The Do's And Don'ts of Keyword Optimization

Keyword optimization is one of the most basic measures in SEO (Search Engine Optimization). It describes the process of tailoring a page to a keyword for which you want it to be found in search results. Today, you’ll learn how keyword optimization works and where to fill in your keyword, and we'll provide you with an easy-to-follow checklist.

 

Why Do I Need Keyword Optimization?

Primary and Secondary Keywords

Synonyms Are Fine

Avoid Keyword Stuffing

Factors for Keyword Optimization

Quick & Dirty: Your Keyword Optimization Checklist

 

Why Do I Need Keyword Optimization?

Keywords play an essential role for search engines and in SEO — and for your business, as well. Think about it: To increase your sales, you need to be found for queries (a.k.a. keywords) users type into search engines to find offers like yours. To identify those keywords, you need to conduct keyword research. Then, create and optimize your pages for these keywords.

To show results for a user’s query, search engines comb the web for the best matches. To determine the relevance of a webpage, they check strategic spots for the user’s keyword and terms related to that keyword.

The goal of keyword optimization is to make sure that you

1. Place the primary keyword in those strategic spots
2. Don’t over- nor underuse your keyword (term frequency)
3. Include secondary keywords (related terms), too

Before we dive into where to put your keyword, we’ll talk about a few things you should know beforehand.

 

Primary and Secondary Keywords

Maybe you’ve heard the terms primary and secondary keywords before. The primary keyword is the keyword your page is tailored to and for which you want that page to be found in search results. It is also often referred to as the focus keyword.

Secondary keywords are related terms that usually appear within the context of your primary keyword and cover aspects of interest to the user. For example, if your primary keyword is dog bed, secondary keywords would be size- and shape-related, and talk about types, handling, washing, and comfort for the dog.

 

Synonyms Are Fine

Search engines have evolved and are quite capable of understanding human speech by now. That means they know that search terms, queries, and keywords are the same thing. Search engines also know that a text is much nicer to read if it uses synonyms and paraphrases here and there.

Thus, in keyword optimization, you don’t need to force your keyword into your content, come hell or high water. Instead, feel free to use synonyms every now and then to ensure good readability of your text.

 

Avoid Keyword Stuffing

Keyword stuffing describes the overuse of a keyword to create a higher relevance for search engines  — keywords are stuffed into the text with no regard for added value or readability.

Keyword stuffing usually results in quasi-unreadable text for the user. Since this method is exclusively targeted at search engines and not the user, search engines view keyword stuffing as a so-called Black Hat SEO method that can result in a Google penalty.

Signs of keyword stuffing: The primary keyword appears in

• (repeatedly) in every headline
• most or all sentences
• repeatedly and exclusively in images’ alt tags
• repeatedly in meta title and description

Example of keyword stuffing in a paragraph:

Dog Beds: The Best Dog Beds for Your Pooch

Whatever your good boy or girl needs for a good night’s rest, we have the perfect dog bed for them. We have large dog beds, small dog beds, dog pillow beds, elevated dog beds… you name it. If your pooch is a tad older and needs excellent support, we have a wide array of orthopedic dog beds to choose from. And, of course, we want your dog bed to look stylish in your home, so our dog beds are designed to fit right in.

Was this fun to read? Did this text provide information to help you find a dog bed for your dog? Probably not. And it’s no surprise, too, because this text wasn’t written for you — the user and prospect customer — but for search engines.

Don’t do that. Sure, you need to convince search engines to list your page in top positions — that’s what keyword optimization is for. But at the end of the day, you need to convince people to buy your products, not search engines; they’re just a means to an end.

 

Factors for Keyword Optimization

Alright, so now you know that you can and should use synonyms from time to time and that you shouldn’t overdo it and stuff keywords into your text. Now let’s check out where to fill in your keyword for keyword optimization.

 

Domain

This is only relevant if you don’t have a website yet or plan a complete relaunch of your site, but we’ll add it for the sake of completeness. When setting up a new website, you must decide on your domain. It’s usually either your brand (e.g., pooch-dreams.com) or your overall main keyword (e.g., dog-beds.com). The latter is also called an Exact Match Domain, or EMD for short.

Whether you use a brand domain or an EMD depends on your overarching goal: Is it building a brand or SEO? While EMDs for sure had a positive effect in the past, this advantage has decreased with the evolution of search engines.

URL

Remember, create one page per keyword. Include that keyword in the page’s URL whenever you create a page you want to rank for a specific keyword.

For example, a shop’s category URL for dog food would ideally look like this:

pooch-dreams.com/dog-food

A blog post about plants safe for dogs could have an URL this:

pooch-dreams.com/blog/plants-safe-for-dogs

 

Create Friendly URLs

URLs like those above are not only keyword optimized but also readable. Those so-called friendly URLs make it easy for users to identify what kind of page they’re on and what it is all about. So besides including your keyword, make it user-friendly:

• Use lowercase letters only
• Avoid special characters
• Separate words using hyphens
• Keep the URL short, if possible
• Avoid numbers (e.g., publishing dates or listicle numbers)

 

Meta Title and Description

Meta title and description are used to create your search result, also called a snippet. Ideally, they communicate short and crisp what the page is about and what the user gains from choosing your search result over the rest.

 

 

The meta title is a ranking factor for Google, so make sure to include your keyword. If you like, you can add it to your description, too, although it is not a ranking factor.

However, the meta description usually appears in your snippet. So, optimize it in a way that convinces a user (a.k.a. prospect customer) to buy your product and communicate USPs (Unique Selling Propositions) that will make their decision easier.

Usually, can create and edit meta title and description in your website's backend by accessing the page/post editor. For WordPress, many use SEO plugins such as YOAST or AIOSEO to create individual snippets for Google and social media.

 

Headlines

Use your keyword in the page or post title (H1) and subheadings (H2-H6) throughout the text. However, readability always comes first. It is okay if your keyword does not appear in every subheading.

Content

Every page you create for a keyword should satisfy the keyword’s user intent. Ask yourself:

• What are users looking for with their queries?
• What kind of information do they need or expect?
• What kind of questions are they looking to answer?
• What type of content do they expect?

If you are unsure, then the top 10 search results for that keyword will help you answer these questions.

Creating content with the user and their challenges in mind usually covers relevant topics and, therefore, terms. Keep an eye on your keyword usage in your text, so you don’t under- or overuse it.

 

Create Great Content with XOVI NOW

XOVI NOW helps you create content that users will love. For example, find user questions for your keyword in Keyword Research. Pose and answer those questions in your content.

 

Find Questions

Also, the Text Optimizer will help you make sure that you’re not missing important terms (discover topics you haven’t thought to include in your content before) and that keywords and related terms appear in just the right frequency. Learn more about optimizing a page with the Text Optimizer.

Optimize My Text

Images

Surely your content will feature images, as well. Every time you add an image to a page, optimize it for the page’s keyword, as well.

If possible, start optimizing images before you upload them to your CMS. Ideally, include the keyword in the image’s file name. Make sure the file name is clear and concise and doesn’t contain capital letters or special characters.

Now, the alt tag (short for alternative tag) is a text shown if an image cannot be displayed for any reason. Therefore, its task is to describe the image instead. Search engines use the alt tag to find out what an image is all about and list it in image search results if deemed relevant. Also, screen readers read the alt text to visually impaired users, so it helps accessibility on the web.

So, when optimizing images for a keyword, do not simply insert the keyword into the alt tag. Instead, describe the image as you would to another person, including the keyword in your description, if possible.

 

Anchor Texts

An anchor text is a clickable word or phrase that links to another page. Anchor texts are a ranking factor, so to determine a page’s ranking, Google also looks at other pages’ words and phrases that link to the page you optimize.

While you can’t do much about anchor texts on other domains, you can control anchor texts on your website. So, whenever you link from page A to page B on your website, try and include page B’s keyword in the anchor text on page A.

Include the keyword, don’t make it a habit to use the keyword exclusively for anchor texts. Variety is key.

For example, internal links to this post could look like this:

Check out our Checklist for Keyword Optimization.

To learn more, read our article The Dos and Don’ts of Keyword Optimization.

In our blog, we’ll teach you all you need to know about Keyword Optimization.

We recommend keyword-optimizing your page to increase your rankings.

 

Quick & Dirty: Your Keyword Optimization Checklist

We’ve put together a compact checklist so you have all you need to know at a glance. That way, you can follow it item by item whenever you optimize a page.

• Domain: Choose Brand or Exact Match Domain (e.g., dog-beds.com.)
• URL: Create friendly URLs that contain your keyword.
• Meta Title & Description: Include keyword, related terms, and USPs.
• Headlines: Include keyword in H1 (page title) and subheadings, if possible.
• Content: Include the keyword and related terms in an appropriate density.
• Image File Name & Alt Tag: Describe the image in alt tag and include keyword
• Anchor Texts Linking to That Page: Create a variety of clickable phrases that include the keyword of the linked page.