Situation-Based Question
You’re working with a local bakery that wants to rank higher for keywords like “best cupcakes in [city]” and “fresh bakery near me.” The bakery already has a great website with well-written content, but they’re struggling to rank for these terms. The owner asks, “Where should we place keywords on the page to make sure we rank higher and attract more customers?”
Exact Answer
Place keywords strategically in the page’s title tag, headers (H1, H2), URL, first 100 words, image alt text, and within the body content, ensuring they fit naturally and improve readability.
Explanation
Keywords are crucial to helping search engines understand the focus of your page. But, it’s not just about where you place them—it’s about doing so naturally and ensuring the content is still valuable to readers. If you over-optimize or stuff keywords, it can hurt the user experience and your rankings.
Here’s how you can make sure to place your keywords effectively:
- Title Tag:
- The title tag is one of the first things search engines look at when determining the page’s relevance. Make sure the primary keyword is included here, ideally towards the beginning.
- Example: For the bakery, a good title might be “Best Cupcakes in [City] | Fresh Bakery Near You”. This title includes the main keywords and gives a clear idea of the page’s content.
- Header Tags (H1, H2):
- The H1 tag is your page’s main header, and it should include the primary keyword. If the page is about cupcakes, your H1 could be “Delicious Cupcakes in [City]”.
- Subheadings (H2, H3) should also include related keywords or variations. This helps organize the content and signals relevance to search engines. For example, H2s could be “Why Our Cupcakes Are the Best in [City]” or “Fresh, Handmade Cupcakes for Every Occasion”.
- URL:
- The URL should be clean, concise, and contain the main keyword. It’s a good practice to avoid long strings of numbers or special characters in URLs.
- Example: A URL like “/best-cupcakes-in-[city]” would be perfect.
- First 100 Words:
- Google tends to give more importance to the first 100 words of the page, so try to naturally incorporate your keyword early in the content. But don’t overdo it—make sure it fits seamlessly with the rest of the text.
- Example: You could start with, “Looking for the best cupcakes in [city]? Our bakery offers freshly baked, delicious cupcakes that are perfect for any occasion.”
- Body Content:
- Within the body, sprinkle keywords naturally. Don’t force them in. Use variations and LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) keywords, which are related terms that support the main keyword.
- For example, related terms could be “cupcake flavors,” “baked fresh daily,” or “specialty cupcakes.”
- Image Alt Text:
- Images play a significant role in SEO. Include descriptive alt text for your images that contains relevant keywords. This helps with image SEO and improves accessibility.
- Example: An image of your cupcakes could have alt text like “Best chocolate cupcakes in [city]” or “Freshly baked cupcakes from [Bakery Name].”
- Internal Links:
- Use internal linking to direct visitors to related pages, and use keywords as anchor text. This helps search engines understand the relationships between pages on your site.
- Example: A blog post about the “Top 10 Best Cupcake Flavors” could link to the main “Cupcakes in [City]” page.
Example
For the bakery, you’d want to optimize their homepage like this:
- Title Tag: “Best Cupcakes in [City] | Fresh Bakery Near You”
- H1: “Delicious Cupcakes in [City]”
- URL: “/best-cupcakes-in-[city]”
- First 100 Words: “If you’re looking for the best cupcakes in [city], you’ve come to the right place. Our bakery specializes in fresh, delicious cupcakes made daily.”
- Body Content: “Our cupcakes come in a variety of flavors, from classic vanilla to rich chocolate. Every cupcake is handmade with the finest ingredients.”
- Image Alt Text: “Fresh chocolate cupcakes from [Bakery Name]”
- Internal Links: “Check out our blog post on the Top 10 Best Cupcake Flavors in [city].”
By placing keywords in these spots, you signal to search engines exactly what your page is about, all while keeping the content valuable and readable for your visitors.