What are keywords and phrases?
They are the words and phrases people use when searching for products, services, and/or training on the internet.
So, if you search the internet, say on Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc., you will enter a word or a phrase into the search box that refers to the particular stuff you want to find.
Keywords are vital to what is known as Search Engine Optimization (SEO). In other words, your website is optimized for Search Engines to find it.
The current estimate is that Google alone handles approximately 8.5 billion searches worldwide on a daily basis.
Thus, if you want your content to be found by Google or another search engine, it must contain keywords.
Are Keywords And Phrases Critical To Writing Blog Posts?
Most people who are writing blog posts are usually affiliate marketers.
They write a blog post for informational purposes for their customers. The simple aim of an affiliate marketer is to connect a customer with a product.
The conversation that the blogger has with the potential customer must be engaging.
It must provide them with quality information so that they can make a thoughtful decision to purchase or not.
One cannot have a conversation if there are no visitors (traffic) to one’s website.
Keywords and Phrases are the answer and will drive traffic to your website.
Therefore, they are absolutely critical to writing blog posts.
Without them, there is little likelihood of potential customers visiting your site.
These comments not only apply to affiliate marketers; but also to anyone that provides information on the internet for the benefit of others.
It is essential to be found. You must use keywords and phrases known by search engines for people to find you.
“Long-Tail” Keywords.
Keyword phrases are often known as “long-tail” keywords.
So, rather than just using one or two words, long-tail keywords might contain between two and 10 words.
For instance, the title of this blog post – what are keywords and phrases – is a long-tail keyword.
Another example might be when someone is searching the words “weight loss”.
There are probably millions of searches containing those two words so you will need to make it into a long-tail keyword to get noticed.
Just using “weight loss” does not indicate, specifically, what the searcher is looking for. It might be pills, diet, a clinic, surgery, a program, or a particular product.
The following long-tail keywords might be generated by a more specific search.
- How to lose weight fast;
- How to lose weight fast and safely;
- 10 best weight loss programs;
- Healthy weight loss tips and diet plans;
- How to lose weight and keep it off.
- Weight loss food programs.
- Weight loss for women over 50.
By expanding your search from “weight loss” to one of the above long-tail keywords you will more likely be found by one of the search engines.
The Best Ways Of Using Them In My Articles.
Once you understand “what are keywords and phrases?”, you can identify the right keyword for your article or post.
Then, the first thing you will need to do is include it into your main title, preferably at the beginning.
The search engines first search titles for appropriate keywords.
The keyword should also appear in your first paragraph, so that the reader knows what is being discussed straight away.
This also confirms the topic of the post for the search engine.
Then, as you are writing your article, you should make it informational and well-researched, as well as including keywords several times.
The number will depend upon the length of the article, and you should definitely avoid what is known as “keyword stuffing”.
“Keyword stuffing” would be including the keyword in every paragraph of your article.
Search engines will remove your article from the list if you do this.
There are tools available to a blogger that will track and advise the correct number of keywords for the length of your content.
It is essential to use one of these tools to ensure that you have neither under-use nor over-use of keywords.
Be careful, also, not to use a number of keywords on different subjects in the same article.
Each keyword should be contained in its own article or post.
How Can I Research Keywords?
Let us use the keyword “weight loss” as an example. When you enter this into the Google Search Box it turns up 1.3 billion results!
This means that the competition for that particular keyword is too great. If you use it in your article, it is unlikely that you will get much traffic to your website.
Nevertheless, Google will give you some suggestions for converting it into a long-tail keyword.
If, for example, we then do a search for “weight loss for women over 50”, the search volume is reduced by half to only 682 million.
This, of course, is still too much competition for the keyword.
A next step could be to utilize Google to find a long-tail keyword that suits your article and which has fewer websites using it.
You can begin this by going through the alphabet with your keyword, such as “weight loss a”, “weight loss b”, etc. Google will give suggestions for you to review.
Now it is time for you to consider using a Keyword Research Tool.
There are a number of different tools on the market and some of them will give you a free trial when you sign up and before requiring subscription payments.
The Jaaxy Keyword Research Tool.
Jaaxy describes itself as “the industry’s only keyword and research platform that was developed by affiliate marketers FOR affiliate marketers.”
It has the most amazing research capabilities, and with more than 500 million new keywords being researched every day, it is an essential tool for anybody with an online business.
Jaaxy is highly accurate and can provide you with all the competitive information you need about keywords, both short and long-tail.
You can discover the successes (or otherwise) of your competitors and why they are ranking highly for their chosen keywords.
One of the most incredible features of this Tool is the SiteRank feature. This allows you track how your website is doing in the search engines.
Because TRAFFIC is the key for affiliate marketers, this feature is crucial to help you understand the progress you are achieving with your website and keywords.
This particular tool knows everything there is to know about keyword research and will help you to be successful in your chosen field.
It can help you to identify a high-ranking domain name, as well as a minimally competitive niche on which to base your affiliate marketing business.
As if all this was not enough, you can sign up for the Jaaxy Research Tool completely FREE. Then you will receive 30 free searches before needing to make a decision about a subscription.
In addition, we know a way that you can get Jaaxy included in your subscription to a really fantastic Affiliate Marketing Training Program.
I am a member of the Affiliate Program for Wealthy Affiliate and Jaaxy and, as such, I may receive a commission when you register for membership.
Very interesting article on keywords and phrases for SEO. I didn’t realize that they had to be kept short and that it would be more likely for Google to rank you better because of it. Do you know of an online course where I could learn more about affiliate marketing and SEO? Thanks!
Lizzy, thanks for your comment on my article about keywords. I don’t think that I said keywords should be short. I actually talk about long-tail keywords in the article. I think that as you are already a member of Wealthy Affiliate, you should look no further for your affiliate marketing training. As I mentioned in my post, Jaaxy is about the best keyword research tool you will find and it is available to you through your WA membership.
Thanks for sharing this article and explaining what keywords are and their importance to having great SEO. I love how you included “long-tailed” keywords in your article. That’s really where you’re going to start getting very narrow and specific with your keyword targeting and the best way to focus your content. Props to including Jaaxy in your article as well, it’s a fantastic keyword research tool. I’ve used a few other than Jaaxy but none of them compare.
Rachel, thanks so much for your comment on my blog about keywords. Yes, my favorites are long-tailed keywords, so I thought it important to outline what they were. And as you say, they are especially useful for a narrow niche. Jaaxy is a really great keyword research tool.
Very interesting article. Im just starting my adventure with digital marketing and posts like this are extremely useful. Its not easy to build good blog post, which keywords which will be properly indexed. Im learning something with every new post, and definitely will use your advices when creating another one. Also looking forward to test Jaaxy, it seems it will make my life much easier.
Cogito, thank you for your comment on my blog post about keywords. Jaaxy is definitely the keyword search tool that I use. It will be extremely helpful for you as you are creating more blog posts.
Before starting my affiliate marketing training I had never even heard of SEO or knew anything about it. Your explanation was spot on and I have been using Jaaxey to get my keywords. It is a very helpful tool. One question I have is, are the keywords in the title more important than the ones in the body of the blog. For instance, if my title says “Eat Less Sugar To Lose Weight” but the whole body of the blog mentions, keto diet, ketosis, low carb diet etc, will the search engine focus on the title more or, all the keywords in the body of the blog? So if someone searches for the keto diet, would my page possibly come up?
Al, thank you for your comment. Because your keyword is in the title and the Meta Tag, that will be the main focus for search engines. However, the other keywords you mention that are spread throughout your blog can also be picked up by search engines. So definitely keep it up.