Top 10 Evergreen Keyword Optimization Tips

What are keyword optimization tips and why should you learn about them?
Definition of Keyword Optimization...

“Keyword optimization is the process of optimizing a website to rank highly at the search

engines for a specific keyword or keyword phrase.”

Keyword optimization has both an “on-page” and an “off-page” segment.
The on-page part consists of putting your specific keyword at certain places of your webpages to make the SEO see what these pages are all about. As a result, when people type these specific keyword into the search engines, SEO will send some of these visitors to your optimized pages.
Off-page keyword optimization is process of getting links from other websites pointing to your site. It’s the best way to let the SEs know your site is valuable enough for other webmasters to link to it, thus it deserves higher rankings and more traffic.
The combination of on-page and off-page keyword optimization is commonly referred to as SEO or Search Engine Optimization.
Now I’d like to tell you EVERYTHING you need to know about onpage SEO (we’ll cover off-page SEO in a later chapter).
I promise to follow the 80-20 rule: no fluff, only what matters.

Step 0: Perform Thorough Keyword Research
The importance of keyword research is huge. You don’t want to optimize your pages for too
broad keywords. The broader a keyword is, the more competition it has. You want to target
keywords that you actually have a chance winning.
That’s why I put so much emphasis on conducting proper keyword research in the previous
steps. Whether you used Google’s free keyword research tool or Market Samurai (hopefully
you used MS for better results), you probably have a list of 100-150 low-supply, highdemand,
„golden nugget” keywords.
Now your job is to write content pages for each of these specific keywords from your list.
WARNING: Before we start talking about the most powerful keyword optimization tips, let
me warn you.
Quality content is still the most important factor. Simply optimizing your pages is not
enough. No matter how many visitors you receive, if your content sucks, no one will buy from
you. Then what’s the point of wasting your time and money?
Remember: quality content rules the web. Always focus on quality over quantity. The web
already has enough low-class articles.
Note: I’m going to use the "scuba dicing" niche as an example to help you.

Top 10 Keyword Optimization Tips Checklist

1 - Page URL

•  Make sure to include your specific keyword in your page’s URL.
•  If your specific keyword consists of more than one keyword, use dashes to separate them. I suggest you avoid underscores.
•  Make sure your specific keyword comes right after the domain name.
•  Don’t include any words in your URL other than your specific keyword phrase.
•  Use small letters only, avoid capital letters.

GOOD EXAMPLE
www.scubadivingadvisor.com/scuba-diving-equipment

BAD EXAMPLE
www.scubadivingadvisor.com/this_page_is_Scuba_Diving_Equipment

2 - Page Title

•  The title is what people first see when they search at Google. Make sure it’s engaging enough for your readers to click on it.
  
  
  
•  Put your keyword as close to the title’s beginning as possible.
•  Include your keyword in the title once, maximum twice. Avoid keyword stuffing.
•  Keep it under 80 characters
•  Capitalize the first letters of your title’s words.
•  Do NOT make it ALL CAPS.

GOOD EXAMPLE
Is Your Current Scuba Diving Equipment a Lurking Threat to Your Life?
BAD EXAMPLE
Click here SCUBA DIVING, SCUBA DIVING EQUIPMENT, find SCUBA DIVERS, PADI, scuba diving resource, scuba diving advisor, etc...
(Would you click on a listing like this? You wouldn’t believe how many webmasters still think this is the best way to go...)
3 - Meta Keywords Box

•  Include your specific keyword in the meta keywords tag of your page.
•  Make sure you start the list with your specific keyword.
•  Don’t use more than 5 keywords in the meta keywords section.
•  Your specific keyword shouldn’t be longer than 5 words. Still, human judgment rules. If a 6 or 7 word keyword phrase makes sense, feel free to use it.
•  Never repeat your keyword in the meta keywords section.

GOOD EXAMPLE
scuba diving equipment, scuba diving tools, scuba diving gear
BAD EXAMPLE
scuba diving equipment, scuba diving equipments, scuba, diving, padi, scuba diving tools, equipment for scuba diving, please, rank, me, for, this, keyword
4 - Page Description

•  Write an engaging description that gets the click.

•  Include your keyword in your page’s description.
•  Don’t repeat your page title. It’s a waste of valuable “keyword real estate”.
•  Include your keyword only once, maximum twice.
•  Feel free to use synonyms in your description.
•  Make your description less than 200 characters.

GOOD EXAMPLE
Do you own all the scuba diving equipment vital for under-water survival? Discover whether your current scuba diving tools are good enough and find special discounts inside.
BAD EXAMPLE
Click here to read SCUBA DIVING EQUIPMENT, SCUBA DIVING TOOLS, TOOLS FOR
SCUBA DIVING AND BEST SCUBA DIVING EQUIPMENT, learn to scuba dive, how to learn diving, please give me your money for my worthless content etc...
(Again, you wouldn’t believe how many webmasters use this “tactic” in the 21st century.)
4 - Main Headline

•  Always start your pages with an introductory headline.
•  Include your specific keyword in the headline once, maximum twice.
•  Start the first letters of your words with capital letters.
•  Make it interesting enough for people to read the whole article.
•  Have fun with it.

GOOD EXAMPLE
Scuba Diving Equipment that Could Save Your Life
BAD EXAMPLE
Read this article about scuba diving (Who cares? I’ll just click away.)
5 - Page Length
Write at least 400 words of content on every page. If you write shorter pages, search engines will less likely take them seriously enough to rank them well. Hey, if you know and love your topic, writing about it shouldn’t be a problem.
6 - Beginning of Articles
Include your specific keyword in the first 90 visible characters on your page. If you mention it too late, search engines may think your page isn’t related to “scuba diving equipment” after all.
7 - Keyword Density
Don’t stress too much about keyword density. Keyword density is calculated as “number of keywords mentioned” divided by the “number of all words”.
Generally, I recommend you keep your keyword density at 3-5%. Going above 5% may cause the SEs to think you’re manipulating them. If you don’t want to get a ranking penalty, I suggest you keep yourself to the 3-5% guideline.
TIP: Use this free tool to make sure you’re in the right zone.
http://www.webconfs.com/keyword-density-checker.php/
8 - Synonyms and Related Terms
Instead of keyword stuffing, make sure you use enough synonyms and keyword related terms.
For example, I could use scuba diving tools, scuba diving apparel and snorkeling equipment to show Google I talk about these topics as well.
9 - Text Link
Include your specific keyword at least in one text link on your page. It can be a link to another page, a link to another site, a link to an affiliate merchant or whatever…
Make sure you don’t abuse this system, however. Again, two times is the maximum. Don’t put three or more links on the same page that contain your specific keyword. It might look unnatural and suspicious to the search engines.
TIP: As I already told you in the Website Structure section, the best way to get this keyword optimization tip always right is to put a “Return to Homepage link” at the bottom of all your pages.

GOOD EXAMPLE (at the end of an article)
Return from Scuba Diving Equipment to HomePage
BAD EXAMPLE (at the end of article)
Return to Homepage (no keyword included)
10 - Images
If you’re using images as part of your content (and you should) make sure you optimize them as well. The best way to optimize your images is to name them your specific keyword.
For example, if I wanted to upload a photo of the best scuba diving equipment, I’d first save the photo as scuba-diving-equipment.jpg before uploading it to my site.
Using this tip will probably give you some trickles of image traffic from Google. Especially if you have a niche where image searches are popular (ex.: a travel site). Trust me, every little adds up.

RECOMMENDED: SBI! has a tool called Analyze It! Whenever you build a new page, Analyze It! checks it for all the keyword optimization factors we’ve covered so far.
Before you finish your pages, you simply have to click a button to let Analyze It! examine your work. If you missed any of these keyword optimization tips, Analyze It! will instantly let you know what you need to do to fix them all. Thanks God, you won’t have to check everything manually yourself!
You’ll save literally hundreds of hours using Analyze It!.
This simple tool is far more reliable than anyWordPress plugin I’ve ever used (that’s only my opinion of course). It will surely help you shoot straight to the highest-ranking positions in Google.
By the way, this tool is included in SBI!’s low monthly price for free. You don’t have to pay any extra to access it.

Summary of Keyword Optimization Tips

•  Keyword optimization starts with choosing the right keywords. Use either Google’s Keyword Research Tool or Market Samurai to find high-demand, low-competition keywords to target. Generally, Market Samurai will return better results and let you succeed a lot quicker.
•  Quality content is still the most important factor of all keyword optimization tips. If you don’t have high-value, original content that can’t be found elsewhere, don’t expect keyword optimization or SEO to solve your problems.
•  Include your specific keyword once (or twice) in the following places: page URL, page title, description, meta keywords tag, headline and a text link.
•  Shoot for a keyword density of 3-5%. Try not to go overboard.
•  Write at least 400 words of content for all your pages.
•  Include your specific keyword in the first 90 visible characters of your content.
•  Use synonyms and related terms to sprinkle them a couple times thorough your article.
•  Optimize your images as well. Before uploading a graphic, name it your-specifickeyword. jpg first.