It seems keywords are the jargon of the web these days. Everywhere we look somebody is telling us we have to use our keywords, we need to write keyword rich pages, load our links, our headings, our everything with keywords. Our online adverts need to use the right keywords or they won’t work, we’re told.
But what, exactly, are keywords? Doesn’t it mean expressions as well as words, or have I misunderstood something? Will our website make sense to our visitors if we fill it with words designed to attract search engines? What about all the other businesses using the same or similar words, how can we all be different?
Keywords are the expressions people type into their browser search bar when they are looking for something on the web. Which means it can be anything from unhelpfully vague to absolutely precise. Our keywords, the ones we use on our web sites, are our best guesses at what people looking for our products or services may type into that search bar.
Somebody new to using the web looking for a book might type in the word “book” and hit the search icon. Try it. You will get something near one and a quarter billion responses using Google. Perhaps you should narrow it down a little? A search on the keyword book will give you responses regarding actual publications, booking to go on holiday or anything else you can book as well as being booked by an official for an offence.
Someone else may know exactly what they are looking for including the book’s publisher. They may type in “CSS Cookbook O’Reilly” and be offered only 120,000 pages with the most relevant right at the top. Clicking on the O’Reilly link to the relevant page on Monday 20 April 2009 shows it is out of print. You need to buy the new version.
We have gone from a confusing mire of over a thousand million pages to choose from to a clear and concise way to find exactly the information we need
Visit our website for more on keywords and how to find the ones you need for your website, inward links and Google Adwords campaigns.