Are Keywords Important?

Keyword is the basic and very important element in Search Engine Optimization. One may have many questions about the keywords. How to choose the right keyword for site? How much should be the keyword density for a web page? What are the special places where keyword should appear? Whether the keywords are important from quantity wise or quality wise? What are the basic things one must know about the keyword?

Keywords are important in quantity wise as well as in quality wise. Here are the basics of SEO in my opinion which you should always take care.

• 1. Use keywords in your URL and file names
• 2. Use keywords in page titles
• 3. Use Keywords in headings

Keyword in URL:

Your main keyword should reflect in your URL. Picking domain name with proper keyword is preferred, as related keyword in URL makes the visitor to memorize the site name. It is usually suggested to get the URL stuffed with related keyword for other pages of the website or each product page or article page. Using abbreviations or dates instead of keyword in the file extension affects the whole website.This does not mean that you should use four keywords in your domain name. You should not be greedy while hunting for the keyword rich URL or domain. You have to maintain the balance when you choose your keyword rich domain.
e.g. You have a good domain for skin care web site say skincare dot com. When you are adding a article for oily skin care, then it should contain the related keyword in that article page too. It can be skincaret dot com/carefor_oilyskin.html or skincare dot com/oily_skin_care.html

Keywords in page title:

The title tag is usually shown in the SERP, hence the page title becomes another special place for the keywords to be used. However, it is mandatory to use anything in title tag. If you keep title tag empty, then you will find “untitled document” in the browser. So why not make proper use of that tag for SEO purpose.

e.g. : if we go with our skin care example, title tag for the home page could be “tips for oily skin” within your title tag

Keywords in Headings:

A heading normally separates the paragraphs, and having heading for each paragraph is may be pointless. However from SEO point of view having heading makes it easier to stuff the keywords in headings or subheadings. As such there is no limit for heading length but having short heading makes it readable.

These are the basic care that has to be taken when we talk about keywords. Another important aspect about keyword is keyword density. Keyword density is important to make webpage more relevant to the search string. It is recommended to have density for 3 to 6 % for the major keywords and 1 to 2 % for the minor keywords.