Getting started with SEO choosing keyword selections can be overwhelming. Let’s go back to the basics and talk about what a focus keyword or focus keyphrase is, and why they are important. We also cover some helpful tools for keyword research strategy.

What is a focus keyword? 

A focus keyword or keyphrase is going to be the term that you want your website or blog post to show in the search engine results for. 

For blog posts it is more effective to use long tail keywords, these are usually longer and more specific. You can make your keyphrase more specific by adding another descriptive word or even the area where your business operates. 

Where do I start?

If you are at a loss where to start coming up with keywords there are some questions you can ask yourself: 

– What is the purpose of this post? 
– Who is my audience?
– What is my audience searching for?
– What words or phrases are they going to type into the search bar? 

Why User Intent is Important

Once you identify your mission and target audience think about why they are using a search engine. This is called user intent. One of the goals of search engines is to provide results that best match the user’s intent. Users are usually using search engines for the following reasons: 

– To gain information
– To navigate or find their way to a specific website
– To research and compare something they intend to buy in the future
– To make a purchase  

Now that you have a general idea of who you are writing the blog for and why now you can select a focus keyphrase. 

FREE Helpful Tools for Keyword Research

If you need help getting creative with long tail keywords there are several free helpful tools.

1.    Google Adwords Keyword Planner– The data is representative of pay per click ads however it can still help with your keyword research and coming up with long tail keywords. 

2.    Yoast Suggest– Yoast our preferred SEO plugin for WordPress sites. They have developed their own tool to help you develop your keyword strategy. 

 Additional Tips for Making Your Blog SEO Friendly

Make sure your blog post includes your key phrase at least twice in the body and that your blog is at least 300 words long. 

Good luck! Need additional help with your blog or SEO strategy?

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