We’re starting this post with the basics for those who are new to SEO, the acronym for Search Engine Optimization. What SEO really means is developing and implementing effective strategies to ensure your brand and organization appear at the top of search engine results/listings when someone types search terms appropriate to your organization into a search engine, particularly Google.
There are two broad means of ensuring your organization appears above your competitors in search engine results for relevant terms, or at a minimum, appears on the first page of search engine results (let’s face it, many searchers don’t scroll past the first or second page of search engine results, so if your organization doesn’t appear on the first two pages — and ideally the first one — your firm is not well-positioned to create awareness, sales or other conversion activities, such as soliciting donations or newsletter sign-up.) As the below image shows, these two broad means that determine where a listing of your organization appears in search engine results are: 1) where your organization falls organically in the results listing a search engine, like Google or Bing, serves up naturally, based on their complex algorithms, and 2) where any “paid search” advertising appears that you run in hopes of causing your organization/brand to appear at the top of and/or on the first page of search engine results listings.
Now that the SEO basics/refreshers are behind us, on to the key topic for this post and that is “keywords!” Keywords relate to and influence both organic search engine results ranking and paid search engine results ranking. Keywords are the single words or combination of words you should use in your Web site content and employ in any SEO-related tagging capability available through your Web site Content Management System (CMS). Keywords should be words that your target audience(s) will understand and use when reading about or investigating your product or service. They need to speak your target audience’s language.
Why You Shouldn’t “Keyword Stuff” Or Use Irrelevant Keywords On Your Website
As discussed in our “SEO Is Not For Sissies” blog post, while you want to make sure your Web site contains appropriate keywords for cataloging/sweeping/tagging by various search engines, you need to be authentic to be viewed as creditable by both your target audience(s) and search engines. So, be sure not to sprinkle keywords that are irrelevant to the products or services you offer throughout your site or include them on an irrelevant page on your site in a misguided attempt to improve where your organization appears in search engine results for what you believe are desirable keywords. Search engines will recognize an organization who is being disingenuous and “ding you” for such practices. So tell your story truthfully.
The above practice of only employing keywords on your site that are relevant and appropriate to both your organization and the Web site page in-question holds true for any paid search advertising you purchase. When assigning what’s known as a “quality score” to each keyword, paid search advertising providers, such as Google, look at the relevancy between the keyword (aka search terms you want to provoke your advertising/have it presented), your advertising copy, and the content found on the “landing page” to which your ad will take someone who clicks on it. The higher your quality score, the more likely your ad vs. your competitor’s will be presented to an individual searching on appropriate search terms, and the less your advertising will cost you.
How Long-tail Keywords Support SEO and Being Found On Google
One final, but critical reminder about keywords. Keywords can be as short as one word or as long as ten, but regardless of whether they are used to prompt paid search advertising or organic search results via their use on your Web site, they need to be long and descriptive enough to avoid having your site or advertising presented in search engine results to the wrong individuals or in the wrong situation. Let’s say you are selling “Boston Red Sox hats”. Then, an important and the appropriate keyword for use on your Web site or in paid search advertising would be “Boston Red Sox hats” vs. the shorter keyword “Boston hats”. Keywords that are longer in nature are known as long-tail keywords and long-tail keywords ensure that you drive the right target audiences to your Web site via organic and paid search engine results listings.
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Results Communications and Research is a Yoast-SEO-certified shop.We’re always here and glad to discuss and help with SEO and keyword planning (including conducting keyword research for you), so please reach out when you need our expertise.