Keyword

A keyword is a word or phrase people type into search that you want your page to show up for. Choosing the right keywords is really choosing which conversations your business wants to be part of.

A keyword can be one word ("mattress") or a full phrase ("best mattress for side sleepers"). The phrase usually tells you far more about what the person actually wants.

Head terms vs long-tail keywords

Long-tail keywords are searched less often individually, but together they make up most of all searches, and the visitors they bring are usually much closer to buying. For a newer or smaller site, they're the smart place to start.

How to pick the right keyword for a page

Weigh three things:

• Volume — roughly how many people search it (tools like Google Keyword Planner give estimates).
• Difficulty — how strong the sites already ranking are.
• Intent — and this matters most. A keyword is only right if your page can satisfy the search intent behind it better than what already ranks.

High volume is tempting, but a term you can't rank for sends you zero traffic.

One page, one primary keyword

Give each page a single primary keyword and a couple of close variations. Targeting the same term with several pages causes them to compete with each other and all rank worse. Reinforce the choice in the page's title and meta description, and for location-based terms, lean on local SEO.

Edward finds the exact phrases your customers are typing, then writes pages built to rank for them, on the right keywords, every week. Run a free audit to see the keywords you could realistically win.