Without picking a focus keyword, your blog is less likely to rank. Choosing a keyword to optimize your blog content is like telling Google, “Hey, this is what my blog is about and when you should show it in search results.” So let’s chat about how to pick a good focus keyword, eight places to put it in your blog, and a helpful WordPress plug-in to tell you if you did a good job optimizing your blog.
What is a Focus Keyword?
Your focus keyword is the keyword you’re targeting in your blog to try to rank for. The focus keyword is the one you’re putting in all the important places Google checks to see what your content is about. Of course, you will naturally use other keywords (called secondary keywords) and you may rank for those, too.
Quick Tip to Pick a Focus Keyword
This could be a whole blog (and probably will be in the future) but let’s go over the main thing to remember when picking a good focus keyword.
Typically, you start with an idea for a blog. You know what you want to write about and maybe you have an idea for a title. Plug in terms within your blog title or idea to an SEO tool like Ubersuggest. See what the analysis is on that keyword. It will also provide recommendations of similar keywords you might not have thought of.
You want to look for a keyword with high volume but low competition, meaning a lot of people are searching for that term and it’s not super hard to rank highly for it.
Avoid keywords with competition above 70, especially as a small business. It will be very difficult to rank for that term. It’s not a bad thing to choose a keyword with a lower search volume if it’s specific. That means it’s a niche term and you’ll likely get a niched audience on your blog.
I know I breezed through that super fast… Stay tuned for a more in-depth explanation of choosing a keyword!
How often should I use my focus keyword?
While there are specific places to make sure you use your keyword, be careful not to over-optimize. Sometimes I over-optimize because it’s so easy to use the keyword throughout the blog (this blog is an example, oops), and other times, I need to look for more ways to naturally integrate the focus keyword into the blog.
The key here is to naturally place the keyword in your copy. Google doesn’t want to see you using a keyword just for the sake of using it. Add it throughout your copy where it makes the most sense.
In terms of how many times to use your focus keyword, it should be about 1-2% of your entire blog. So if you have a 1,000-word blog, it should be used at least 10 times. I know that sounds like a lot, but I’m going to explain eight places that should be included at a minimum.
8 Places to Put a Focus Keyword
1. Blog Title
The first place your focus keyword should be is in your blog title. This is usually the easiest place to put a keyword because it’s what your blog is about. Obviously, you would want to pick a keyword that aligns with the content of the blog.
It’s recommended that you put the keyword at the beginning of your blog title, but don’t get too hung up on that rule. If it works out that way, great. If not, don’t sweat it. Just make sure it’s included somewhere in the title.
2. Headings (H2, H3, H4)
Headers break up your blog content. Think of them as a hierarchy.
Your blog title is your H1 tag. There should only be ONE H1 tag per page on your website. This is the most important title on the page.
H2s are secondary headings under the main topic. These are the main ideas of your blog. Include your keyword in at least a few of your H2s.
H3s are under the H2 tags (see the hierarchy?) These are ideas that fall under the H2 heading. You don’t always need H3 in your blog copy, but they are nice to use when the copy under an H2 gets to be too long. It doesn’t always make sense to include your focus keyword in H3 headings but if you can add it naturally, go ahead and do that.
3. Introduction
Your introduction paragraph should include your focus keyword. It’s again reiterating what your blog is going to be about. The sooner you can use it, the better. If your introduction is a few paragraphs long, make sure it’s in the first paragraph.
4. Body Content
Add your focus keyword naturally throughout your blog content. If you can, spread out the use of your keyword. It would be better to have it throughout the entire blog vs. just at the beginning and end.
5. URL Slug
A slug is the words past your domain in the URL. So for this blog, mavenmadecopy.com/where-to-put-your-focus-keyword is the URL and the bolded section is the slug. Your URL slug is usually some form of your blog titled. It might be shortened if your title is longer because you don’t want a huge URL slug. If you shorten it, make sure the keyword is included.
6. Metadata
This includes your SEO title and meta description. These are the words that appear in search results. The blue line is the SEO title and the text beneath is the meta description. Both places should have your focus keyword. It’s as much for Google’s sake as it is for the reader’s. Make it clear what your content is about so you reduce bounces from your website.
7. Image Alt Text
If you have images in your blog, the alt text should include your focus keyword. The alt text describes the image for Google’s understanding and to help with accessibility. The premium version of ChatGPT is actually pretty good at giving you quality alt text. Just upload the picture and ask it to write alt text under 150 characters with your focus keyword.
8. Conclusion
Finally, include your focus keyword in your conclusion. By wrapping up the blog, it will be natural to include the focus keyword at the end.
Yoast Plug-In
I love using the Yoast plug-in to quickly analyze how well I optimized a blog for a focus keyword. I always recommend my clients have the Yoast plug-in if they use WordPress to blog.
It also gives other helpful tips to optimize your blog copy, like:
- Word count
- Images/alt text
- Metadata
- URL slug
I know this was a lot to cover but I hope it helped you understand where to put your focus keyword in your blog. My blog writing services include keyword research and I do everything I mentioned in this blog when writing and publishing. Explore my blogging packages and inquire today!
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