Have you ever thought about content without focus keywords?
It is just impossible to do so because keywords act as the key element between what people are searching for and the content you are offering them to fill their needs. While Keywords are about your content, they are equally about your audiences too. There are chances of you offering things in a different way than the people are actually asking for it.
If you’re looking forward to creating content that gets a higher ranking organically and attracts visitors to your site, then you’ll have to recognize your audience. Apart from that, you can also opt for content marketing, it is one of the best ways to rank higher and reach targeted audiences. With this, We refer to the type of language they use and the type of content they are looking for.
To make this possible, you can start by talking to your consumers, community groups, and frequent forums. Besides this, you must begin using tools like Keyword Explorer for doing your keyword research. Without proper keyword research, you will not be able to curate breath-taking content.
What is a focus keyword?
The term focus keyword is a word that you wish your page or post to be ranked for. While people are looking or searching for that keyword or phrase, they must find you. Suppose, you set a focus keyword for a specific page using a plugin, then it will assess the page content. Post that, it will give feedback as to ways of enhancing content for increasing your chances of ranking higher for that particular keyword.
Let’s take a look at how it works – Once you have put in the focus keyword, the plugin will have a look at your SEO title, H1 tag, body copy, and various other components for telling you how well you have done in optimizing your keywords. This practice of using a plugin is a total lifesaver when you want to avoid the most pathetic things like keyword stuffing.
How to choose a focus keyphrase?
Before choosing a keyword/keyphrase to optimize your blog or article for, you must at least perform these three things
- Find a focus keyword people look for
- Analyze the search volume
- Don’t forget to Google your keyphrase
Strategies to find a focus keywords
A strong keyword strategy will provide you with some ideas to work on and write. If you still don’t have any strategy, then you must start creating yours.
Long-tail keywords
If you’re looking forward to making your page or post rank higher, you can do so by using long-tail keywords. Long-term keywords are the ones that have more than two or more words. These words are less searched when compared to the popular ‘head’ keywords. Due to them being searched less, there are higher chances of converting.
Which tools can help you find long-tail and related keyphrases
After completing your keyword research, you must have got a clear understanding of what you’re going to write about. Post this, you can use various tools for finding long-tail variants of that focus keyword or related keyphrases. One of such tools is Answer the Public, it will help you know the questions people have about a particular topic. Using this tool will give you various insights along with inspiration for a new article/blog.
Analyze the search volume
Once you have got your hands on the long-tail term you want to rank for, then it is the time to find out whether there are abundant searches for that focus keyword – its search volume. Here, you’ll have to put some effort and try researching these keywords in Google Adwords or Google Trends. But, now with the introduction of Yoast SEO, it has become quite easier to find long-tail keyphrases or related keywords.
Except this, you can also lookout for information about search volume and trends. Now, it’s like a cake wake to analyze the possible related keywords. For boosting the quality of your content, you must optimize your content for related keywords. Doing so will also make your content easy to understand for Google.
Look out for posts already ranking
If your website already has some blogs or articles that are ranking well, then you’ll know the number of visitors attracted to your blogs. You can compare the focus keyword of the older blogs with the focus keyword you’re thinking for your new blog. It will give a clear picture of the potential traffic the new focus keyword could bring. Always pick an older blog which is quite similar to the one you’re planning to write.
Don’t forget to Google your keyphrase
It is crucial to know whether the ideas you have thought for the page meets the expectations of the people who use these terms. Furthermore, you’ll also need to realize the search intent behind it. To find out if your content meets the people wants or not, you must Google your keywords.
Examine the search engine result pages
Remember to have a look at the search engine result pages (SERPs). Does the new article have the same character as the old one? Will your blogs be set in the result shown on search pages?
The content seen on the search engine results page will help in deciding the kind of content to create further. Pay attention to things like, Is Google showing blogs or product pages? Images and videos? If anyone of them is the influencing one, then Google will think that people are looking for such content.
Results pages content
While you’re creating your blogs, always use the content of the result pages. Find out the answers of various questions like What are the ways of making sure that your post will stand out? What are the ways to make it more better, original and funnier too than the ones appearing in search results? Last but not least, work hard towards creating content that will make your audiences click and share.
Look over social media and forums
It is always a beneficial idea to know what people are saying about a particular topic on various social media platforms and other online forums. Checking out social media will give useful insights for your article or page. You can sometimes answer the question people have about a topic and the difficulties they are facing in it.
Why a focus keyphrase?
One of the essential parts of an effective SEO strategy is to keep adding SEO-friendly blogs to your website. Google always keeps an eye on you and sees that Is your website active? Does it have any new content? You must be active and keep updating new information to it. Doing so will also intensify the volume of your content.
In the race of updating new content every day, you must never compromise on the quality of content. While you’re adding content to your website, think about its relevance. Furthermore, you must also work towards crafting a keyword strategy that will help you in creating high-quality content. When you write these articles or blogs, remember that it is important to optimize them for the focus keyphrase.
Mistakes to avoid while dealing with the focus keyword
Here are some points that will help you save time and start writing blogs. Try to avoid these mistakes while you’re choosing focus keywords for your article.
Concentrate on only one keyword in a single blog
Busting one of the keyword-related myths if you want your article to have a natural flow, then you must avoid concentrating on various keywords in a single blog. It might affect your ranking. You should work on dedicating each page to a single focus keyword and create superlative content around that particular keyword.
While focus keyword becomes the strength of your blog, the other related keywords (LSI keywords) will provide it with the natural flow
Avoid Seed Keywords
If you wish to rank your blog post, then you must never use generic keywords and opt for long-tail keywords.
Let’s take an example:
Salon
Beauty Salon
Beauty Salon NewYork
Beauty Salon NewYork for women
Suppose, you select salon as your focus keyword then you’ll hardly see any traffic from Google. The reason is that it is quite strenuous to rank for seed keywords like these. So, you must opt for a long-tail keyword like “Beauty Salon NewYork.” (The search volume is less here, but it is easier to rank for this)
Never keyword stuff your Article
From the year 2017, Google has become smart enough to understand the topic of your blog just by your focus keyword. According to Yoast SEO, there must be a focus keyword density of 2.5%. So, you must try your best to reach this keyword density while maintaining your natural flow. Don’t always think about achieving 2.5% focus on the natural flow of your content.
Conclusion
It is not easy to pick the perfect focus keyword or keyphrase. All you have to do is seek a combination of words that are mostly used by people surfing the internet. Apart from this, look out for a keyword that has a higher volume and also suits your target audience well.
Picking the right focus keyword might be a huge problem for bloggers and webmasters. We hope this guide will help you resolve this problem and provide you with all the essential information about focus keywords.
If you have any queries, please ask in the comments section.
