over, but your entire website will be the linchpin that can help you gain and stay on the first page of search results.

Keywords & Blogging, Part 4

Nina East — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:04:39 +0000

Using Keyword Phrases in Your Blog: Variation on a Theme

By now, you have heard of search engine optimization (SEO). You have t have been hiding under an internet rock not to have heard it…but that doesn’t mean everybody knows what it means. It’s become one of those jargon terms that people toss around without really knowing what it means.

Simply put, Search Engine Optimization is the process of using keywords to draw targeted traffic to your website business. But what about keyword phrases? They can bring in even more lucrative traffic.

Keywords are used in content, headlines, subheadings and the like to gain interest from the major search engines. Once you register your website with them, their little soldiers (bots/spiders) go to work checking out what you have to offer. Use words that your customers will choose to search for your website; your content can then rank within the first page of results. This means that you will be among the first links anyone sees for those words.

But, there are other ways to optimize besides just keywords. You can use keyword phrases.

Nowadays, many keywords have become commonplace. Entering “chocolate” into a search engine, brings back millions of results. Someone can wade through the first ten pages (highly unlikely) and still not find exactly what they are looking for.

These days people use a different tactic. Instead of using just one word, they will enter an entire phrase – something like “chocolate peanut butter cookies.” This is definitely more specific. If you sell recipe books, it would be more beneficial to you to choose the latter phrase instead of just the former single keyword.

Importance of Keyword Phrases

If you have used any type of keyword tools, not only will you get keyword results but also phrases. It is harder to use phrases in an article and appear natural. But, you can use those targeted phrases in another way – create unique pages on your site. This is incredibly simple to do using Wordpress as your blogging platform.

Some people miss out on all that keyword optimization has to offer by simply listing all of their products on one or two pages. Let’s say that you sell cookbooks. Well, there are several different types of cookbooks: desserts, main dishes, appetizers, drinks and ethnic fare to name a few. You could have a link that says “Cookbooks” and links to that section of your shopping cart.

To make use of keyword phrases, though, you could also create a unique page for each keyword phrase. On the home page, include links to each page using that keyword phrase. You will get credit for the phrase appearing on the home page too. You can also pepper your content with the keyword phrases where appropriate and use it as anchor text for a link to the corresponding page on your website.

Keyword phrases are just as important as single keywords. Use them throughout your website to improve your search engine ranking.

Keywords & Blogging, Part 3

Nina East — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:58:21 +0000

Keyword Tools for Your Blog Content

What do you do with that list of keywords after you’ve taken the time to brainstorm? You could potentially be holding on to a gold mine of profitable words, but you won’t know that unless you analyze their potential with keyword tools.

You don’t have to go out to your nearest computer store and purchase any software. Most of what you need is available on the Internet for free or a small fee. If they offer a free trial, use it. At least you will learn how the process works and if that particular software works for you.

Here are a few software tools for finding appropriate keywords for your website. All of these are free tools but some offer more features for a paid subscription.

Google Keyword Tool (https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal) – This is one of the most robust tools for finding keyword information. And Google is the king of keywords and search engine optimization, yes? You can even use this tool to scan someone else’s page and see what keywords and phrases they are using. Great for checking out what your competition is up to. (To do this you’ll need to select “Keyword Tool Tips” from the Google Keyword Tool page as this is an advanced feature.)
Wordtracker (http://www.freekeywords.wordtracker.com) – There is no way that you could possibly think of all the different combinations of words that are used to find results in your niche. That is where software like Wordtracker comes in handy. Using the list of possible keywords you have compiled, choose a keyword to enter into the program. The software will return all possible combinations (according to your search parameters) and the number of searches for each. You may even notice a few that you haven’t thought of before. You can even compare results by search engine.
Wordstream (http://www.wordstream.com/best-keyword-tool) – If you want to let the software pick the keywords for you, here are a few tools that you can use. Wordstream returns keyword suggestions that work well for content and pay-per-click ads. You can also manage your keywords. You will be able to pick form the best words and phrases for your niche.
Overture (http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion) – This keyword tool is brought to you by Yahoo. It is now called Yahoo! Search Marketing. Using this search engine, the tool returns results for a variety of keywords and how many searches are done for them. You can choose to keep or discard the ones that have too many search results and opt to exploit the keywords that have not been overdone.
Keyword Discovery (http://keyworddiscovery.com) – This tool will return the best keyword results from one keyword that you enter. It pulls information from over 100 search engines to compile a focused list.

It all starts with keywords. If you pick the right ones, you can definitely create strong blog posts and pages that will drive you up in the search engine rankings – making you even more visible to potential clients and customers. Using these tools can help you find the right keywords and narrow your search even further than the list you came up with. Which ones will be winners? You’ll have to test them and see.

Keywords & Blogging, Part 2

Nina East — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:39:04 +0000

Which Keywords to Use for Your Niche

Website content is not just something for visitors to read. It is also a way to attract the “right” visitors in the first place. Using the correct keywords throughout your website will garner high standing with the search gods and get you noticed.

Doing Your Homework

You thought that homework stopped when you graduated from school. In the world of business, you never stop learning if you want to go as far as the road will take you. To that end, it is time to do a little homework for your content – keyword research.

Now, you don’t have to be stellar at research in order to get this done and get it done right. Keyword research is finding the words that will rank your content and your website head and shoulders above the rest. Are you ready? Let’s begin.

Conducting Keyword Research

There are a few things that you can do:

Create a list of words. Put yourself in the customer’s shoes. What words would you input to find you? Write down as many as you can. Better yet, record them in an electronic spreadsheet for easier editing later. Choose single words and multiple word phrases.
Ask your customers. You already have some customers. Survey them to find out how they found you. If it was through an Internet search ask what words they used. It seems too easy, but most business owners overlook such a resource because they don’t ask the right questions.
Use keyword software tools. These tools can be very helpful once you have your list of possible keywords. The software will let you know a variety of things about your keywords and whether they are good enough to reach your target audience.
Analyze the data. From your list, whittle down to just the keywords that are likely to get you what you want. Then, rank those keywords in order of best to worst.
Try out those keywords. Don’t use all of them at one time, but keep track of which ones you use and for how long. Using website management tools you can find out how much traffic and conversion (how many people used your keyword content as a means to do something – click, sign up, or buy) rates changed.

So, are you ready? You obviously already use content, but maybe it isn’t working well enough. There are always ways to make it better and keywords are one of those ways. And, fortunately, blogging makes it so much easier!

Keywords & Blogging, Part 1

Nina East — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:24:34 +0000

Why Use Keywords on Your Blog?

The Internet is a place where anyone can find information on just about any subject. If you want any one or two of these billions of people to find you there – which is why you started blogging in the first place, right? – giving them what they desire is the key. Using keywords in your blog posts and pages is the way to begin.

What are Keywords?

This word has been tossed around a lot on the Web. Keywords are the words that people use to search for information in cyberspace. Of course, every word is not a keyword. Some words like “the,” “of,” and others are too common and are usually excluded from search results. Only the main words are used in the search parameters.

Based on those entered words, a series of results are returned for the viewer. Usually the results are in the millions but no one is going to look at all of those entries. So, if you are not featured on the first page (or maybe as far as second or third pages), you might as well be entry number 999,999.

Use Your Content

The world is being educated now about bots and spiders. They are icky but they perform a great service for your business website. They crawl your articles, headlines, picture tags, categories, and unique pages for the words that searchers enter. If they are found, you get ranked for that word.

Is that all? Of course it’s not. I left out that the number of times the word appears (keyword density) is highly important. The crawly things are looking for how many times that word is mentioned to calculate where you stand compared to other content using the same word. They are looking for “relevance” – how relevant the search term is to the content on your page.
(Beware of over-doing it, though. See the post on Keywords: To Stuff or Not To Stuff.)

The hang-up is going to be finding those words. And, for each topic of interest, there are an untold number of words that can be entered alone or in the form of a phrase.

What you have to remember is that without the keywords, it will be next to impossible to reach your target market. Some use the “net casting” approach and try to appeal to everyone using generic wording in their articles and advertisements. Not only are you going to get a large amount of uninterested people but you are also going to waste money doing it.

Keywords narrow down the field to only the people who are likely to use your product or service. Just as you would do with ads, you will want to test out these keywords to see the rate of return you get from your efforts. But at least you will start off on the right path.