Choosing and Researching Keywords, concluded - So What Do You Do With These Keywords?
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Once you have your keywords and key phrases, you need to start using them in your site. So how do you use them? First, keep in mind the caveats that I mentioned in the first section of this article about search engine algorithms changing on a regular basis. Be that as it may, here is where it would be a good idea to have an experienced copywriter lend a hand, though you can certainly do it yourself. After all, you're an expert on your own business, right?
One prime place to put your keywords is in your website's content. For this to work, you need to write a message that makes an emotional connection with your target audience, promote your product and/or service, and include the necessary keywords. On top of all that, it should sound as natural as possible to keep your potential customers on the site! Good places within your site's copy for keywords currently include the very top of your page (above your logo), the headline, sub headlines, the first paragraph, and the last paragraph. Note that search engines will be looking for exact keywords, not close matches (though artificial intelligence on this point is getting better all the time).
Keywords should also go in your meta tags. If you use a site design program, look for the tab that takes you to the HTML code and click on it. There will be a space for you to type in the site title. If one of your keywords is "juggling equipment," you could type into this space "juggling equipment for all levels from beginning to advanced jugglers." Note that this phrase doesn't include the name of the business, but it does provide a short description.
Other meta tags you will see are for keyword and description tags. For the keyword tag, you might type in "juggling balls, juggling equipment, juggling books, juggling lessons," or whatever you decided was appropriate. For the site description, you'll want to sum up your business in 25 words or less, including your most important keywords.
Interestingly, you can use a different site title, description, and keywords for each individual page if you want to. You might want to, because that will give you a way to track which keywords are performing better by how many hits your pages get.
You can also put keywords in your ALT tags to good effect. For example, if your site includes a picture of a young person juggling clubs, you could include an AL tag that says "juggling lessons for all ages," a phrase which includes one of your key phrases. Remember, spiders read your ALT tags just like they read your meta tags, so this is a way to raise your position in the SERPs.
Keywords also belong in your domain name and page names. Even if you really think you should have your business name as your domain name, there's no reason you can't try to get a domain name that also includes your best keyword. How about "www.magic-maven-juggling-supplies.com"? You might title separate pages with other keywords, especially if you have set them up to describe particular supplies or services, such as "juggling-balls" or "juggling-lessons." Then you would have pages that look like "www.magic-maven-juggling-supplies.com/juggling-balls.html."
Once you have your site set up, you can use an online tool such as Google Analytics to keep track of your visitors and the performance of your keywords. Do not expect that your first time setting up keywords for your website will be your last time. After you have enough performance data, you will probably want to change and adjust your keywords based on the new information and further refining your keyword research.
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