Anyone entering the world of online writing for the first time is bound to have questions about keywords. I cover keyword research extensively in my book, and on this site, but I’ve never really gone into where keywords should be placed in an article or other online content.
As a writer, I know that every site has their own style guide with their own rules and preferences. But effective use of keywords is something that you can use across any site, even within the confines of those preferences. Additionally, many successful writers have different opinions on what does and does not constitute the best place for keywords.
Some writers aim for a certain percentage of keywords in the total content of the article, while others simply try to use keywords wherever they seem to fit naturally throughout the body of the piece. My personal strategy, that I feel works well, is to combine the two and use a hybrid method.
- Use Keywords in the Title: It’s so obvious you would think it needn’t be pointed out. But the fact of the matter is that many writers, especially those who have written for magazines and print, try to be too cute or clever in their titles. Your title is not a place to use that pun you have been saving. It’s for selling your site to the search engines. Use your titles wisely!
- Subtitles Add Value: Many sites allow for subtitles, and if they do, they should be used. Search engines give more weight to subtitles than they do the content itself, and they are a great place to add related keywords that fit with the title.
- Use Bold Subheadings: Reading something online is not the same as reading something in a magazine or book. Readers skim online content for the most valuable pieces, or what they want to read, and move on. If you section out each article with a bold subheading, you not only help your readers out, but you get more attention from those engines!
- First 100 Words: Think of the first one hundred words of your article or content as the “elevator” part of the content. You have 100 words to hook a reader, and the search engines, to prove that what you have to say is valuable. Don’t waste the intro paragraph with a lot of fluff. Get to the point of your article with a few keywords and phrases and pull your readers to read more.
- Images Tell All: Photos do more than just accessorize your content. When you enter image names and captions, always, ALWAYS, use keywords to do so. That way, your content can be found in image searches,and other search parameters, as well.
