How to Properly Choose Your Primary Keywords
When it comes to search engine optimization, or SEO, one of the most important decisions a business owner can make is choosing the right primary keywords. The proper selection of search terms can not only produce more organic search traffic, but can result in higher sales and profits.
What Exactly Are Primary Keywords?
These keywords are search terms for which you want your website to rank for in the search engines. For example, if your business sells laptop chargers, then the phrase “laptop chargers” would be something you would want your site and business to rank for. If your site has a high-ranking for that term it will show up at the top of the list in the search engines when that term or phrase is queried. This may then lead to potential customers or clients clicking on your site to learn more or to purchase goods or services.
These large keywords should focus on the main aspects of your offering, and may be supported by secondary or long-tail keywords.
How to Choose the Right Keywords
Choosing the right keywords for your site can mean the difference between success and failure. It is imperative, therefore to choose your words wisely.
A simple method for choosing the right keywords is to first create a site structure. This can include the creation of categories for each page of content and then choosing a single keyword to target for each page. The keyword you decide to target on each page will determine if your site receives a lot of traffic or little to no traffic.
The next step is to identify the main theme of the content on that page. If you are making a page about extra-wide shoes, for example, your primary word should reflect that. The next step then is to use a keyword tracker tool. These tools are available by search engines such as Google, Bing and more, and can also be purchased through various SEO companies.
The key is to find search terms that have a large amount of searches. Using the shoe example above, something like “XL shoes” or “wide shoes” may have a lot of monthly searches while a phrase like “wider shoe” may have far less. Once you have identified a keyword that has sufficient searches on a monthly basis, you can then also look at site competition. The best primary keywords are the ones with the most search volume and lowest competition. This combination may, of course, be hard to find for more popular products and business categories.
At the end of the day, search engines will return results it considers relevant to its users. The most important consideration when choosing main keywords, therefore, is to make sure they are relevant to the content of the page and site.
