How to Add Keywords to a Website and Boost Your SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a critical part for businesses. Ninety-three percent of all online experiences begin with a search engine, so you're missing out on a lot of potential business if your website doesn't show up on the first page of search results. 

One of the basic principles of SEO is using relevant keywords to help Google (or any other search engine) recognize that your website will be the most helpful to the person who is searching.

Adding keywords might sound intimidating, but it's easy to do if you follow some simple rules. Keep reading to learn more about keywords and how to add keywords to a website.  

Relevant keywords are crucial to getting a high ranking website. You want your website to rank high up on the first page of results, as most people won't bother even going to the second page of search results.

If you're not sure how to get started, here are five easy to implement steps to optimizing your website with the best keywords to help improve your website's ranking:

1. Start With Keyword Research 

Make a list of keywords that people would search to find your business. Think critically about your target audience and what their needs are. You should also include synonyms and related words, as different people will all search for slightly different words. 

Randomly adding keywords around your site won't get you the results you are looking for. Make sure that keywords are placed strategically throughout your page. It used to be back in the early 2000s that you would put as many keywords as possible on as many pages of your website as possible in an attempt to gain favor with search algorithms. Now, it is not only ugly looking on your website and seems unnatural, but search engines, like Google, may punish such actions.

An example of unnatural placement of keywords would be something like:

"Our handmade knives are handmade by our team who creates handmade knives. Contact our handmade knife makers today to receive your very own handmade knife."

Instead, search engines favor a more natural and subtle approach to keyword placement. More natural and subtle additions of keywords that help instead of hurt your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can be found in each of our blog posts. We use blog posts to answer relevant questions that our clients will search for online. Which not only helps them find the answers that they need but helps our SEO as well. Blog posts allow more SEO keywords to be used and can help to reach a broader audience that is genuinely interested in your site's content.

Useful places to include keywords for your site to help boost Search Engine Optimization are:

• Your website domain
• Website title 
• Headings
• File names for images 
• Body content 
• Titles and captions for images
• Blog Posts

3. Keep Tabs On Your Competitors 

Make sure you check out your competition's website to see what keywords they're using and the quality of their content. You'll be competing with other businesses in your area to rank higher in results. Keywords for your local area are essential because they give you a higher chance to rank higher in your local area. You want to make sure your website has better SEO than your competitors. If your competitor's SEO is better, you can lose clicks and organic traffic to them, potentially losing business.

Make sure you track your results carefully so you can see which keywords are the most successful for your website. Google Analytics is a free tool provided by Google and can help you track your top referral keywords. This article gives a full explanation of how to get started. The more information that you have on what is making your site successful, the more likely you are to grow off of that information and continue to expand.

Keyword "stuffing" isn't a good idea, and your website can be punished for including too many keywords on one page. This is a result of Search Engines preferring more genuine and more readable pages. Too many keywords on a single page can indicate either harder to read and unnatural writing, or signal that someone is trying to take advantage of the algorithm to try and rank higher in search results.

One easy way to make sure you're not inadvertently "stuffing" your pages with keywords is to calculate your keyword's density on a given page. For example, if your blog post has 300 words, and the keyword you are trying to incorporate appears 30 times, you have a keyword density of ten percent. You should reduce the amount and frequency of your keyword since the optimal percentage is between two and three percent. 

Now that you know how to add keywords to your website, you might be ready to move forward towards some more complex SEO concepts.

Check out the rest of our blog for more helpful tips that will help to boost your ranking and make your website the best possible experience for your visitors. This article on how to tell if you need a website redesign is a great place to get started. If you're ready to redesign your website completely, check out our Website Design page for more information.