Should you use exact match keywords? Should your SEO content contain multiple occurrences of exact match keywords? Is it fine, not having the targeted keyword at all because you have quality theme-based niche content? What is the best practice for SEO content writing that yields good results?
All your questions related to effective SEO content writing that drives your SEO efforts towards success are answered in this article.
Each SEO professional knows an undeniable fact “Keyword” helps us to bring our targeted audiences to our websites or landing pages and content marketing is woven around targeted keywords giving us the required push to meet the agenda of getting more exposure; top keyword rankings and more visitors. The most important and confusing part of an SEO campaign is the correct usage of keywords and content. The expertise in effective content strategy can make you an unbeatable SEO expert.
In traditional days, it was really easy to create content that gave you top rankings and lead generation benefits. All SEO professionals were just getting content with multiple occurrences of the exact match targeted keywords and distributing it to multiple sites. However, the introduction of Google’s quality assurance algorithms has changed the game. The labor SEO work was replaced with SMART SEO.
So what to do now?
Write for Readers, not just Search Engines
This has to be the main goal of your content strategy. At the end of the day, consumers will become customers, not search engines. Stuffing keywords to get top rankings is useless because even if you get high rankings, visitors will bounce back because they see unnatural keyword-stuffed content that is difficult to understand. Also, according to the latest SEO ranking factors, a high bounce rate, and no user interaction on your website will decrease your rankings. It means even if you get the top rankings with keyword-stuffed content, it is momentary. Soon, you will lose the rankings because users are leaving your website without any interaction.
Keep your audience in mind. Think, about what they might be interested in. What will win their trust in your brand? And write that kind of content with the best SEO practices.
Should I use exact match keywords?
Yes, if possible, but don’t stuff it.
We, SEO professionals, target keywords. Some of them are easy to get involved in the content. For example, we are a full service digital marketing agency and the keyword like a digital marketing company, hiring digital marketing experts is easy to involve in SEO content. However, keywords such as Digital Marketing Expert India or Digital Marketing Company India are difficult to use in content without compromising the natural flow of the content. In this case, you can take the benefit of keyword proximity. Google awards good content using keyword proximity at the top ranks so you can still achieve what you want without compromising content quality by stuffing exact keywords.
What if I don’t use the keyword(s) in content?
You are making a huge mistake.
Yes, we shall write content for readers and target audiences, but we can’t ignore search engines. Search engines are still using keywords to find relevant content for a search query. Yes, the search engines are smart to understand and correlate similar search terms, but not having search terms would result in a waste of effort and resources.
In a nutshell, to get the benefits of your content writing and marketing activities, your content must include targeted keywords naturally. You can add exact keywords, as and when possible. When the exact match keyword is difficult to use as it is, then use synonyms or take the benefit of keyword proximity facts.
What should be the keyword density?
There is no ideal keyword density; it depends on the content and subject. However, you shouldn’t go below 2% and above 4%, according to the ideal SEO content standard. Please be advised, the number can vary based on the content type and style.
Final Words
SEO content is important for successful SEO campaigns. Also, the usage of the targeted keywords is vital in SEO content to leverage exact benefits. The only thing to keep in mind is, don’t overuse or underuse keywords. Give equal importance to both, Search Engines and Targeted Audiences.
It is always good to take the benefit of a professional service provider and then do trial and error, especially, when we are talking about areas such as SEO content writing and digital marketing.
Get in touch if you are looking for experts in content, SEO, or other segments of digital marketing.