What are keywords?

Keywords as they relate to the internet have two main functions: First they are the words or phrases that you as the searcher use to describe the content or subject matter of what you are looking for online. Secondly, keywords or keyword phrases are words or phrases that search engines use to relate your search query to the online content or subject matter that most closely matches your search.

Let’s say you open a browser like Firefox, Safari, or Chrome and navigate to Google.com to search for Golden Retriever Puppies. The phrase ‘Golden Retriever Puppies’ is a keyword phrase. If you just typed in puppies then ‘puppies’ would be a keyword.

Let’s stick with the example above and say we use the phrase ‘Golden Retriever Puppies’ for our search. When we hit the search or submit button Google’s search algorithm tries to match our search query with the web pages or content that most closely matches our request.

Although Google’s algorithm is very complex it basically attempts to match your search term(s) or keyword or keyword phrase with online content that has the highest probability of being what you are looking for.

Google’s algorithm does this by using the keyword or keyword phrase you used and returning a list of Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). The SERPs related to your keyword or keyword phrase usually contain web pages the are the most relevant, authoritative and popular.

Understanding relevance, authority and popularity as it relates to internet keyword or keyword phrase searches is a field of study and expertise called Search Engine Optimization or SEO. We’ll save SEO for another post.

For the sake of understanding what keywords are I will explain briefly why knowing a little about keywords is an important part of operating a successful website.

Since keywords tie internet searches with the web pages and information that relate to those keywords, it would serve you well to have the appropriate keywords or keyword phrases on your web page. So how do you know what keywords or keyword phrases to use? In a word ‘Research’.

You will need to do some research to find out which keywords or keyword phrases people are using to find information associated with the information on your website or web page. Below are a few principles and suggestions that should help you get a better understanding of keywords and begin to use them more successfully on your site.

Keyword principles and suggestions:

Do general keyword research -

Use a search engine like Google and search for keywords or keyword phrases that relate to your web page or site. See what pages come up and what internet neighborhood they are in. In other words see if the SERPs give you web pages that relate to your desired target market or goals. If the SERPs don’t relate try changing the keywords slightly to see what happens. Sometimes even just changing from singular to plural or vice versa can make a big difference.

Do more specific keyword research -

There are numerous tools online that will help provide you with specific data that relates to your keywords and keyword phrases. Some are free like Google’s AdWords Keyword Tool and the SEO Book Keyword Suggestion Tool. Some keyword research tools you have to pay for like KeywordSpy and SpyFu. No matter which route you choose you they should help you get a solid understanding of what searchers are looking for.

Include keywords in your copy or text -

Make sure that when you write you include keywords or keyword phrases in your text. Now you don’t want to stuff your content with keywords so your site looks spammy. Search engines like Google hate that. Oh, and so does everyone else. However, if you don’t drop in an occasional word or phrase that relates to what people are searching for you will be losing some valuable opportunities.

If possible place keywords in your website name, page names, titles, and image alt tags -

It’s a good idea to place keywords in important places like those listed above. A rule of thumb however is to try and make every page a little different. Search engines are not big fans of duplicated content either, so try to be creative. Don’t go crazy here. Make sure it makes sense.

Finally, don’t forget about related keywords or keyword phrases -

There are usually a lot of words or phrases that relate to the specific keywords you are trying to get noticed for. Adding in related keywords or phrases can help you throw a wider net and maybe capture those people you would not have captured otherwise. It’s always a good idea to write for people first, then see where your keywords fit in.

I hope this helps you understand what keywords are and how important they are to your website traffic. I’ll post some detailed keyword research suggestions in the future. So, stay tuned in.

See you tomorrow.