Every content writer should know the basics of keyword placement and frequency.
Key Words and Key Phrases
It’s important to remember the difference in terminology used by every content writer. Single keywords like “dog” are not very commonly optimized for because there’s just too much competition for them. Key phrases, also known as key terms, are typically optimized for because the competition is limited. Imagine how hard it might be to rank for usage of the single word “car.” Now imagine how easy it probably would be to rank for “car tires for sale Gumbo Arizona.” Fortunately, there are effective strategies for using these so-called “long-tail” keywords.
Using Long-Tail Key Phrases
When using and trying to optimize a piece of content for a long-tail keyword, a writer needs to do a certain amount of research. Some long-tails are exceedingly awkward while others are almost nonsensical. But properly employed, a consistently logical long-tail keyword strategy can pay big dividends for writers, website owners, and advertisers.
Optimize for Two Parts
To use the long-tail keyword “cars tires for sale in Gumbo Arizona” as an example, we have a couple of decent options for optimizing our content. First, the writer could break up the long-tail keyword into two pieces and work with each one. Using the two shorter choices, “car tires for sale” and “in Gumbo Arizona” would probably yield very little competition and at the same time allow for much more readable content.
Avoid Awkward Wording
The main challenge with long-tail keywords is certainly not competition. In fact, low competition is the primary advantage of long-tails. On the negative side, long-tails tend to make website copy very awkward and at times unreadable. Which of the following selections is better:
-“Car tires for sale in Jumbo, Arizona, are offered at multiple locations throughout the city.”
-“There are plenty of car tires for sale all over the U.S., both online and in retail stores. In Jumbo, Arizona, for example, both XYZ and ABC regularly have tire sales on Saturdays.”
It’s obvious that the second example is much more natural and compelling than the first, which seems to be a poor attempt to shoehorn the long-tail key phrase into the content. By breaking the key phrase or term into two relatively equal-sized parts, a content writer can overcome nearly every problem with awkward phrasing and weak grammar. So, break up those long-tail key phrases for maximum effect.
Keyword, whether they’re actually words, phrases or terms, are perhaps the most crucial part of SEO strategy. Properly positioned and optimized, keywords can lead huge numbers of readers to a site’s content and ultimately to that site’s advertisers.
That’s a win-win-win situation because you, as the content writer, will eventually be able to increase writing rates. Site owners who use your content will attract more readers and can up their ad rates. Finally, advertisers on the site will win more customers. High-quality content wins every time, for everyone involved in the system.
