Earning high search rankings for your website requires the use of search engine optimization, and in particular, SEO keywords. Also known as target keywords, these words and phrases are the words you want to rank for in Google and Bing search.
But picking keywords isn’t enough. You need to know how to apply these phrases to your content. By including them in the right place, you help search engines understand what your content is about, and more importantly, who the content can help.
Let’s break down the top places for placing your target keywords in your content. As we do, there are a few things to keep in mind:
- Your content will have a mix of primary and secondary keywords. In most cases, we will be referring to the primary keyword phrase.
- Keywords do not need to be exact match, meaning, our keyword phrase can be slightly modified as we work it into each element. Search engines, and specifically Google, are smart enough to understand and digest variations of your focused word.
- For many of the elements, we’ll use an example to help illustrate the placement of our SEO keywords. We’ll pretend we own a pet store called Fluffy Friends and we’ll optimize the content for vegan dog food.
1. URLs
You should include your primary keyword in your page, post, or product URL. A URL is the digital address of the content, and it consists of a domain followed by a slug-based path featuring directory folders and/or the page’s filename.
In WordPress, the content’s URL will default to match the title you gave to the page or post. This address can be easily updated to allow you to finetune your URL.
Best practices for creating SEO-friendly URLs include:
- Include your keyword phrase
- Keep the URL as short as possible so it is easy for humans to digest and search engines to crawl
- Use dashes between words and avoid any unusual characters
- Remove unnecessary words so you focus on the core phrase and topic
A URL example for our fictitious website that sells vegan dog food might be:
https://www.fluffyfriends.com/dogs/vegan-dog-food-for-large-breeds/
2. H1 Header
Each page or post within a website should have an H1 header, which identifies the core concept or topic of the page, post, or product. This is by far one of the most important SEO elements, so spend time crafting the perfect header.
Best practices for creating SEO-friendly H1 headers include:
- Only use one H1 header per piece of content
- Make sure the H1 header appears at the top of the content and before any other subheaders
- Include your SEO keyword in the H1
- Make sure the H1 reads well and don’t force an awkward header to accommodate your keyword phrase
An H1 example for our dog food product might be:
Holistic Vegan Dog Food for Large Breeds
3. Meta Title
Including SEO keywords in your content’s meta title is another important element to watch for when optimizing for search. While humans don’t see meta titles on the page as they read, web browsers will display meta title attributes in open tabs and search engines may display them in the search engine results page.
Best practices for creating SEO-friendly meta titles include:
- A page’s meta title should be a title (not a sentence)
- Format the title so it is in title case
- Make sure it is unique and doesn’t duplicate other meta titles in your website
- Make it informative, yet easily readable
- Include the focused keyword phrase or a variation of this phrase
- Keep meta titles under about sixty characters
A meta title example for our dog food product might be:
Holistic Vegan Dog Food for Large Breed Adults
4. Meta Description
Along with meta title attributes, meta description attributes should feature your SEO keywords. Similar to the meta title, a meta description isn’t something a human sees on the web page. It is used by search engines to understand the context of the page and it may be used in the search engine results page.
Best practices for creating SEO-friendly meta descriptions include:
- A page’s meta description might be one or two sentences
- The text should be presented in sentence case
- Make sure it is unique and doesn’t duplicate other meta descriptions in the website
- Make it informative, yet easily readable
- Include the focused keyword phrase
A meta description example for our dog food product might be:
Keep your dog healthy and fit with our Holistic Vegan Dog Food. Each 30-pound bag ships free shipping and is guaranteed fresh!
5. Image Alt Text
Alt text attributes are HTML tags that describe images using plain text. This alt text is used by search engines and screen readers.
Images don’t contain an alt text attribute by default. Instead, you must create them when you load your image into your website.
Best practices for creating SEO-friendly image alt text include:
- Every image should include image alt text
- Use image alt text that describes the image in the most simplistic way
- If your focused keyword phrase is relevant, use this in the alt text, but don’t force it
An image alt text example for our dog food product might be:
30 Pound Bag of Holistic Adult Dog Food
6. Body Text
A web page’s body text is the page’s main section of content. This content should use the SEO keywords throughout the text where applicable.
When creating content, include SEO keywords at or near the beginning of the body text. The opening paragraph, for instance, should feature a focused keyword if possible. Including your target keyword phrases at the beginning of the body text helps humans and search engines quickly see what this content is about and it helps establish expectations on what content is to follow.
Best practices for using SEO keywords in your content include:
- Include your keyword phrases within the content
- Don’t focus on a specific number of instances – keyword density is not a ranking factor
- Use the keyword in the first few sentences of the page
- Use variations and synonyms
- Focus on writing great content around a topic and use the focused keyword phrase in a natural manner
7. Internal Links
Internal links connect two pages on your website together. Internal links are the super hero of SEO and they are a powerful SEO tool that website owners can use to create search-friendly content.
As you build internal links, you can create anchor text that describes the link. It’s important to include SEO keywords in the anchor text of your inbound links. Anchor text is the text that’s displayed in a link. Visitors use it to determine whether or not to click links, whereas search engines use it to determine which SEO keywords are relevant to linked pages. If you’re building an internal link to a page, create anchor text that includes one of the page’s SEO keywords or variations of your preferred keywords.
Best practices for using keywords within anchor text include:
- Place internal links where they help the reader and provide value
- Link to your cornerstone content, services, and products
- Include your keyword phrases for the destination content
- Vary your anchor text for a page so it is natural and doesn’t appear forced
- Make sure this clearly describes the destination link’s content to help both humans and search engines better understand the nature of the content
- Avoid phrases like click here, page, read more, and article as anchor text as it does not inform human readers or search engines of the nature of the link
Keywords Are Only Part of the SEO Puzzle
You can have the best product or optimized piece of content, but it won’t bring in traffic and conversions if your website hosting isn’t performing. In the last few years, Google has placed higher importance on speed, uptime, and security when it comes to ranking websites. While there are many things you can do as a developer or website owner, choosing the right WordPress hosting partner is one of the most important.
Pressable offers a managed WordPress hosting solution that is optimized for better WordPress performance, as well as 100% network uptime and industry-leading security powered by Jetpack Security. Not only will a faster and more reliable website mean better SEO, but it also provides a better user experience for more leads and revenue.
Want to learn about how Pressable can help your website enjoy better SEO? Schedule a demo today and learn more.
Amanda Tsourakis
With over a decade of experience in the tech industry, Amanda's experience demonstrates her sales expertise. Her commitment to building, training, and guiding high-performing teams has been instrumental in driving Pressable's success. Amanda's extensive background in sales and marketing, coupled with her sharp business acumen, has made her an invaluable asset to the tech community. Her ability to identify and foster talent, combined with her passion for developing winning sales strategies, has propelled her to the forefront of the industry. When she's not expertly navigating the tech sales landscape, she loves spending quality time with her family, loves travel and adventure, lounging pool/beach-side, playing tennis, working out, and meeting people/making friends all along the way!
