Keyword Targeting Essentials For SEO

Michael Bergbauer - September 14, 2020

There are several ways that you can improve the keyword targeting for a particular page. Some pages need more work than other pages, but some basic strategies apply regardless.

First and foremost is using the keyword in areas that search engines consider very strong signals for understanding the page’s content, whether or not it’s relevant to user queries, and ultimately determining a ranking. This includes the title tag and header tags for the page. You also want to include the keyword throughout the copy, but you don’t want to just stuff it into the copy as many times as you can. The goal is to do it in a way that’s natural and makes sense to a user who’s reading the page.

Certain factors that were more important in the early days of Search, such as keyword density, are not as significant any longer. Search engines are more focused on providing quality content for users. Since having a certain level of keyword density is not necessarily indicative of quality content, search engines pay less attention to this metric.

What matters today is using natural and accessible language in a tone that’s appropriate for the audience absorbing the subject matter. Think of it more like you want the keyword to encompass the main idea of the page’s content, rather than trying to stuff the keyword in there so many times.

It’s also worth noting that you don’t need to use your target keyphrase verbatim throughout the content. Search engines’ semantic understanding capabilities have really evolved over time. They understand how synonyms, singular versus plural, and other phrasing variations all relate to one another. You can use acronyms or talk about the keyword in a bunch of different ways on the same page and still rank for all of those keywords because search engines understand you’re talking about the same subject matter.

Search engines have evolved tremendously over the years with respect to their understanding of language and the intent of a page. Quality content that intelligently incorporates the intended keyword will always trump an “old school” keyword stuffing approach.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss in greater detail, please let us know.