“Keywords” are the “spider bait” of SEO. Live it, or live with it. Search engines have not evolved enough to recognize the value of a concise website that presents exactly what is searched for, no more, no less. Without that next evolutionary step we are forced to dance the popularity/build-a-library/blog/link minuet.

Keywords are the main reason you will get or lose targeted traffic to your website. Any new content or page that you add to your site is likely to have a very specific theme that relates to your overall site theme. If you’re selling “Momma’s Homemade Makeup” online then any article or content that you add to your site should in some way relate to “makeup” and use that word.

The word “makeup” should appear several times throughout your homepage. The more times “makeup” appears, the higher your keyword density. Your goal for content is to include the keyword or keyword phrase enough times to make it prevalent without reducing readability. By doing this you will increase the likelihood that a search on “makeup” will result in your page moving higher in the rankings.

Keywords have more value to readers and search engines when they are bold or in the header. Use the following tags when constructing your page header and emphasized words:

* [ H1 ]: Should appear as the top text line on every page and contain the keyword phrase
* [ strong / b ]: Keyword phrases in the main body of the text should be emphasized, made bold, where it makes sense. You may also consider having a sub-header under the header with a secondary keyword phrase.

Keywords aren’t only important to page content. Opportune and consistent use of keywords should be applied to META Description and Keyword tags as well, and appear on each and every page. Finally, every single page should have a descriptive Title that includes the keyword phrase, preferably in the beginning of the title.

Of course, keywords alone will not gain you top-10 rankings. You’ll need links and articles.

Out of the Envelope,
Arthur Browning