Keywords: The Index of the Internet

This is the second in a series of blog posts about building a niche blog. Part one was all about choosing a niche. Now that you’ve discovered your most profitable passion, we need to make sure other people can find you, and that’s where keywords come in.

A keyword (or, more likely, a keyphrase) is quite simply the words someone types into Google when they’re looking for something online. It might be “blue suede shoes” or “1963 World Series winner” or “printable calendar.” Discovering what keywords most closely match your message is called keyword research.

But it’s not enough to decide that the ideal keyword for your blog post or article is “growing red tulips in Thailand.” If you want anyone to read your blog, you also need to choose keywords that people are actually looking for, and to do that you need a keyword tool like Google’s Adwords tool, Market Samurai, or WordTracker.

Volumes could be (and have been) written on the proper method of keyword research, how many searches are ideal, and whether to use exact or broad match when making your keyword choice. Those questions are outside the scope of this article, but for a really good, easy-to-understand explanation, check out Karon Thackston’s report, Demystifying Keyword Research.

Your Keyword Hierarchy

What you do need to know about keywords before you can really get started building your niche blog is what your primary keyword is. That’s the search phrase for which you ultimately want to be known. If your site is about how you rebuilt a 1964 Mustang with your kids, your primary keyword might be “classic car restoration.” Think of your primary keyword as a broad view of your site’s topic.

Secondary keywords are a little narrower, and in the case of a blog, typically represent the categories your articles are posted in. For example, in your classic car restoration blog, you might have categories covering after-market engine parts for classic cars, or maintaining the finish on your freshly painted car. Each of your categories will have their own keywords which are related to, but not as broad as, your primary keyword.

Finally, your posts or articles will have very specific keywords. Keeping with our classic car restoration blog, you might have articles about installing a radiator or how to do a brake job. These narrow key phrases usually consist of three or more words, and are known as “long-tail keywords.” They get a small amount of search volume, but they’re easier to rank for, and they bring in highly targeted visitor. No one looking for the Southern Methodist Mustangs game schedule will accidentally land on your blog post about radiators.

Using Keywords on Your Site

Once you’ve found your keywords, you need to put them someplace. Ideally, you use keywords where Google and the other search engines look when trying to decide what your site or page is about. The five most common on-site keyword locations are

1. Title tag – that’s the text in the top right of your browser, above the menu bar. On your home page you’ll want it to be your primary keyword. On category and post pages, you’ll want to use more specific keywords.
2. Post title – tell your readers what your post is about by using the keywords they’re searching for in your title.
3. Post sub-headings – use these to divide a long article into easy-to-read sections
4. Post body – Obviously you’ll use your keywords in the post itself, just don’t get carried away. Write for people first, search engines second.
5. Image alt attribute – this is the text that pops up if you hover your mouse pointer over an image. It’s also what shows when your image link is broken, and it’s what is read aloud by browsers designed for those with visual impairments.

There are also some off-page uses for keywords. Off page simply means these don’t appear on your site, but they do appear elsewhere on the Internet, and Google uses these references to your site when it determines what your page is about. The three most common are

1. Anchor text – this is the clickable text portion of a hyperlink.
2. Meta description – this is the short blurb that appears in the search results under your link. You can write your own (recommended) or let Google choose one from the text on your page. WordPress does not provide the functionality to change your description tag natively. You need a plug-in like All in One SEO, or you can use a premium theme such as Thesis, which includes the option.
3. Meta keywords – Google states that it no longer looks at meta keywords because the feature was so abused by keyword stuffers. However, some other search engines may use them. Again, you need a plug-in or premium theme to add the meta keyword tag to your page.

You don’t have to – and probably should not – use your keyword in every one of these places for every page on your site. Remember, the most important thing is for readers to be able to read your page. If every paragraph and every sub-heading contains the phrase “how to install a radiator” your readers will be quick to hit the back button and look for something a little less robotic.

The bottom line when it comes to keyword research and usage is to keep it simple. It’s doesn’t have to be complicated or confusing. A simple tool like Google’s Adwords keyword discovery tool will give you all the keywords you need, and then it’s just a matter of using them naturally.