The most important aspect of SEO-optimized article writing is the choice of keywords.

If you choose the right keyword phrase for a given article and write an engaging and well-written article, your article could rank on page 1 of the SERPS on that phrase.

Beyond the importance of positioning yourself on page 1, there are at least three good additional reasons why the choice of the target keyword phrase is important.

1. It will be part of your title and your Meta title - the first part of your article that a potential reader will see. It is in these nanoseconds that you are most likely to hook or miss a potential reader.

2. The research you did to choose the key phrase will affect the rest of the article. What you do not choose as the main sentence can become secondary keyword sentences which will enrich the introduction, the subtitles, etc. of the article, which will increase the weight of the article in the search engine indexes.

3. Studying the keywords that people are looking for will make you a better copywriter. Simply put, research gives you insight into how your potential audience thinks and searches for information.

Below is a step-by-step overview of how to choose the best target keyword phrase for an article, including a hypothetical example to illustrate the steps. Once you have a title with a strong target keyword phrase, don't consider your SEO work to be done. What you learn through keyword research can be applied throughout the writing process to improve readability and make it easier to find the article.

The goal here is not only to satisfy the search engine algorithms. It's about making an article better, more likely to find its potential audience.

1. Think about the article

What is its main subject? Not generally, but specifically. Will the reader learn? What questions does he answer?

Example: An article on the advantages and disadvantages of under floor heating - its advantages and disadvantages for different rooms in a house, its cost, etc.

2. Brainstorm on your keywords

Before you approach a keyword research tool, ask yourself what you would be looking for if you wanted to find an article on this topic. Scribble a few sentences of varying lengths, but nothing shorter than two words (we'll come back to that later).

Example: under floor heating, cost of under floor heating, is under floor heating eco-friendly, under floor heating operation.

3. Do your research by keywords

My favorite tool for this step is the Google Keyword Planner. There are many keyword research tools with a variety of different options. Some of them are free, others are not. For me, using the number 1 search engine tool appeared to be the best option. When you open Google's (free) tool, start by entering the phrase (s) from your brainstorming list in the "Word or phrase" box. Leave the "Website" box empty, unless you want to limit the results to the keywords that bring traffic to your website

4. Examine the results

At the top of the list of results, you will see the phrases you have searched for. Below you will find related sentences. The columns to the right show the search volume, and there are a few options for sorting and customizing the information. For now, I recommend that you focus on the average monthly search column.

Example: floor heating (1 k - 10 k), cost of floor heating (10 - 100), operation of floor heating (10 - 100), is floor heating environmentally friendly? (0 - 10)

Record the search numbers for the phrases you have targeted and any related phrases that truly reflect the subject of the article. Avoid sentences that are not in natural language because they will be difficult to work in the titles or the body of the article. You may need to repeat steps three and four a few times to find good sentences. For example, "under floor heating" can hold good surprises.

Even if you look at numbers, keep in mind that these numbers represent real people who use search engines to find information that your article could provide. If you are not sure whether a particular sentence matches the subject of the article, or if you are looking for words that can mean different things in different contexts, Google the sentence. The results will show you what the search engine considers relevant results for that phrase. Research will also reveal competition for this phrase (who and how much).

5. Resist the temptation of big numbers

I know I told you to focus on the "average monthly searches" column, but don't settle for the keyword phrase that has the most searches. Your chances of ranking on the first page will be higher for a more specific phrase that is the subject of less research. It is far better to rank on page 1 for a phrase that does several thousand searches per month than to be on page 12 for a phrase that does several hundred thousand searches per month.

The trick is to look at the sentences that most accurately reflect the subject of the article, and then use the numbers to weight the different options there. There is no magic number of search volumes to choose from or ignore. Choosing a phrase from the options offered is the hardest part and it's hard to resist the temptation of big numbers.

After doing your phrase and keyword research, if you are still having trouble evaluating the options and / or are tempted to choose vague phrases with very high search volume, try using Google Analytics.

Look for keywords that attract traffic to your website, and then enter them in the keyword planner. Then compare their monthly search volume with the number of visitors they bring to your website. You may be surprised to see that the most effective keywords do not have a high search volume.

In general, when people are looking for short, general sentences, they are looking early and likely to quickly narrow their search to something more specific. When people search for a longer, more precise phrase, they are closer to conversion.

It's the long tail. Nowadays, ranking for long tail keywords is more important than ever. Also be aware that if you target a sentence with multiple words, you will target the words in that sentence as effectively. If you find a short series of words with a large number of searches, resume word for word in a longer and more specific sentence, bingo!

Related Post: SEO: 5 tips for creating good site architecture

Certainly, your article should have a subtitle titled "Floor Heating: Pros and Cons". You will also position yourself on "floor heating", which has a much higher number of searches!

6. Select secondary keyword phrases

Finally, you can obviously avoid repeating (unnecessarily) the word “under floor heating” 50 times since the expression “under floor heating” is also sought.

It may all seem like a tedious job, but with practice you will find that the whole process takes place quickly for most subjects. As you go, you will go faster and will not be able to do without it.

The payoff can be huge - 15 to 30 minutes of research to choose and apply a target keyword phrase can get thousands more to read your work.

If you want to carry out a full audit of your website you can call on an SEO NYC expert, hundreds of profiles are available on Codeur.com.