Keywords: What They Are and How to Use Them

What Are Keywords in SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Keywords are words or phrases used on website pages so that users can find them by these words or phrases.

When a user enters a query in the search bar, the search engine algorithm selects pages that most accurately match what they want to find. The algorithm analyzes all the content on the page, but first and foremost it focuses on the words or phrases and determines how closely they match the search query.

The page's relevance to the user's query is known as relevance. If a page is not relevant to the query, the search engine will not show it, but even if it does, users will quickly leave because they need something else.

Inside the website, keywords, along with different design elements, are responsible for navigation. If the titles of sections correspond to their content, the user will quickly find what they are looking for.

Keywords answer several questions:

• What search query do you want to be found by?

• What words will people use in the search bar to find you?

• What will the search query look like?

The Difference Between Keywords and Search Queries

These two concepts are interrelated but not identical.

Keywords are terms or phrases that a website owner places on their pages to optimize the resource and attract an audience.

Search queries are phrases that users enter in the search bar. In a sense, they can also be considered keywords because website optimization usually focuses on what users enter in the search bar.

How to Find Keywords for a Website?

There are two global approaches to selecting keywords, which are best used together.

The first is selecting words related to the site's theme. This includes descriptions of products or services, their names and characteristics, specialized terminology from the company's field of activity, and words describing potential user actions - buy, order, calculate, compare, and others.

The second approach is to focus on search output: collecting search suggestions, phrases from special keyword search services, and analyzing keywords already used by high-ranking sites in search results.

The combination of these words and phrases is called a semantic core. Ideally, the site's structure is built on the collected semantics.

Where to Use Keywords on the Website

Literally everywhere where text placement is expected. From the point of view of search engines, different page elements have different significance, so they are not evaluated equally, but the search robot scans everything, so there should be no random words on the page.

Main Text Content

Keywords are included in articles and descriptions so that they do not stand out and look natural. Some authors insert one phrase per 1000 characters or a certain number of words, but there are no recommendations from search engines on this. It is not necessary to adhere to strict rules, it is more important that the text looks natural and is useful to readers.

Headings and Subheadings

Keys are used for headings and subheadings of content to break content into parts and give the search robot a "summary" of the page. It is also easier for the reader to navigate through the headings than to study all the content in search of the necessary information.

Title and Description

These are the title and description tags of the page, which users see in the search results. They primarily account for page transitions - if a user sees what they are looking for in the snippet, they will want to click on the link.

Sometimes search engines change the Title and Description under the user's query if they consider the page relevant, but originally the text in the tags was formulated differently.

Image Attributes

Alt is text with a description of the image. The search robot reads this text to determine which query to show it in the images section, and also for an overall assessment of the relevance of the page it is on.

Link Anchors

Key words are specified in the link text, which helps search engines better understand the topic of the linked pages. A simplified example: you have a page with an article about replacing electrical wiring, linked from an article about installing sockets, in the anchor of which is written "change wiring." The search robot will find that the page about electrical wiring has links with text on this topic. This means that the page definitely fits the search queries related to wiring.

Structured Content

To get the page into special blocks of search results, micro-markup is used - designations of page elements that the search robot reads and understands to what type of content it belongs: contact information, recipe, article, video, or something else. Keywords in conjunction with micro-markup help search engines even more accurately determine the content of the page.

User Intent and Sales Funnel

To effectively use the collected keys, you need to understand what exactly the user wants to get. Their queries can have different intents/intentions. Depending on the task the user is solving, the intent can be:

• Informational - the user wants to find out something: "how to do a headstand," "why is it summer in Argentina in winter," "how long to cook broccoli"

• Transactional - indicates a desire to do something: "buy a coffee maker", "iPhone 15 find out the price", "free training sign up"

• Navigational - with the name of the brand: "brand's website"

Some queries are impossible to determine the intent, they are called general. They look something like this: "wedding dress", "trekking", "North Pole"

Words should be placed on the site taking into account the task that each specific page solves. On the product page, there should not be queries like "how to clean the washing powder tray" and on the instruction page, there should not be queries with the words "buy."

The stages of the sales funnel also affect the use of keys. If the user is only thinking about buying, offer them reviews and comparisons with key phrases like "how to choose a coffee maker." The next stage is when they have already identified the need and are choosing a specific product. Here you can offer a comparison of models and a description of their features, talk about warranties and repair possibilities. The final stage is the purchase, when it is necessary to inform about a favorable price, ordering in a couple of clicks, and fast delivery.

Keyword Frequency

Besides intent, keywords can be categorized by frequency - an indicator of demand among users. Frequency literally means how often users enter a word or phrase into the search bar. You can check the frequency in special services for working with keywords.

The higher the frequency of a word, the more people can come to the site by it, but there is a nuance - usually, such words have higher competition, as other site owners also use them to attract an audience.

In some topics, frequency depends on the season, because some products and services are only in demand at certain times. For example, artificial Christmas trees are usually bought before New Year's, and school backpacks - at the end of summer.

The popularity of a query can also change depending on the region. Geo-dependent queries are those for which users in different regions see different search results. For example, for the phrase "buy flowers," search engines will show stores in the city where the user is located.

Geo-independent queries, accordingly, are not tied to the user's location, and the search results for them from any city will be the same.

Keyword Inclusion

Each use of a keyword in the text or other elements of the page is called an inclusion. There are different types of inclusions.

Exact Inclusion

This implies that the word is used in the same form as it was set in the context of optimization for search engines. Example:

Keyword: "digital marketing"

Exact inclusion in the text:

"Companies use digital marketing for promotion on the internet."

Direct Inclusion

Similar to the previous type, but allows the use of punctuation. The query "wedding dress price" can be used as follows: "In our salon, we will help you choose a wedding dress, the price of which will not exceed your holiday budget"

Synonymous Inclusion

This is the use of similar words that do not change the meaning of what is written. The search output for such words is the same, or synonyms are found in the search results for one query. For example, "used car" and "car with mileage"

Diluted Inclusion

In diluted inclusion, the phrase is broken up by other words. For example, the key "cat food price" can be used in the sentence "You can buy cat food at low prices."

Morphological Inclusion

A type of inclusion where you can change cases. The phrase "grocery delivery" can be changed as follows: "During the delivery of groceries, the courier will clarify whether to leave the order at the door."

Density

Keyword density is the percentage ratio of the number of keywords to the total number of words on the page. The formula for calculating density looks like this:

Keyword Density = (Number of Keywords / Total Number of Words) × 100

For example, if there are 100 words on the page and the keyword is used 5 times, then the density will be 5%.

(5 / 100) × 100 = 5%

Search engines perceive too high density as spam, although algorithms not only count words but perceive content as a whole. Search engines do not specify the recommended percentage of density, but among SEO specialists, it is believed that it is better not to exceed 5-7%.

How to Identify Keywords in Text

To understand under which words and phrases the text is optimized, a visual inspection is usually sufficient. Keys are inserted in headings and used on one page several times; this is the main theme of the content. With product cards and service pages, it's even simpler - look at the title.

To check text not yet placed on the Internet, you can use lemmatization services. A lemma is the initial form of a word. For nouns - in the nominative case and singular, for verbs - the infinitive. Such services show how many of which words are found in the text. Usually, the keys consist of those that are most numerous.

If you own or manage a small business, and website promotion, working with keywords, and developing advertising campaigns are not your main activities, our robotic service AdTools can be useful for you for a quick launch of your business's cross-platform advertising campaign on Google, Facebook, Instagram, without immersing yourself in the details of internet marketing.