You’ve done your keyword research using tools like Google Keyword Planner and Moz. You’ve chosen keywords for your keyword strategy. So what comes next? How do you leverage the keyword research you’ve done and decisions you’ve made to improve your SEO and content marketing?
It’s important to start using your keywords strategically. Starting by implementing them in the following places will define what your next to-dos are, and help you start to maximize your keyword strategy.
Social Media Content
Social media is quickly becoming more and more important and impactful for SEO. Because of that, using keywords in social media content, such as posts, profile bios, and video descriptions, can help your social media pages show up for related searches.
- To-do: Add 1-2 target keywords to your company descriptions, profile bios, and video descriptions on your social media pages. And when you write new social media content, use keywords from your keyword strategy when they relate to the post.
On-Page Body Content
Both search engines and people searching look for relevant content when they’re searching for a website. Using your targeted keyword phrase at least twice in your on-page content will help your website be found for that keyword. Keep in mind, it’s important to target the keyword phrase exactly as it should be – for example, using the phrase homeowner as one word is a different keyword phrase than using home owner as two words.
- To-do: Add your target keyword into your on-page body content 1-2 times.
Blog Content
Just like with on-page body content, blog content provides another avenue for people and search engines to find your website. Using keywords consistently throughout blog content will help your website rank for those keywords. This includes using your target keyword throughout blog body content and backend elements.
- To-do: When you write new blog content, choose 1-2 target keywords for that blog. Add your target keywords 1-2 into the blog body content, as well as into the blog title and blog description.
Page Titles
Using a target keyword in your page’s title can help your website get higher ranking in search engine results for that keyword. For best optimization, keep your page titles between 50-70 characters long.
- To-do: Add your targeted keyword into your page title tag, and add it as one of the first words in the title if possible.
H1 Tags
Because H1 tags give search engines an idea of what the primary theme of your page’s content is on your website, they’re the most important heading tags to optimize for keywords.
- To-do: Add your target keyword at the beginning of your page’s H1 tag.
Meta Description
If the keyword searched is used in your meta description, that keyword appears bolded in the description section of a search engine result page. This can help draw attention to your page, and increase the likelihood of a click-through to your website. For best optimization, use your keyword 1-3 times in your meta description – using it more than that might trigger your page as spam – and keep your description length to around 155 characters.
- To-do: Add your target keyword into your page’s meta description 1-3 times.
Meta Keywords
Though search engines put more emphasis on keywords in on-page content over meta keywords, meta keywords provide a place to give search engines a basic idea of what the focus of your website page’s content is. For best optimization, use around 10 keywords phrases – using much more than that may be viewed as keyword stuffing.
- To-do: Add up to 10 target keyword phrases into your page’s meta keywords.
URL
Using your target keyword in your page’s URL helps show search engines that your website’s page is relevant to the keyword searched.
- To-do: Add your target keyword into your page’s URL. If it’s a multi-word keyword phrase, use hyphens to separate the words.
Alt Image Text
Alt image text helps describe the content of your image to search engines. If your image’s alt text includes a target keyword, it’s more likely your image (and website overall) will show up in results when that keyword is searched.
- To-do: Add your target keyword to your related image’s alt text on your page.
Starting with these steps will help you begin to make the most of your keyword strategy. If you’re looking for more information on keyword research and keyword strategies, check out our related blogs posts.
