Keywords and phrases are pieces of information that show search engines what your page or website is about. The more you optimize your page for this keyword, the better you’ll rank for it when people search for it on SE’s like Google, Bing, or Yahoo. They can display your page on search quires using that keyword or phrase.
When used with other search engine optimization tactics, you can start to rank your website when people search for that tool.
If you’re just starting out, that might seem impossible. However, here are WebCroppers, we want to show you how to get started.
Your core keyword is “bookstore.” You’ll find that the popularity of words has changed over time as well. What was once “bookstore” is now more commonly spelled bookstore, referring to a specific type of store. Here’s the data to prove it.
Next, research popular phrases you want to use with that keyword. Which are the most successful for your industry or niche? It’s not so hard. Just think to yourself “what would I search if I were the customer?” For example, if you sell used books, maybe “used bookstore” would be a good phrase to use.
Let’s see how your keyword compares to some similar options when you uses Google trends to show the data.
Here are three different key phrases that you could incorporate into the design and content of your site. You can see that “bookstore” is the most popular by far. Since “used bookstore” contains that key phrase, you would be getting two for one.
Let’s take this a step further. Let’s say your used bookstore is in Seattle. You can use Google Trends to narrow down the results even further. The graph didn’t change much but the related queries did. The most popular terms were “Christian bookstore near me” and “comic book store.” Acquiring these materials and entering those terms in your content could help boost your rank.
Once you have your keyword or key phrase, you can check out what other companies are doing with it. You can use the site “iSearchfor.com” to enter your keyword and the top ranked sites will appear. Just like Google Trends, you can narrow the results by location. Check out the highest ranked used bookstores in Seattle, using this tool.
As a business, you could see their websites and look at how they’re using the keyword “used bookstore.”
Now, I’ll start by saying that none of these stores are maximizing their potential with SEO, which is good for new businesses like you. But, let’s take a look at Half Priced Books and see how they’re using the keyword.
This store is using the keyword “bookstore” and adding “local” to get people searching for local results.
They use more keywords that people search for when trying to find a bookstore, like our choice “used” books.
After checking out a few different sites, you can see what elements of the competition’s site is working for them and which ones you want to use.
Where to Feature Your Keywords
Just like a person, search engines go from top to bottom and would like a structure that reflects a chronological order. In this instance, you would feature your keyword or phrase “Used Bookstore” at the top as an H1 tag. From there, you would go down to the different categories you offer as h2, and so on. As long as your keywords are set up in a way that makes sense, chronologically, you’re going to get the results you want.
Keywords are powerful tools and you need to pay close attention to how they hold up your competition.
