Modern Keyword Strategy: A Guide

You’ve heard it over and over again: use keywords on your website so that people can find you through Google. Figure out your keywords and then put them everywhere! Everywhere!

So you did, and maybe it helped you “rank” on Google. You thought, “hey, this works!” so you wrote a blog post that said your target keyword about 20 times in 300 words. You beat people over the head with your keyword. And it worked.

Fortunately for people who like to read words on websites, this trend is over. In fact, I’m going to go ahead and declare the keyword dead.

Yes, that’s right, the keyword is dead! Ok, maybe I’m being a little dramatic. But really, if you’re writing content for your website and thinking “ok I need to put this keyword in here 8 times” while you’re writing, you’re doing it wrong. 

It’s time to start thinking in terms of topics rather than keywords. Answer questions with words written for humans, not web crawling robots, and you’ll go far. There are only 2 times in your web life that you can think about keywords, and that’s a) in step one of website optimization when you research what phrases searchers use to find what you offer and b) when running PPC ads.

How to Create a Modern Keyword Strategy

Here’s my foolproof guide to your modern keyword strategy that follows the SEO rules of today.

Step One:

Determine what keyword phrases searchers are using to find your products or services

Come up with your list of keyword phrases you’d want your audience to find you listed for. Then, do the legwork of actually searching these terms, in a browser where you’re logged out of Google. Look at the list of results carefully. Is that really where you fit? Also, start typing in various phrases and look at the terms Google is suggesting in the drop-down. 

Step Two:

Take your list and turn your keywords into topics

Make a spreadsheet! For each keyword or keyword phrase, think of some related topics that are relevant to your audience. What questions might they have about that topic? Be the expertt!

Example:

Keyword Phrase:

How to Make Chocolate Cupcakes

Possible Topics:

• Using different types of chocolate

• A list of top 10 chocolate cupcake recipes

• How to tell when cupcakes are done

• Should you use paper liners, foil liners or none at all?

• Top 10 chocolate cupcake toppings

Step Three:

Assign Content

Now that you have a nice long spreadsheet of topic ideas, it’s time to put it into action! Actually assign members of your team (including yourself) to specific articles, and implement hard deadlines. This is the crucial step where many strategies fail. Finding time to produce content isn’t always the easiest thing to do, but in today’s SEO landscape, it’s incredibly necessary.

Do this and find SEO success!

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