Maybe you have heard the term keyword & have a little idea about it. If not, this blog post will offer you a guide to keywords. Read to know what are keywords and how to use keywords properly. 

What are keywords?

A keyword is a word or phrase that people are searching in search engines to find information relevant to various topics. Keywords are also known as key phrases, search queries, or SEO keywords.

Any term you use in a search engine is a keyword. It can be a single word or a long-phrase. 

According to the keywords you provide, results you get will be different.

For example, if you type Australia you will get a SERP (search engine result page) like below.

But if you type Places to visit in Australia, you will get a different SERP (search engine result page). 

If you are a business owner, you should include specific keywords relevant to what people are searching for on your website. It will increase the chance of increasing the visibility of your content. 

Knowing the answers for “What are Keywords?” & “How to use keywords?” is essential for anyone.

Types of Keywords

When discussing about What are keywords, we can’t forget the types of keywords. Below are the main types of keywords you should be aware of.

Primary keywords vs Secondary keywords:

The terms you want to rank up for are called primary keywords. Primary keywords have a higher search volume & ability to bring much traffic to your website.

You should add your primary keyword on the title, headings, and anchor links & in the first 200 words of your content. 

Secondary keywords support the primary keywords & bring more information. Use secondary keywords throughout your content to give value to the reader. 

Long-tail keywords vs Short-tail keywords:

When you do on-page SEO, you will hear about long-tail keywords & short-tail keywords. Having a clear idea of those will help you in the planning process. 

What are Short-tail Keywords?

A short tail keyword is a phrase with three or fewer word counts. 

ex:SEO tools, search engine optimization

If you are trying to increase your website traffic, you should use more short-tail keywords. 

Short-tail keywords have a higher volume than long-tail keywords. They have a higher search volume. If you rank for short-tail keywords, you will get a lot of organic traffic. 

The competition for short-tail keywords is higher than for long-tail keywords. 

The problem with short-tail keywords is they are not targeted keywords. 

And also, short-tail keywords are more expensive than long-tail keywords. You have to pay a lot to Google Adwords if you target short-tail keywords. 

What are long-tail keywords?

A long-tail keyword is a phrase with more than three words. 

example: what are SEO tools for a business, Free SEO tools to use.

As you can see, long-tail keywords are more targeted than short-tail keywords.

Obviously, long-tail keywords are more specific keywords than short-tail keywords. 

The volume of traffic for long-tail keywords is less than for short-tail keywords. However, if your business is only targeting a niche, it will not be a problem.

The competition for long-tail keywords is lower than for short-tail keywords. 

And the cost for long-tail keywords are lower than short-term keywords. Google Adwords reduced the price for long-tail keywords. 

Qualities of Keywords:

You need to pay attention to four key factors when deciding which keywords to use. Those are search volume, price, word count & competition. 

(a). Search Volume

The number of searches per month in Google is the search volume (monthly search volume). You can use the SEMRUSH keyword overview option to get metrics on this. 

This metric is helpful to realize the potential traffic you can get by ranking a keyword on Google.  

Following image shows the Semrush Keyword overview option for the keyword “Pizza Delivery”.

In the US, the total number of searches for the “Pizza Delivery” keyword is 160K. And this keyword has a 287.3k global volume. 

When researching keywords for your website, you can use the SEMrush keyword overview tool.  It is a great keyword research tool anyone can use.

Keywords with many searches are competitive to rank. That is why you should use low-volume long-tail keywords as much as possible. 

(b).Competition

It is necessary to consider the competition of a keyword. If a keyword has more search volume, many websites might be trying to use that keyword. 

In Semrush, you can use two things to measure the competition of a keyword. 

Keyword difficulty is the first thing to use to measure competition. It shows you the level of effort for ranking in the top 10 organic results on Google. 

Competitive density is the second thing to measure competition. It tells you how competitive it is to rank an advertisement on top of the SERP.

This is based on the number of people bidding on a specific keyword. 

(c). Price or cost per click

When you advertise on Google, every keyword has a price known as cost-per-click. 

Cost-per-click is how much an advertiser should pay every time someone clicks on their ad. 

According to the previous example, Pizza delivery keyword’s CPC is $1.75.

If you are doing an advertising campaign, you need to know the cost-per-click of target keywords. Then you will be able to analyze the cost of the campaign. 

(d).Word count

The number of words within a keyword is known as word count.

For example, the term Pizza Delivery has a word count of two. How to use Instagram for businesses has a word count of six. 

If the word count is higher, the search query is specific. When the search query is long, competitiveness is low.

For example, Pizza delivery in Australia is a specific keyword than just Pizza delivery. 

You can use the Semrush keyword magic tool to get a list of keywords & filter them by word count.

This tool is useful to find more specific search terms & long-tail keywords to create content. 

(e).Search Intent

There are four main categories of search intent: transactional or buying intent, navigational intent, commercial intent & informational intent. 

You can easily find the intent by using the Semrush keyword magic tool. In the Intent column the intent of users are indicated. 

For example, the following image shows the intent of the keyword “Pizza delivery.  

Now let’s discuss each intent I mentioned before. 

Transactional Intent

These search queries show an intention to purchase on a website. 

Examples of transactional queries are where can I buy a coffee machine for a cheap price, a winter dress for $50, or buy a mountain bicycle online. 

As you can see, those keywords show the intent of a user to purchase something. 

Transactional keywords usually include the words buy, purchase, subscribe, and sale. And transactional keywords are more specific. 

Commercial Intent

Commercial intent shows what people search for before they make a purchase. That means commercial intent keywords are in the research stage. 

Examples of commercial intent keywords are best herbal shampoo for girls, best Pizza in Melbourne, and what is the best sports shoe brand. 

People who have commercial intent may not make a purchase right now.

But it is good to make an appearance in front of them. Because when they make a purchase, they will remember your brand over other brands. 

Informational Intent

Informational search queries aim to get facts, information, knowledge, or directions.

These may not be to make a purchase, but you can give knowledge about your brand. 

Examples for informational intent queries are, 

• What is content marketing?
• What does SEO mean?
• How to get a higher rank on Google?

People use informational queries to solve a problem. 

Navigational Intent

Navigational queries are intended to navigate to a website or any content. 

For example,

• DigiFix blogs 
• Log in to SEMRUSH
• Hubspot website grader 

How to Use Keywords in your website?

When you perform keyword research, you can get a list of keywords for your website. You can either include them in your existing content or create new content. 

Following are the ways you can use keywords on your website.

1.Use Keywords in page titles.

The page title is the first thing people see when you appear on search results. If your page title includes keywords people are searching for, they will visit your website.

That means you will get more traffic with a specific topic. And also, Google looks at your page titles to figure out who you are.

As a best practice, use your target keyword at the beginning of the title. It is more effective to reach potential customers!

2.Use Keywords in Meta Descriptions.

A meta description is a simple summary of your webpage content. It should have keywords that help Google to understand you.

A meta description has about 160 characters (20-25 words) which describe what your page is all about. 

A meta description shows under the page name & URL on the search engine result pages. 

Adding keywords in your meta description is the basic way to add keywords for SEO purposes. 

People look at meta descriptions to get an idea of your website.

Writing a meta description with relevant keywords will motivate people to click through your website.

Getting a higher click-through rate will help you to get a higher Google Ranking. 

Write a good meta description by investing some time. It will tell the users what your page is about & why they should visit your website. 

3.Include keywords in URLs.

When you add new content, pay attention to the URLs. For example, when you publish blog posts by using WordPress, it shows what your URL is.

Try to make a short URL with relevant keywords. It will help Google to identify what your webpage is. 

4.Use Keywords in your content. 

When you put content on your website, always try to incorporate relevant keywords on them. If you use the keywords that people are searching for, it will be easy for them to find you. 

There is a belief that Google prioritizes the first 200 words in your content.

Usually, the first 200 words are where the writer includes an introduction to the content. If the introduction part is good, people will continue reading the article. 

So, make sure to put your primary keyword within the first sentence or paragraph. And try to use at least one secondary keyword within the first 200 words. 

Try to add your primary keyword once every 100-150 words.

For example, if you write a 1000 word blog article, your primary keyword should appear 7-10 times. The secondary keywords should not appear more than the primary keyword. 

Conclusion

Keywords are very important in search engine optimization & to get a higher rank on Google. Having clear idea for the questions like What are keywords? & How to use keywords is essential. 

If you are a business owner, perform better keyword research and use the most appropriate keywords on your website.

I hope this blog article answers two questions: What are keywords & how to use them? 

If you need any help with your company’s search engine optimization efforts, our team at DigiFix is more than happy to help you. 

We are Australian-based digital marketing agency, who offers services like SEO, Social media marketing, Web development & more. Contact us if you want to bring your business to the next level.

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