Keywords: Optimizing Your Blog Post

Part 3

Keywords

The word "key" has many connotations. For me, it deals with opening the proverbial door to find something new. Therefore, when I think about keywords I believe they are important to any well written blog post. By using them effectively you will help your blog rankings. Here is the information in a nutshell:

Why Should I use Keywords?

Keywords are used by the internet search engines to help organize data. We are all well aware of the power of looking up a string of "keywords" to find something of value online. I penned a book many years ago for families using the Internet, "Virtual-Field-Trips: An Online Study Guide."  In this book I had to explain how to search online! We have come a very long way. In fact, back then Google was not even one of the choices of recommended search engines.

As the internet continues to change, we can only hold onto the coat-tails of those in the know, and be dragged along, or we can arm ourselves with the information to be the leader of the pack. One suggestion is to follow blogs such as Marshable and others that stay ahead of the pack with timely information.


How do I use Keywords?
Your keyword should reflect the topic of your post, be used in the title, and in the first few sentences of the first paragraph. These words should also be used in the body of your text. Make sure your sentences are authentic.
 
What Keywords Should Your Use?

First, identify you client base. Then decide what keywords they would employ when searching for a particular service. Think: "If I was the customer what would I look for?" This will give you a starting point. Searching for keywords can be like looking for a needle in a haystack unless you have some important tools to help you.

How do I find Keyword Stats?
Statistics from strings of words are mined by companies with sophisticated software. These sources allow you to see what words, or word-strings are the most searched for by giving them a number rank. For example the word "book" has a higher ranking than the word "novel" (which means a fiction-book), as you can see the word book would rank higher because it encompasses all books rather than a specific sub-set.


What Tools Can I Use?

Once again, there are free services as well as those with a fee attached. I've use both and will admit that the services with fees tend to be well worth the money. One great feature is they store your data on a page you can access as long as you subscribe to your account and they allow you the ease of downloading an entire list. The service I use is WordTracker, but there are many free services. Use the ones you feel are the best.

Next post: Making your blog shine

Felice Gerwitz
Speaker, Author, Publisher, Consultant to Aspiring Authors
http://www.InformationInANutshell.com
http://www.MediaAngels.com
http://www.MediaAngels.com/socialnetworking