We get asked a lot of keywords when building websites, and there seems to be quite a lot of confusion regarding them so we thought we'd write something here.
The opinions range from that you should stuff hundreds of keywords and phrases into your meta keywords to not using them at all because they make no difference and you could get penalized.
Once upon a time keywords were exploited shamelessly and many websites did (and still can do) become penalized for keyword stuffing thus generally the search engines now take less to no notice of them as ranking factors.
However, their judicious use is asked for by accessibility guidelines so the keywords tag should be used.
Making sure that you do not have a huge string of keywords duplicated on every page of your site can also help the search engines figure that similar pages are not duplicate content.
The principal rule is that we use them very sparingly. Always make sure the keywords meta tag is populated but only with relevant thematic keywords that appear in the body text of the webpage and that seems to work well.
Selecting the right keywords for your website content and HTML tags are still one of the most fundamental parts of any SEO strategy. While anyone starting a website or blog is likely to spend a considerable amount of time selecting the keywords they think will get the top search results, how often should you revisit the task, and how can you determine whether you have selected the keywords that are working the hardest for you? The following tips can help you keep your SEO strategy fresh, and your keywords the most effective they can be for your website or blog.
Evaluating your resultsThe first thing to consider when deciding whether it is time to rework your keywords is to determine whether they are performing as they should. There are some great tools on the market, both free and proprietary that can make this a fairly simple task. One of the best free keyword tools is part of Google's popular Analytics application. If you haven't signed up for this application, then you need to. It is a great tool for your overall SEO strategy, and the keyword tool can help you determine the overall search results for each of your keywords.
If you are in the market for a more customizable SEO tool, then you may want to consider purchasing the top-selling SEO PowerSuite, though you may also want to think about the rather expensive price tag before making this decision. It has a variety of features that can help you maximize your SEO strategy, and the keyword tool will not only help you evaluate your keyword results but give you suggestions for more effective keywords as well. Though Google Analytics also has this feature, SEO PowerSuite is much more effective overall and will improve not only your Google ranking but your overall ranking online.
Both Google Analytics and SEO PowerSuite can offer you tools to improve your keywords through suggesting ones that may be more effective. While this can get you started on improving your keywords, what sort of strategy should you have to maximize these results? The temptation to "keyword stuff" can be overwhelming, and while this can temporarily improve your rank, if your content quality goes down this may have the reverse effect on your revenue stream from PPC links or donations. One way to get around this is to try including keywords in areas of your website other than the content. Using meta tags in your pages title, using multiple domains, and working on your backlinks can all improve your overall ranking.
So in general, developing a routine of checking your keywords with some SEO keyword tool and making improvements based on the provided suggestions, as well as your own experience will keep your website or blog where you want it to be.
About the Author: Carol James is an EssayLab psychology department writer and senior editor. She has MA degree in social sciences and is an excellent specialist in this field. Carol works with numerous materials on the subject and is eager to share her knowledge with our readers.
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