Are Keywords Really That Important in SEO.

WordPress is a super powerful and intuitive piece of software that makes structuring content easy and the least of your problems.

However, when it comes to optimising your website for search engines, you need to take a dive into the smaller details.

Take a look at your content and focus on its keywords: this blog is to help you out, so keep reading!

Tip: Always consult a WordPress SEO Expert before changing the structure of your site.

What are keywords?

Keywords are words (or phrases) people use when searching online for relevant information, products or services.

ie. If someone is looking for a chocolate chip cookie recipe, they may search for “best chocolate chip cookie recipe” – this is the keyword phrase.

Keywords and SEO

Search engines like Google use complex algorithms to analyse and rank sites based on relevance.

By strategically placing keywords in your content, you can improve its chances of ranking highly in search engine results pages (SERPs).

When your site appears on the first result page, it’s more likely to gain organic traffic: higher visibility, engagement, and conversions.

Keyword Research

Doing research makes all the difference.

Identify the words and phrases that your target audience is most likely to use when searching for content related to your website.

It’s super easy, as there’s even software that will do it for you:

Try using SEMrush (our recommendation), Google Keyword Planner or Moz Keyword Explorer.

Strategic Keyword Placement

Once you have a list of keywords, make sure you put them onto your site without keyword stuffing.

Here are some nifty ways to do it:

1. Page Titles and Headings:

Use keywords in your page titles (title tags) and headings (H1, H2, H3 tags) to give search engines a clear understanding of your content focus.

2. URL Structure:

Include keywords in URLs to create descriptive and SEO-friendly links.

ie. “example.com/page1” < “example.com/keyword-related-page”

3. Content:

Naturally integrate keywords into your content – blogs, product descriptions, and landing pages.

Try not to overuse them, as search engines can penalise what they believe is keyword stuffing.

4. Image Alt Tags:

Optimise image’s alt tags by using keywords.

It helps search engines understand the images and improves experiences for visually impaired users.

5. Meta Descriptions:

These don’t directly affect rankings but they’re important for increasing clicks onto your site.

Keywords and compelling writing can improve the click-through rate.

Monitoring and Refinement

Keyword optimisation is a long-term thing.

It’s important to keep updated with your site’s rankings and how each page is doing.

Luckily, there are plenty of tools that can help you:

Try the Yoast WP plugin (we highly recommend it), Google Analytics, or Google Search Console.

Figure out which keywords aren’t performing, and change it up!

So, are they important?

Yes. But only if you want to see results. 

Effectively using keywords can make a huge difference in the rankings.

It takes your WordPress site to the next level by making edits little and often.

And if it’s not how you’d like to be spending your time, talk to us here at Searchworthy, and we’ll get it done.