The development of keyword strategies has changed drastically over time. Back in the day (AKA 5 to 10 years ago), a common goal among search marketers was to obtain as many keywords as possible. The number of keywords in your account was something to respect about a marketer in that time and today that has remarkably changed. Instead of focusing on the quantity of keywords, the emphasis is centered now on the quality of what keywords you want to target. The experts here at Onimod Global have a few do’s and don’ts you can implement into your keyword strategy.
Do: Identify themes.
Identifying themes for specific pages is crucial. There is only so much room to expand on any existing keywords you have before it just becomes irrelevant to your site and won’t create any relevant traffic or visibility. An example that Search Engine Land suggests is instead of attempting to search for every possible, insanely-specific description of a shirt like “pink polka dotted yellow shirt”, look for other opportunities to branch out. For example, look into different types of shirts such as “sweaters”, “tees”, “blouses”, and so on.
Don’t: Keyword Stuffing.
This is exactly as it sounds, stuffing a bunch of the keyword you’re attempting to rank for in a particular page on your site. Don’t get us wrong; it’s essential to have those keywords on the pages you want to rank for that specific keyword. The key is to find that right amount of using that keyword where you’re still delivering high-quality content. Not only is this pretty unethical, but it also can look like spam and will be treated as such by Google or other search engines.
Do: Utilize meta descriptions.
A meta description is merely a short paragraph that appears on SERP (search engine results page). These can increase your click-through rate if you optimize your keyword in this location. The meta description has virtually nothing to do with ranking in web searches; however, it is helpful with click-through rate which will increase your ranking in the long run.
Don’t: Get caught up in your professional terminology.
This is extremely easy to do, and it can hurt your page ranking on SERP. This is because you can often forget to account for ways that a consumer without your technical knowledge might seek out your product or service. When deciding on keywords you want to target, remember to think like a consumer. For any of you that focus mostly on B2C sales, this is significantly important. An opportunity to take advantage of would be to do market research in focus groups to discover what consumers are wanting or needing your services would search.
Do: Monitor the impact of new keywords.
When adding new keywords, you want to make sure they are adding value to your account. A straightforward way to track this is to label new keywords as they are attached, this way you can quickly give a performance review, whether that be good or bad. Additionally, make sure that a keyword you have added is contributing positively while not taking away from existing keywords. If this is the case, make sure the performance of the account overall is increasing in strength.
Don’t: Duplicate keywords.
Duplicating keywords is another factor in keyword strategy that is a common mistake, but easily avoidable. Broad match keywords don’t rely on which order the terms are in, so keywords that would be considered duplicates are just words rearranged in a search. For example, “charcoal suit jacket” and “suit jacket charcoal” would be viewed as a duplicate and would also compete for the same search. The main thing here is you don’t want to be competing against yourself and spend more on clicks than necessary.
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