The absolute foundation of SEO texts is keywords! An SEO text without keywords is not an SEO text – so far, so clear. Accordingly, you should use your focused keywords in the content – if you try to write the best possible text for your user, this happens automatically. You simply cannot write a text about houseplants without using „houseplants“, but you should also not use these keywords excessively.
AND much more important (see videos):
Keywords are made by people.
IN ADVANCE: There is always only ONE focus keywordanda maximum of 3-5 other main keywords / synonyms. All other keywords and phrases complement or deepen the topic.
The biggest mistake: Having multiple focus keywords for one topic.
ATTENTION: Differentiate between focus and main keyword!
The best keyword tool at a fair price: KW Finder*
So, once we have a keyword list, it is sorted, and we have filtered out the most important keywords for us, we move on to clustering (see next lesson).
By the way, we usually sort and filter using KWFinder and only export at the end.
However, this is purely a matter of taste and how one wants to design their workflow.
And how does it work with keywords now?
My ultimate tip for dealing with keywords in SEO texts is this: Write keyword-consciously, but primarily write for the user! The following rules apply:
- Use your keywords in all text sections and, where appropriate, in headings.
- Also use synonyms of your keywords.
- However, do not use keywords compulsively or too often.
- Grammatical adjustments and necessary filler words such as prepositions are allowed.
- Beautiful writing style and user-friendliness beat keyword usage!
Info on keywords in headings
Headings are among the most relevant areas of your SEO text. They serve search engines, but also users, to quickly classify your content on a topic: Is it relevant or not? Therefore, you should also use your keywords in the headings. But be careful! If you have the choice between using keywords in the heading and a heading that is appealing to the reader, always choose the latter! Ideally, a heading naturally combines both points. Important tips on this, however, are in the other lesson on stylistics.
Do keywords have to appear exactly as they are searched for?
It is certainly an advantage if the keyword appears exactly in the searched wording (Exact Match). However, Google is getting better and better (especially in GERMAN) at understanding the meaning of content and search queries. For years, they have been working on improving the query understanding of the search algorithm. In this context, there have been three important Google updates: Hummingbird, RankBrain, and BERT.
Back to the actual question: If a keyword cannot meaningfully appear in a text, then I would not use it that way. Explained with a concrete example: We would never write „Evergreen Media is an SEO agency Innsbruck“. This reads very clunky, is clearly recognizable as keyword-optimized, and accordingly offers no good user experience. Anyone who „optimizes“ in this way casts a bad light on their own brand. So: When in doubt, go for (natural) readability!
The most frequently asked questions and answers about keyword research and analysis
What is keyword research and how does keyword research work?
Keyword research is the foundation before analysis. Based on a so-called focus keyword (1 word or search phrase = several words), a list of similar and related terms from the same topic area is created. Thus, relevant words are automatically listed to match the „focus“. Based on the relevant search terms, the best possible SEO text, product description, or ad text can then be created. However, a detailed keyword analysis follows first. This is at the beginning of every search engine optimization and forms the basis for the SEO strategy and is enormously helpful.
What is keyword analysis and how does keyword analysis work?
Analysis is the step after research. Once you have the keywords in a list, you sort and compare the metrics and select the appropriate keywords and word phrases. Depending on the competition factor and competitor analysis, it must then be decided whether and how search engine optimization should look. For paid ads through Google Ads or Bing Ads, it must be decided based on the PPC and the competition whether it is worthwhile to invest here.
SERP = Search Engine Results Page = Refers to the results page(s) of a search engine when searching for a very specific search query (keyword)
Keyword = Search term as a single word or phrase (multiple words; also called long-tail)
Avg. Search Volume = average monthly search volume (calculated within the last 12 months)
Location = Country of the analyzed data
CPC = estimated Cost per Click (cost per click in Google Ads)
PPC = Competition level/percentage of competitors
KD = Keyword Difficulty = Competition/competitor analysis to get to the first page or to position 1 (0-20 = easy, 21-35 = more difficult, 36-50 = hard, 50+ = 1-2 years of intensive work) – simply put, the difficulty of the keyword for SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Search Volume XX/XXXX = average search volume in this month
Domain Authority (DA) = A ranking factor from Moz (moz.com) that predicts how well a domain will rank. The calculation is done by evaluating the domain, number of total links, MozRank, MozTrust, etc.
Page Authority (PA) = A ranking score from Moz (moz.com) that predicts how well a specific page will rank. The authority calculation includes link counts, MozRank, MozTrust, and dozens of other factors.
Citation Flow (CF) = Developed by Majestic (majestic.com), focuses on the quantity of links. It predicts how influential a URL is based on the number of websites linking to it – quality and quantity of links.
Links = Number of external backlinks to the URL. The number of referring domains, IPs, and subnets is also considered.
FB = Number of shares on Facebook. How often the post was measurably shared and republished.
LPS = Overall Link Profile Strength (up to 30 normally achievable, over 30 a lot of work and from 50 only possible with a portal)
EV = Estimated visits per month for this SERP position (search result position). Calculated from the average monthly search volume.
SEO Difficulty values / rating:
- 0 – 9: effortless
- 10 – 19: go for it
- 20 – 29: easy
- 30 – 39: still easy
- 40 – 54: possible
- 55 – 74: hard
- 75 – 89: very hard
- 90 – 100: don’t do it (tu es nicht)
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