Google is a highly popular site for Internet searches. Webmasters who want to increase website traffic from Google are well served by learning how Google indexes content. They should also know how the search engine decides what sites best match a user’s search.
While the exact science of how Google performs these calculations is a mystery, there are some basic search engine optimization (SEO) strategies that can help most any site rise in Google rankings. In particular, we will look at how to choose keywords for SEO.
The Importance of Keyword Phrases for Google Search Engine SEO
Keyword phrases are the search terms that Internet users type into the Google search engine when looking for content that matches their needs. Optimizing a website for keyword phrases is the foundation of good SEO. This is the first step any webmaster should take to ensure web content is effectively indexed.
Properly using keywords can also encourage a webmaster to keep the focus of the site in mind at all times. This can, as a result, improve the end-user experience.
Tips to Improve SEO and Optimize a Website for Keyword Phrases
Keyword research can be a complicated and involved process. This is also true of understanding keyword competition. At the most basic level, optimizing a website for keyword phrases involves considering what terms a user might type into a search engine to find a website. Then you need to create web content with those phrases in mind.
The following are areas where you can easily implement keyword phrase optimization:
- Page title: Use primary keyword phrases at the beginning of a page title. You should also keep titles focused and concise. The reason being, titles that are too long risk being cut off in the search results.
- URL: Whenever possible, the page URL should match the page title and contain relevant keyword phrases. Some blog platforms, such as WordPress, set URLs to page ID as the default. You should also make sure to edit the options to have URLs display as real words for better SEO.
- Lead paragraph: Use the primary keyword phrase in the lead paragraph of content. This is to show the importance of the term to the information ahead.
- Sub-headings: Write descriptive sub-headings for sections of articles. You should also use primary and secondary keywords in the titles.
- Inter-linking: Inter-link relevant articles on the site and try to use descriptive keyword phrases as anchor text.
- Images: Use descriptive keywords for image file names and image alt text.
- Categories and tags: When on a blogging platform, further optimize the site by using site-wide keywords to categorize and tag content.
- SSL: Make sure your website has an SSL certificate.
Use SEO Basics to Increase Website Traffic
A focus on SEO basics can help webmasters improve a site’s usability for visitors and search engines. Each individual step might not bring a site to the top ranking spot on Google. So learning how to choose keywords for SEO alone may not be sufficient, however, the combined process of viewing a site with an eye toward search engine optimization can effectively increase website traffic, and improve the overall user experience.