Need help choosing better focus keywords in WordPress?
The perfect focus keyword usually has a balance of high monthly searches, high profitability, and low competition (usually it’s “pick two”). Google’s Autocomplete suggestions are a great place to start keyword research, then review content in the top results to see your competition.
Since Google Autocomplete doesn’t show you monthly searches or SEO competition, you can use Chrome Extensions like Ubersuggest, MozBar, and Keywords Everywhere to see data. I like using PA (page authority), DA (domain authority), and content quality as competition indicators.
New websites should create a well-researched keyword list and usually start with low competition keywords until they build domain authority. Established sites can use their Search Results report to find keywords they rank on the 1st page for, then bump them to the top 1-3 results where most traffic is. This can be done by improving content and building internal links.
Keywords shouldn’t be guessed. You don’t want to create content for a keyword you’ll never rank for, or rank for a keyword with no searches. We need to know what people are searching (keyword research) and whether your site is capable of ranking for it (keyword competition). A little research can make all the difference. Writing about how to get out of debt vs. how to get out of debt on one income is different in terms of content, competition, and monthly searches.
How To Research Focus Keywords In WordPress
- Find a keyword in Google Autocomplete
- Use Ubersuggest to see monthly searches + competition
- Use Keywords Everywhere to see data while searching
- Google the keyword and learn the competition
- Use Answer The Public to find question keywords
- Use Semify Web Grader to see competitor keywords
- Use Google Trends to see the keyword’s historical growth
- Use the Search Results report to monitor keyword performance
- Blog keywords
- Local keywords
- Long-tail keywords
- Multiple keywords
- Optimize content for the focus keyword
- Keyword research tools
1. Find a keyword in Google Autocomplete
Go to google.com and start typing a broad version of your keyword.
Google will usually show you long-tail (3+ word) phrases which are less competitive and more targeted. Google can show suggestions for both the end of a phrase as well as the beginning or middle using the “fill in the blank” method. Keywords on top generally have more searches, and the more Autocomplete suggestions there are, the more competitive that keyword probably is.
Just by looking through Autocomplete and trying different variations of the keyword, you can learn what people are searching and get a general idea of each one’s popularity + competition.
Google Autocomplete Tips
- Choose specific (long-tail) phrases which are less competitive.
- No need to include “best” or other non-descriptive adjectives.
- Synonyms can be targeted on the same page as secondary keywords.
- Most businesses have multiple keywords for each service (I have WordPress SEO Services, WordPress SEO Consulting, WordPress SEO Audit… all of which are different enough that I have a separate page for each and ranked in the top 3 results for all three).
- Getting more specific can mean choosing Chicago WordPress Designer instead of Chicago Web Designer, or WordPress SEO Consultant instead of SEO Consultant. Targeting a specific city/location or type of service is one way of getting more specific.
2. Use Ubersuggest to see monthly searches + competition
Google Autocomplete doesn’t show you keyword data.
That’s what Ubersuggest is for. It’s a free keyword tool that shows you monthly searches, estimated SEO difficulty, and a keyword’s trends. They also have a Chrome Extension that lets you see data directly in Google’s search results and check each result’s domain authority (DA), estimated visits, social shares, and referring domains. All can be used as competition indicators.
3. Use Keywords Everywhere to see data while searching
Keywords Everywhere is a paid, credit-based Chrome Extension that shows you each keyword’s monthly searches, CPC (cost-per-click) and estimated competition. It can be used in most search engines like Google, YouTube, Amazon, and Etsy. I paid for the minimum amount of credits ($10) and only use it with Google Autocomplete. I don’t believe this counts towards credits. It can be a cheaper way to see monthly searches + competition than many paid tools.
4. Google the keyword and learn the competition
The next step is to Google the keyword and manually look through the content in the top 3 results or so. Try to avoid competing with strong, in-depth content written by authority sites.
A keyword is more competitive if:
- It’s broad.
- Top results have strong, in-depth content.
- Top results have lots of links and social signals.
- Top results have high domain and page authority.
- You see lots of ads from AdWords with a high CPC.
- There are a high number of results (shown when you Google a keyword).
SEOquake lets you Google any keyword and see it’s difficulty.
MozBar Chrome Extension lets you Google any keyword and see each result’s DA (domain authority) and PA (page authority). Higher numbers = higher competition, and you want to try to compete with websites with similar domain authority (check yours here). You can increase domain authority by getting more quality links to your site – usually by creating great content.
MozBar Tips
- Google a keyword and learn the DA + PA of the top results.
- Choose a keyword where top results have a similar DA (domain authority).
- Build your DA by getting more links to your site (through awesome content).
- Broad phrases usually have high DA + PA, long-tail phrases have low DA + PA.
- New websites (or those lacking content) have low DA, so target specific phrases.
- You can build PA by improving the content and pointing internal links to the page.
5. Use Answer The Public to find question keywords
Answer The Public helps you find question, preposition, and comparison keywords.
Question keywords are great for FAQ rich snippets. Instead of guessing which FAQs are most popular, use Answer The Public and look for dark green circles (darker circles = more searches).
6. Use Semify Web Grader to see competitor keywords
Semify Web Grader shows you all keywords your competitors rank for.
You can compare up to 3 website’s keywords, including your own. However, I would only use Semify to compare yourself against other websites in the same niche, since the tool will generate each site’s full list of keywords and digging through them all can be time consuming.
7. Use Google Trends to see the keyword’s historical growth
Google Trends tells you whether a keyword is on the rise or declining. It also has filters to help you find local and YouTube keywords. This is especially helpful for finding which seasons are busiest, whether your market is declining, and where people are searching for those keywords.
For example, this tutorial you’re reading used to target “Yoast Focus Keywords.” But a lot of people in the WordPress industry switched from Yoast to Rank Math, so that keyword declined. Since noticing this, I changed it to “Focus Keywords” and am targeting people using WordPress.
8. Use the Search Results report to monitor keyword performance
Use the Search Results report in Google Search Console to track your keywords.
Click the “Queries” tab then compare a time period. You can see which keywords increased/decreased in clicks, ranking position, CTR, and impressions. A good trick is to find queries where you already rank in the top 5 results, then improve those pages so you can get in the top 1-3 where all the traffic is. I use the Search Results report more than Google Analytics.
9. Blog keywords
People who have a slow website can easily pay for services to make it faster:
- Hosting
- Faster page builders
- Premium cache plugins
- Asset unloading plugins
- Content delivery network
With this in mind, I target keywords related to “slow websites” and refer them to these services. I say this because profitable keywords aren’t always obvious. Look for keywords where people have a problem and try to solve it with a solution, whether that is a product, service, or affiliate.
10. Local keywords
Since larger cities have more people than a small town, there will be more searches (more keywords) with specific types of keywords. Small towns usually only have broad keywords.
| Location | Type Of Keywords | Number Of Keywords | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Town | Broad | Low | Lake Bluff Apple Repair |
| Large City | Specific | Medium | Chicago Macbook Pro Repair |
| National | Very Specific | High | Macbook Pro Water Damage Repair |
Unless you’re targeting a small town and have 1 primary keyword like “Lake Forest Divorce Lawyer” you probably have other keywords you can target – find those using keyword tools.
Multiple Locations – each location should have it’s own page (sometimes multiple pages) depending on whether multiple keywords are being searched in each area. Each location should also have it’s own citations (online directories like GMB, Facebook Page, Yelp, Bing Places, etc).
11. Long-tail keywords
Long-tail keywords usually have 3-7+ words in the phrase. They’re easier to rank for and attract targeted visitors (they’re usually more profitable). You can even target Chicago WordPress Design instead of Chicago Web Design since it’s a more specific type of web design. Websites with low domain authority (DA) should almost always target longer-tail keywords. As you build your DA (by creating content and getting links), you can consider targeting broader keywords.
Examples Of When To Get More Specific
- Chicago Painter is competitive, Chicago Interior Painter is better
- Chicago Real Estate is competitive, Chicago Commercial Real Estate is better
- Chicago Computer Repair is competitive, Chicago Macbook Pro Repair is better
- Yoast SEO Plugin is competitive, Yoast SEO Plugin Settings is better
- SEO Consultant is competitive, WordPress SEO Consultant is better
- SiteGround Review is competitive, SiteGround WordPress Hosting Review is better
12. Multiple keywords
Targeting 2 keywords is all about synonyms and using partial matches.
First, research 2 keywords (one is often a synonym of the primary keyword) then incorporate both in your page title and SEO title. Next, sprinkle your secondary keyword a few times in the content body. You do not have to use both keywords as exact matches, otherwise your headline will look spammy. Crafting a headline that sounds nice and has partial matches is the way to go.
Step 1: Research a primary keyword.
Step 2: Research a secondary keyword.
Step 3: Write a headline that incorporates both keywords and still sounds natural.
Step 4: Rank for both keywords.
13. Optimize content for the focus keyword
Once you find the perfect focus keyword, create a page or post for the topic, then add it in your SEO plugin (I use Rank Math).
SEO plugins tell you where to use your keyword as well as other on-page SEO tips. However, overusing your keyword can lead to spammy content especially if you use the exact keyword too much in your content (keyword density), in subheadings, and image alt text when it doesn’t accurately describe the image. Don’t obsess over green lights especially since SEO plugins may only detect exact matches. The SEO title, page title, and content relevance are most important.
Where to use your focus keyword
- Post title (ideally in front)
- SEO title (ideally in front)
- A few times in content body
- Permalink (usually shortened)
- Partial matches in subheadings + alt text (optional)
- Meta description (although Google usually uses an excerpt from the content)
4. Keyword research tools
- Google Autocomplete – clues you in on a keyword’s popularity and competition. Finding keywords in Google Autocomplete and manually looking through the top results is how I choose most of my keywords. Still my #1 most used keyword tool.
- Keywords Everywhere – paid Chrome Extension that shows you monthly searches, CPC, and estimated competition. Works with most search engines.
- Answer The Public – visual keyword map that shows you question, preposition, and comparison keywords. Keywords are pulled from Google Autocomplete.
- MozBar – Google any keyword and see each result’s DA (domain authority) and PA (page authority). Try competing against sites with similar domain authority.
- Semify Web Grader – see a full list of your competitor keywords and compare them with your own. Mainly used for websites who are in the same niche as you.
- Google Trends – see a keyword’s historical growth or decline in Google and YouTube. Discover trends for specific geographies and FAQs about a keyword.
- Moz Keyword Explorer – similar to Google Keyword Planner but designed for SEO. See the competition in organic results based on each result’s links, DA, etc.
- Ubersuggest – free keyword tool by Neil Patel which shows you a keyword’s trend, monthly searches, estimated organic competition, and cost-per-click.
- SEMrush – great for advanced keyword research. Most people use SEMrush over Ahrefs for keyword research, while Ahrefs is better for backlink analysis.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find focus keywords to use in WordPress?
Google Autocomplete is a great place to research focus keywords for your WordPress site. Start typing a broad phrase, look at the Autocomplete results, and use free Chrome Extensions to learn a keyword's monthly searches and estimated SEO competition.
How do I know if a keyword is competitive?
Google the keyword and look at the top results. Strong content from authority websites can be difficult to outrank. Many keyword research tools show a keyword's estimated SEO difficulty. Or, install keyword research Chrome Extensions and look at each search result's PA (page authority), DA (domain authority), inbound links, and other SEO signals.
Which tools can I use to find focus keywords?
Google Autocomplete, Ubersuggest, Search Console, SEOquake, and Semify Web Grader are all free tools that can help you choose focus keywords.
How do I find a keyword's monthly searches?
Ubersuggest tells you how many monthly searches a keyword has which is pulled from SEMrush's data.
Should I target long-tail keywords?
Most websites, especially if they're new, should target long-tail keywords. While they don't have as many monthly searches as broad keywords, they are less competitive, more targeted, and usually more profitable.
How do I target multiple keywords?
Find two keywords that are very similar. They can be synonyms or even date keywords that include the current year. Use the primary keyword in your post title, URL, SEO title, and a couple times in the content. The secondary keyword are usually sprinkled in these areas as a partial match.
Is Google Keyword Planner a good place to find keywords?
Do not use Google Keyword Planner to research SEO keywords. It's designed specifically for AdWords and the competition is also reflected in Adwords, not organic search results.
See also: WordPress SEO Guide
If you found this post helpful, please share – I would appreciate it!
Cheers,
Tom
Thanks Man. I use google keyword planner to do keyword research. Thanks for this detailed tutorial.
Hi, I am wondering if I should use PA from Mozbar as a metric to know if I can outrank an article
I usually use a few indicators, PA, DA, and quality of content.
The best keywords have a balance between monthly searches, low competition, and high profitability. You can usually only pick two. For example, if a highly profitable keyword doesn’t have a lot of searches but has low competition, go for it.
Cheers :)
Choosing a perfect focus keyword or keyphrase is not an exact science. You should aim for a combination of words that are actually used by a search audience. Aim for a keyphrase that is relatively high in volume and one that will suit your audience
Hey, Good article based on keywords. This will helps me to clear my basic. Very well described. Thanks for sharing. Keep sharing good stuff. Have a good day!
Thanks for this article. your blogs are really awsome.
We can add our competitor name in the negative keyword to avoid unwanted leads?
Not sure where you’re referring to. Don’t think you can optimize around negative keywords, just use tools to filter out those you don’t want to look at.
Thank you SO much for the keyword tool list alone. That is more than enough to keep me busy for quite some time.
Of course! I’ll be here if you have any questions along the way :)
Extraordinary substance!!! Much appreciated for sharing!
Much obliged Tom Dupuis for this post. plz, assist how with making the beginning subject like your site plan. where you purchase Hosting and domain plz send me a message on my email
Sent you an email.
Great ways for finding out the best keywords as focusing good keyword will help to boost the rank of the blog,site or article on google …… Your ideas are simply great i loved the concept of autocomplete and long tail keyword..
Yoast definitely helps you to determine whether you are doing your On-Page SEO Right or Wrong. But choosing your right keyword plays a vital role. Very well explained onlinemediamasters.
amazing keywords focus tips..
I used this plugin in long time. yoast plugin have many feature and easy rank keywords.
SEO focused Keywords are the most important thing for content. We say content is the King, but without focused keyword that content is a dumb king.
Answer the public is a great tool that you can use to get some long tail keyword ideas. Choosing and targeting the right keywords can make all the difference in your SEO efforts.
Wow this is very interesting article. I appreciate the value as you have explained everything so beautifully and Mind blowing Blog and for more information about yoast keywords.
Thank you So much
Amazing explanation of keyword research by you. it really help. thanks
Sorry I do not agree with you about Google ads. Google ads is a really good tool to discover new keywords. Once you paid couple of dollars for its ad service, you will be able to access full detail of keyword list with the graph plus the graph of mobile,table and computer devices for a while.
If you choose keywords between 10-100 bar of course it would not work. You must do analyze and research to target. You just created this post to appear on Google and people reach out to you like the other popular seo platforms tools. I am really sick of writing scary blog techniques super pop-ups bla bla. none is transparent.
Every website ower wants Google bot to visit their websites/pages. the other paid tools are classified as bad bots, so the site owner migth block them to crawl.
Nowhere in your comment have you convinced me that Google Keyword Planner is a good SEO tool.
as I said you created this post to sell your service like a marketer hawaiian guy.
Nah.
Hi Tom
I am begining my aff site and you’ve pointed a LOT of useful information.
Also you are the first guy who really likes to help, lots of other guys end their posts with a “buy my aff course for $500”
Thanks a lot :)
Hey Mario,
Yeah they usually want something in return don’t they? Glad you found it helpful and let me know if you have any specific questions. No affiliate course here!
Your blogpost is very well documented. After such a complex information must ask some questions.
Do you think that for a blog, it is too much to choose 3 long tail keywords that reflect the names of the blog categories, and the keywords of each article should be another 2 keywords complementary to those of the category name, so that the blog will be a little more diverse / not really niche?
If in a blog article the title is h1, the sections become h2 and so on the subsections, to maintain semantic seo. What happens when article two comes, and its new title becomes h1. How do you deal with these things?
Great Post. Choosing a perfect focus keyword or keyphrase is not an exact science. You should aim for a combination of words that are actually used by a search audience. Aim for a keyphrase that is relatively high in volume and one that will suit your audience.
Ubersuggest.com by Neil Patel is another great keyword search tool. It’s FREE too!
Thanks for sharing informative blog post. I totally agree with that proper keyword research are the foundation of any business. Many say content is the king however they fail to realize that content with proper keyword research would not attract right audience. This blog post clarifies many doubts i have about the identifying the
Thanks for sharing such a great article.
Wow! This was a goldmine on keyword research. I agree with your good advice above Tom on spending more time writing more in-depth articles than a bunch of short ones. Something I’m working on moving forward to focus on quality and not quantity.
I am glad to gain this remarkable information from you. I have found here lots of interesting information for my knowledge I need. All the details you provide to us, it was very helpful and useful. Thanks for sharing this amazing post.
Hello Tom,
I thought I knew everything there is to know about keyword research but how wrong I was! Your keyword research guide is absolutely amazing. I learned many new things like using underscores in Google auto-complete.
Also, your tips on using synonyms in Yoast are enlightening.
Thanks a lot for this.
Of course Vimlaxh! Glad you got something out of it. That fill in the blank autocomplete trick is money.
Didn’t this page used to be just one easy to follow video? Why did you switch to this convoluted format?
You’re right Devin, I tried to include new tools but it got to be too much. I added the video back.
Great SEO tips. Thanks for share
Thanks for the great roundup of keyword research tools. I find AnswerThePublic is pretty good, although it doesn’t work well in every niche.
You’ve mentioned a couple I’ve never heard of before so I’ll definitely check those out.
Hi, Tom,
I tried to turn off Google Autocomplete as you suggested in Step 1, and I discovered that Google no longer lets you turn off Autocomplete.
Ah, sorry about that Robert. I updated the article to reflect that. Might want to try a different computer/browser if it’s not showing all the results.
Hi Tom, really great article thanks :-)
I have a question regarding my focus keyword on the frontpage of my website. I understand that it can be a good idea to try ranking first for a long-tail keyword, as over time you’re also likely to rank high for the shorter keyword.
In my case I’m a Life and Career Coach, and my first thought was to use ‘life & career coach’ as focus keyword. But I’m worried that there are very few searches for this four letter word specifically.
If many people search for Life Coach, and many people search for Career coach, but very few people search for Life & Career Coach, is Life & Career Coach then a bad focus keyword?
What is your opinion on this?
I’d really appreciate your input,
Christine
Hey Christine,
The first thing I’d ask is whether you’re targeting a specific location, or not? Localized keywords tend to be much less competitive, but you would ideally need a physical address which you can use in your NAP (business name, address, phone)… there are super important in local SEO. If yes, and you live in a decent sized city where people are searching for “denver life coach” or “denver career coach” and these show up in Google Autocomplete, that’s what I would do.
If you’re going national, I would target the longer tail “life & career coach” on your homepage, then you could also create separate pages for “career coach” and “life coach” but those are definitely competitive if they’re not targeting a location. Still plenty of people searching for “life and career coach”… look at the Autocomplete results. There are 10 results below it which indicates a good amount of people are searching for it, plus it looks like it’s not too competitive.
Hope that helps.
Hi great article, thanks for the info. However, I am trying to see a summary of my focus keywords for each page in a table. As far as I remember there used to be a column called “Focus KW” on the posts summary in a previous version of Yoast. But now in my current version of Yoast (v7.91) when you go to WordPress dashboard/posts now it doesn’t appear. This was an extremely useful tool to keep track of the keyword used for each post all listed in a table.
My question, where is it? Has this summary moved or do i need to switch this setting on somewhere?
Thanks in advance
Great content!!! Thanks a lot for sharing!
I’ve just started out writing on Wordpress and I saw a recommendation to do rich snippets on your infographic. Do you use a special plugin to integrate a “review” type content into an article? Where did you get this “schema” type window? And the price, address, author, etc. on the left-side menu?
Thanks a lot!
great insight , i like the idea to stay away from keywords around which relevant and enough info provided by high sites .
Very helpful article.
Thanks!
Thanks for the info.
Please help me out. Anytime i google search my domain, i will see my homepage
e.g yourname .com
now the problem is, i will see something like
yourname .com > page 2
yourname .com > page 3
yourname .com > page 4
yourname .com > page 5
Continuously
If I click on it, I will go to my homepage, now I think that will make google see my homepage as a duplicate homepage.
i don’t know if Yoast is the problem or themes. I use Yoast and Newspaper themes
Thanks, man. I just reconfigure my yoast using your settings
Please help me, on my google webmaster tools, I see a lot of Error 404 not found as
?cat=12
?cat=13
?cat=14
?cat=15
?cat=16
and continouly
Redirect them to the URL of the correct category.
Nice write-up. I also use Yoast SEO for my website. I wanted to know if it hampers a blog/website if the owner uses more than 1 focus keyword?
It all depends on which keywords are being selected, and how you’re targeting them. When targeting 2 keywords, they should be very similar to each other (when you Google both, the search results should be similar, and people expect to find the same information). This is called “same search intent.”
To target both, you need to craft a nice post title, SEO title, and meta description that incorporates both (but does NOT necessarily have to include exact matches) but still reads nice. I included an example when targeting the 2 keywords “WordPress theme packs” and “WordPress developer packages.”
it’s very useful article to learn about Yoast
thanks you
Thanks Tom Dupuis for this post . plz help how to make genesis theme like your websites design . where you buy hosting and cdn plz send me message on my email
Sent you an email :)
StudioPress, SiteGround, Cloudflare, MaxCDN. It’s a great combination.
Wow! Lucky to have found myself here… Need to say a very big thank you. Until today, I never really understood long tail keyword… Thanks a million times…
It’s all about that long-tail. You are welcome!
This is a great post, lots to learn and put into practice, thanks for putting it together.
Wanted to ask, is this something that can work in spanish keywords also?
Thanks
I think so, not sure about Moz Keyword Explorer but Google Autocomplete and MozBar work with Spanish keywords. You’re welcome :)
Yoast Plugin is the best and I’m using for now and works out to be very efficient.
Nice Articles
WOW, WOW, WOW!!!
Impressive, thanks for the info, I watched it all through the night.
Thank you!
Hey Tom,
You have nicely explained the on-page SEO stuff, it should be done smartly!
Keyword research is essential to take the profitable keywords. Google Auto Suggestion is awesome and you have instructed well about it!
I use Moz and its Chrome extension, however, the webgrader is new to me. I’ll check its details.
Thanks for the complete details about focusing the keywords in the Yoast setup.
For sure Nirmala, The WebGrader is really good… it was always the first tool I used when looking at client sites to check their domain authority, keywords, etc. You’re welcome :-)
Actually being a blogger myself I am looking for answers to typical issues that everyone faces. On the same way I came up on this page. I think you could help me clear up some confusions. As your explanation skills are top notch. I’ll surely go through your website for further leads.
Thank you
Great post wonderfully explained. it is very helpful to me. Thank you so much
good
my question is why we use focus keyword in yoast plugin..if my post have 300 keywords.. focus keyword ignore my full post ?
How does your post have 300 keyword, you mean 300 word count? Maybe you are using a page builder? Yoast only detects words in the visual editor so if you’re using widgets, page builders, etc Yoast won’t detect it.
thanks Tom
In fact, I think you cannot rely on anyone Keyword Research tool as such because, in the long run, the search behavior keeps on changing and also fluctuates from country to country. Keeping all options open for a global traffic and targeting for the maximum possible targeted keyword phrases should be the aim for the keyword research phase.
Instead of focusing on only the keywords recommended by keyword research tools and Adwords also concentrate on the possible psychologies of users from various geographic areas unless you are concentrating only on a very particular area where only the language and slang of that place concerns for the search of that site. Online users from different places, of different age groups and the various educational backgrounds, think differently and use different language and jargon.
Instead of focusing on only specific fixed key terms we should work to keep the possibilities of a wider circle of permutations and combinations of key phrases open for the site. The analytics data, in fact, can give a proper meaning of what searches are actually taking place countrywide.
Anyways, very informative article. Delivers some great points to light…
I have been searching for a long time to get this article, today I got this effective resources, thanks
I have got a more necessary idea from your website. thanks for this
Hello,
Great straight-shooting article.
If you have a website with 10 blog posts can you use the same keyword in each article if it’s relevant to the main topic without taking a hit from Google? Or will big G flag that as spam or over-optimisation?
Thanks.
I would avoid it… it’s always best to make 1 really good article about a keyword rather than using multiple posts. I don’t think you will get spammed, but you certainly won’t get as good of results as you would targeting multiple keywords.
I’m not that much of a online reader to be honest but your
sites really nice, keep it up! I’ll go ahead and bookmark your website
to come back down the road. Cheers
Hey Tom,
Thanks a lot for this helpful article and wesbite :)
What to do if our service is a real niche and very few queries are made on google? few results and almost no predictions
Thanks for your light
Cheers!
Hey Sven,
Try targeting people searching for a problem your service can fix (eg. my “why is wordpress slow” example brings me people who need speed optimization help). Or “how to fix dent in hardwood floors” might need a wood filler product. Be creative and write blog tutorials about how to fix these problems, while mentioning how your company can also help.
I usually have to spend a fair amount of time doing keyword research for these companies until I can find a decent list of keywords people are actually searching.
very informative post. I will use the suggestions discussing here for optimizing my new blog site.This post will be very helpful for the begaineer SEO worker who are new in this field.
Keep posting this type of helpful post.
With best wishes.
Really shared valuable Article bro, i am waiting for this tips from many days. Now following all this tips & getting rank. Thanks for sharing
Let me know how it goes! All about that keyword research, good content and CTRs ;)
Such a amazing article. With deeply explained. i love to read even more from you. Thank you for sharing this tips.
Let me know if you have article suggestions, need to pump out the videos too.
ahha!! perfect article,
Thanks :-)
Great info i using same as above you write well..have ranked my page …
thanks for this awesome idea
This is a very necessary idea about a website promoting. thanks a lot for this great resources
Anytime, anytime :0
Great article! I have a question about focus keywords when there are several spelling variants of the key concept. The topic of my blog is a referral marketing technique called a popby gift. The trouble I have is that sometimes people spell this as popby or pop-by or pop by. If I create a focus keyword such as “Halloween popby idea” – will that include these variants as well? If not, how should I best handle these?
I’ve looked at Moz and Google, but I’m not clear how I should best handle these spelling variants in my focus keywords. Do you have any suggestions or articles to read? Thanks for any help / pointers / tips!
Hey Tara!
Short answer is yes – Google handles misspellings/spelling variations very well and as long as the search intent is the same (people expect to find the same info if they Google each keyword, and search results are similar) then it shouldn’t matter. But you should use the correct variation :)
@Tara
You can solve this problem by using these keyword variations in your post/page tactically popby in title,pop by in meta description and pop-by in the body of your post in natural and contextual way
Awesome! Very easy to understand.
Hi there can you please explain about the Meta Keywords and how to enter this?
You don’t, it doesn’t do anything.
A meta keyword is a type of meta tag used in the HTML source code of a webpage. This keyword gives the search engine an idea of what the site is about. No capital letters can be used when typing these keywords and must be separated by commas.
Hi Tom,
Amazing articles, thank you for that! Was reading: https://onlinemediamasters.com/yoast-wordpress-seo-settings/ which is a blast.
However i’m facing an issue, on both these post you speak about “never show instant results.” on google settings.
Not sure if this has changed since the post was written but i do not have that option and i only get 5/6 suggestion which arent’ great…
How can i get it?
Thanks
Remi
I think this changed… ay I have also had this problem many times and can never seem to find a solution.
Try this Chrome Extension: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/searchbar/fjefgkhmchopegjeicnblodnidbammed
thanks for the info, please I will like to know if the stop word in Yoast focus keywords really matter
I would not remove stop words from URLs, it can make you permalinks read weird and unnatural. Yes, it matters and don’t do it!
Hi I am very curious about to know which plugin you use for “Table Of Contents”
No plugin needed :) here are instructions. I had my developer create background colors in CSS then I just created an HTML table of contents.
its a great article which doesnt care about green bullet on yoast. you keep the bullet going red for sure.
this all change my mind about yoast. Someone always told me the easy ways is make the bullets become green. And you break it all dude, i know if i follow all green bullets yoast make my article harder to read and not interest.
i just know if GKP is for not organic search. Its mean something to me who always depend on GKP for my keyword research.
Thanks Dude. That was awesome article.
For sure Donif. You sum it up nicely… green bullets and Google Keyword Planner aren’t great for SEO. Glad you liked it.
Really nice article – thank you so much!
Of course!
I have been using Yoast SEO plugin but I never used to these extent .Thanks for sharing.
Glad to help :)
Hi
Great post (and others of yours as well). I’m feeling a little stuck with Yoast and keyword phases and how that fits into the post title and content and thus far I have not found a definitive answer.
Let’s say, as a random example that I Google the phrase “how to tie my shoes”. Let’s assume the competition is low and I decide to write a post on that keyword phrase.
I know Yoast doesn’t like stop words, but I believe I saw in one of your other posts to not exclude the stop words from the URL. But would I still enter that full phrase in the keyword phrase box in Yoast?
And for the post title, in formatting it for a reader it would make more sense to title it “how to tie your shoes”. But if I do that, does that affect my ability to rank?
Lastly if I just entered the keyword phase “tie shoes” in Yoast but my title remains “how to tie your shoes” I know Yoast’s SEO circle will stay red. Does that matter?
Thanks so much!
Hey Jeff!
My general rule is that if stop words actually play a role in the phrase (how to tie my shoes) then you should keep them. If they don’t then you can shorten the permalink and adjust the post title.
Switching it to “how to tie your shoes” is perfectly fine especially since Google is getting better and better and determining search intent.
About Yoast’s red bullet… no, it does not matter if some bullets are red. Yes you should generally use an exact match (or close to it) in the title, meta description, permalink, etc. As long as you’re writing about tieing shoes (and the content is strong and you’re mentioning shoes, tieing, etc in your content/images)… you’re good to go :)
Great question.
Hi Guyz,
Your articles were a crazy help in understanding SEO stuff.
I have few questions and I will be glad if you could help me out.
I made a list of keywords and they are around “33”, and I checked their volume individually and categorized them in volume. I did location specific targeting also. 10 out 33 have the traffic of 100-1K/month and rest have 10-100/month. I did competition analysis by Google keyword planner (low, medium & High).
Now, I am planning to take keywords from those 10 which have 100-1K traffic and specifically, low & medium competition keywords.
I am I doing the right thing??
Having keywords of 100-1K/monthly searches. I am I targeting right amount of volume??
Thanks
Hi Amaan,
The competition in Google Keyword Planner is for AdWords, not organic results. The competition for organic results should be examined manually by Googling each keyword to make sure you’re not competing with authority websites/content (eg. they have high DA (domain authority) and PA (page authority) in tools like Mozbar’s Chrome Extension). I generally try to just find long-tail keywords in Google Autocomplete that have weak content in the top results, but if you’re going to measure monthly searches Moz Keyword Explorer does a better job than Keyword Planner since you can also group keywords with “lexical similarity” (so you can account for variations).
General rule is the higher your domain authority, the more competitive keywords you can target. But still I think finding long-tail keywords with low competition (through manual research) is the way to go.
It’s amazing for beginner. I just loved the way you describe completely how to search out perfect keyword. I have read a few other posts where they only mentioned what tools are good for keyword research and they didn’t described with photo to do it efficiently.
All about those screenshots! Ya using the tools is the first step (not a fan of Google Keyword Planner) but learning how to use them and how to analyze competition in search results – is really what it’s all about. Glad you like the guide!
Awesome, I’m really impressed with this blog.
Thanks Sandeep, I’ll be adding more tutorials soon – working on Google Anaytics now.
One of the best Yoast how-to guides I’ve ever read! SUUUper helpful. Have this one bookmarked for later!
Thanks a lot!
Thanks Bjorn! That means a lot, glad you like it :)
some tool like keyword planner work nicely to find keywords that i need..
Yes, not very good for SEO though since a) everyone uses it and b) it’s designed for AdWords and c) it does not show competition for organic results
Your topic is very helpful.
Great Stuff guys!
Really helpful in finding the right focus keyword.
Keep it up.
Just have 2 words LOVE YOU . great article , finally learned how to rank high with focus keywords . thanks . great and one of the best post on the internet.
Thank YOU for saying that!
Hi, I am thankful to you for sharing this awesome article with this helpful knowledge. this is the blog that provide the lots of good information thanks for provide such a good information.
you are genius your article are very interesting and full of information and knowledge,
your article is clear enough thanks for sharing meaningful information with us
Simply awesome , thanks .
Thank You Very nice and helpfull Tutorials, Really, I can get traffic in mya blog with your tutorials. Thank You very much, Brother
Anytime :)
Mr. Tom Dupuis everything you mention in this article is really helpful for everyone, this article contain almost everything about keyword research.
Almost everything??? :) if there’s anything I missed that is critical let me know!
A very nice detailed article. I was using the default configuration for the past one year. This helps me alot.
Hii…Tom Thanks!! Really this post is helpfull for me now i am using yoast plugin and focus keywords
Awesome Suraj! Let me know if I can be of help.
Hi,
Really an informative article to go through …. Your article is simple but effective about the matter SEO,
Your ways will really help the readers to for doing their work efficiently.
Thanks for the great article.
I’m all about efficiency and leaving out the fluff – glad you liked it :)
Fantastic article,
Can I ask how you pick Focus Keywords in a shop where all the products are similar, without repeating?
E.g. we sell TV stands (which is what people search for). All our products are TV stands, just different versions
What type of versions? Do they have mounts, are they for specific TV sizes, etc? The more specific you can get the better and you can probably get long-tail keyword ideas from Google Autocomplete.
Does the readability matters in Yoast plugin?
I don’t pay attention to it – as long as you keep people engaged why should I care if my sentences are too short, long, etc?
Many thanks,
I am a newbie in writing search engine optimized articles. I used to just compose articles when I thought I was good at certain topics. For articles in local languages, it still works good.
Now, I am trying to blog in English. Some of your guidance looks excellent. Some I have implemented but there are still very good ideas I pick up from this post.
Anytime! You can always hire an English proofreader on freelancer.com or upwork.com too! Glad you liked the tutorial :)
Hello Tom,
Great ways for finding out the best keywords as focusing good keyword will help to boost the rank of the blog,site or article on google …… Your ideas are simply great i loved the concept of autocomplete and long tail keyword..
Thanks for sharing such an informative article.
For sure Sonali, those are like the 2 things I focus on most when it comes to keyword research (and analyze competition in search results). Glad you liked it :)
Sir really you are a genius in seo market
Thanks Abdul :) I spend enough time doing it that I hope so!
I think your articles is full valuable. I try your technique
First off Tom…Great article!
Some of the steps I have been doing, some not so much! So this is a big help! My big questions is: so all new material goes through the process described. However, with upwards of 7k pages on the website. Is there any automation methods to pull in keywords till each page can be reviewed an optimized over time? I know it wouldn’t be optimal but would buy time till the manual process can take place.
Hey Josh,
I wish there was an automation process but everything is generally done manually. Dividing it into chunks can make it easier… research all the keywords, set all the focus keywords, use Yoast’s bulk editor to write the SEO tites/meta descriptions, have your graphic designer create all the social media optimization graphics, etc. This is the closest I can think of to automating it.
Excellent work Tom,
Outstanding article, Seriously great tips to choose focused keywords in Yoast for ranking you site or blog, Your article will ti use for really help me and other bloggers for the better analysis of keyword search and its planning.
Thank you for such an informative article, keep sharing like this.
Glad you liked it Sonali :) it’s still one of the most useful SEO articles on my site I think. Will keep posting!
I have been using yoast seo plugin.Thanks for sharing.
Awesome!
Hi Tom!
Awesome post. Thanks for sharing. Bookmarked your article for future reference :) By the way, I was wondering do you think keyword density still matters? if yes, what’s the preferable percentage for your main keyword?
Keyword density is pretty outdated but I still try to use it a couple times, once in the beginning like Yoast says. But if it doesn’t sound natural I’ll completely forget it. I also try to use a couple synonyms if I remember – but Google will continue to get better and better and grouping related keywords. Wouldn’t spend a lot of time worrying about this though.
Yoast seo plugin is helpful to do right on page seo. Almost 80 percent webmasters use it to improve ranking. Thanks for sharing it.
Anytime!
i’m using “Yoast SEO Plugin” , the results are so fantastic .
Thanks for sharing :-)
i am old user of yoast seo plugin and using since 3 months but i read this post and yes i learned something new about yoast which was completely new for me. Your article is 100% helpful for new yoast visitors. i will recommend.
Thanks Luqman. I’ve been using it for 3 years and it’s hard for me to keep up – they update the plugin like every week. Glad you learned something new.
Well researched post and you’ve got a fan in me!
Would appreciate if I didn’t have to come all the way down here to comment though, could have been before all the comments.
Thanks! That is a really good suggestion and will probably do that very soon.
Really amazing article …. very nice …. Thanks for sharing this!! :) :)
You are welcome!! :0 :0
Thank you for this article! Now I can see the light! I struggled to understand Yoast plugin and I used it quite blindly following their path. I was confused because they give green light when you put exactly the keyword while Google says variations are preferred.
I checked the competitions as you told with PA and DA but it seems there are no keywords for my website to reach the first page soon because it has DA=9 and PA=21. I have to wait it gets older…
PS Thank you for your SEO Workbook too!
Anytime Anka! That’s cool you’re looking through the SEO workbook… I started that months ago but need to get around to publishing it, like for real. There are no keywords you can get on the 1st page for? Surely there has to be some. If your PA/DA are low just start targeting the lowest competition phrases… gotta start somewhere :)
Hi Tom!
I want to say that I started reading your blog just few days ago and I already learnt so much.
So far my favorite post of yours is this one – https://onlinemediamasters.com/seo-friendly-wordpress-themes/
It’s because it helped me choose theme for my website. Mindfulness. I like how simple and interesting it is.
As for this post, I still have a little problem understanding how to choose more specific and not too competitive keywords.
I also have read about Ubersuggest here – https://www.keywordnotprovided.com/what-is-the-best-keyword-tool/ Have you heard about it?
I also think that localized keywords are best for small business. I hope I’m moving in the right direction.
Thank you for your time and hard work, Tom!
Hey Kelly, glad you’re digging the blog articles! I just migrated most of this content to my main Yoast tutorial (in the nav menu) which covers the new settings, AMP pages, plenty of other goodies. I have used Ubbersuggest but honestly don’t find much value in it. There’s no data on volume, competition, or anything else. I like Moz Keyword Explorer much better. Yes, localized keywords are usually the way to go for small businesses. Much less competition than national and I actually find local SEO to be much easier since a lot of the off-page process (mainly citations) is simply Google My Business –> Moz Local –> Whitespark. Feel free to reach out anytime if you have other questions!
Initially I love Thank you for the explanation and clarifications task .. honest, I have benefited a lot from the article you need to understand a few things in order to seo words and words that are basic to the site and discovered the many things have benefited from it or try them as less appreciation thank you for your site submitted.
Thank for this useful article Tom Dupuis sir. This Focus keyword tutorial will definitely change my website traffic graph.
Keep me updated :)
Hey brother! thanks for the great article.
I have one question, can we use multiple keywords using separator like comma in basic free version of yoast (Not the premium one).
Hey Jay,
The multiple keywords thing comes down to search intent. If people intend to find different information when they search both keywords, then create a new page for both. If search intent is the same then yes, you can use them in a separator but it’s more important to create a nice headline (since that will increase clickthrough rates) rather than listing keywords.
You are the Best :D I found everything I need all around your Web Site. Thank you!!!
Anytime!
Great article. Thanks. Would love a pdf download of it for reference.
Great suggestion Trina. Haven’t officially released it yet but here’s a PDF of my SEO workbook which is the same workbook I use for my Adobe class. Includes everything from Yoast focus keywords to speed optimization, Search Console, and basically a “condensed version” (161 pages) of my best SEO guides.
as am using Yost seo plugin from last 6 months as i got positive results in my WordPress blog. but i juat want to say thanks u sir for this deep information about Seo
Of course Harpreet, hope it gave you some ideas and good luck! Feel free to reach out anytime.
Hey Tom
You removed many misconceptions from my mind through your great article. I am a very newbie in blogging and seo stuffs. I think you can answer me this question, which is eating my head since i installed seo plugins in my wordpress – if we do keyword research and so many stuffs to find a suitable long tail phrase to use it in our blog title, why do we need a seo title? Is it just because of the meta description only? Forgive me if I am sounding lame.
No forgiveness needed! The blog title is the actual title that appears on the post. The SEO title is the blue link that appears in search results which is part of the blog post’s snippet. Often for blog posts, these are the exact same text. Many companies add their brand name at the end of the SEO title too (eg. Choosing Focus Keywords In Yoast’s WordPress SEO Plugin – Tom Dupuis) but should ONLY be done if it fits within the character limit. But yes, they are 2 different things. Let me know if that answers your question!
Thanx for the reply Tom. I am all convinced with your reply. Just having the feeling that – if we can phrase the blog title, keeping it within the suitable and permissible dimensions as prescribed by seo plugins, then perhaps bloggers like me don’t need to touch the seo title tab. Oh yeah, what the seo plugin gave us is the meta description tab which we can phrase for better seo, otherwise which is almost impossible without a plugin. Am i correct?
Yes sometimes you don’t need to touch the SEO title as long as the blog has a good headline. What’s your other other, can you give a custom meta description without a SEO plugin? I don’t believe so.
Finally a blog post with some understandable, practical information. Yoast posts a lot of articles on this subject, but they tend to be vague to buy a course from them. This post is easy and way better. Thanks!
Thanks Erik, I feel the same way. Even their paid ebook was filled with fluff in my opinion. Glad you liked!
Hi Tom. One more thing I am wondering about in my quest for choosing the ultimate focus keyword.
Measuring the competition by the amount of search results might not be the best clue, do you use any tools to quantify competition?
I played around with kwfinder.com a bit -> https://screencast.com/t/vkas7vKZH6. This tool calculates a difficulty score, based on the websites of a search term. I notice a high traffic search term may have the SAME difficulty as a low traffic search term. So why would you settle for the lower traffic keyword in such case?
Looking forward to your perspective! :-)
Great question Erik.
I use Moz Bar to research competition which is an extension for Chrome. Once installed you can Google a keyword and it will show each result’s PA (page authority) and DA (domain authority) plus a link analysis section to see all links pointing pages you see in search results. You can compare these to your own authority using OSE.
Why settle for lower traffic terms when a higher term has the same difficulty?
Because keyword tools calculate ‘difficulty’ differently and many only take into account a few metrics like volume, CPC, # of results, when they DON’T taken into account your own website’s DA PA, plus other signals I listed in that keyword competition photo.
Long-tail keywords also have advantages over broad keywords (less traffic but more targeted visitors to your site = higher conversions, less bounces, lower difficulty). It’s the whole ‘go for low hanging fruit’ thing. If you run a large authority site like Newegg you may be able to compete for those broader terms, but if you haven’t gotten to that point… yet, the longer-tail phrases simply have better success rate.
You could go even more long-tail if your site is new and has low DA/PA, see here. Just depends on where you’re at :)
Hello Tom,
Thank you for helpful article. I have one quick question regarding point number six.
In case I am targeting second keyword, where do I input it?
According to example, second keyword should be included in meta description. Am I correct?
Thanks!
Hi Ashton,
Meta description is a good place to include it if it sounds natural. There is no place to input a secondary keyword unless you buy Yoast SEO Premium. To be honest though, I don’t have it and I think the concept of targeting secondary keywords through a checklist isn’t going to help – I would just focus on your primary unless you’ve had good results and know what you’re doing, then test out the secondary keyword bit.
wow!
this is the most complete and accurate information regarding yoast seo plugin.
thank you so much for creating this topic for newbies like me.
I want to ask something.
i currently own a website where i post latest songs, so i always try to post the latest songs as soon as possible.
as you know every day new songs are released, so how can i research for a specific song which have just released?
because google tells what people search but it cant predict itself, right?
looking forward.
Jasmine
Hey Jasmine,
Yes, you are right. There may be other websites that show songs that were just released but Google only shows keywords based off previous searches, and you can look up trends… but it won’t predict songs people are about to release. I would see if there are other websites (or maybe newsletters) that do.
Thanks for the response.
Is it good practice to use all related keywords in video description while using only one focus?
i have seen many websites doing this trick, they write all the related keywords that people are going to type while searching that particular song.
In my case (video songs,mp3 songs), actual video/mp3 description is not that important, like people don’t (or very few) search for ‘producer’ ‘drum beater’ ‘sound engineer’ ‘studio’ etc that is available in video description.
Let suppose the keyword is ‘abc xyz song’ where ‘abc’ is song name and ‘xyz’ is movie name, so people will be searching for abc mp3 song, mp3 song abc, xyz songs, abc hd video songs, abc 320kbps songs and so on…
So what will you suggest in that particular scenario?
should i use the above mentioned example keywords in the description or use original video description?
Hi Jasmine,
I would avoid keyword stuffing and just use the natural, original video description. Stuffing keywords in the description looks spammy – so just writing everything naturally while focusing on 1 primary keyword (used in the file name, video title, maybe once in the video description, etc) is the best way to go. Definitely check out Youtube Autocomplete where you start typing a phrase and Youtube will fill in the blank with keyword suggestions.. it’s just like Google Autocomplete only for videos.
Thank you so much for your time and suggestion, i will definitely keep it in mind for future posts.
Stay blessed.
Hi!! Tom Dupuis, I recently found your post. Its a great. I have one question for you. That is which other tools i used to find competitor’s Keywords. Can you please suggest me?
https://hubshout.com/ that you mention it not give me any result, that you shown in your video tutorial. Please give me guidance on it. :)
https://www.semrush.com/
This is what they call “Evergreen article”. Awesome post Tom! I love the part about LSI keywords. Do you think that Google will change their approach as people start exploiting these keywords? I mean, it makes sense. LSI keywords lead to better content. Yet, I see it as something that can easily be taken advantage off. Then again, most of the things can when it comes to SEO.
Thanks Nikolay! I think Google will continue to improve their algo to give better results on LSI keywords but I haven’t (and don’t plan on) changing my approach. I target 1 primary keyword in most articles, in some articles I’ll also target a similar secondary keyword if I can craft my headline/SEO title/meta description to include it naturally. I don’t always use exact match keywords in my content body but include a few variations – not too actively though, I really just focus on content quality, spending time creating videos, etc.
So glad you like the “evergreen” article! Yoast did update their plugin so I probably need to make changes on content analysis section since it’s not a tab anymore.
amazing article … i really like it
Thank you Imran, glad you did.
Hey Tom amazing article you can tell yoast seo very deeply in single article step by step its very useful for newbi.
thanks
Of course Mehul, glad you found it so useful!
Hello Tom. I’ve just started developing my website and your articles are incredibly useful so thanks. You’ve given me confidence to proceed under an orange light!
I notice that Yoast has changed the layout of their SEO plugin, does this give rise to any significant changes in the tips you have recommended?
Hi Rob, thanks so much – I really appreciate that and I’m glad to hear that about the orange light!
Yes, they have made some updates and not sure what version you have, but no changes on the content optimization side. The “page analysis tab” is now built-in (instead of a tab) and the “on-page SEO indexibility check” in the settings can be left unchecked. I need to update my Ideal Yoast SEO Settings article and will know more when I update it.
I use Google Search for finding right keywords for my blog posts and it works fine.
Hello,
I have a question regarding the focus keyword and the post title.
When I want to write a post I must put the keyword in the title exactly as it is, I cant separate the keyword.
For example if my keyword is “NEW CAR” my title has to be “I got a NEW CAR that is great” and not “I got a NEW eco friendly CAR”
The plugin wont recognize the keyword.
The same thing happens when i put the keyword in the post URL beause the words are separated with dashes (-)
I see that you have separated your keyword in the title in the video at the beginning of the post and the words are still bolded and recognized by the plugin
I was wondering if you could explain this to me?
Thanks
It’s best to use the exact keyword IF you can make the title sound natural (eg. The Ideal W3 Total Cache Settings). Other times it makes more sense to break your keyword up so the headline sounds nice (if my keyword is Yoast Focus Keywords a nice title would be How To Choose Focus Keywords In Yoast). A nice headline will also have a better CTR/click-through rate. So if an exact match with a nice title can be done, do it. If not, I would focus on writing a nice headline with partial matches instead of focusing on using an exact match.
Awesome post, Tom. You’re stuff is super-helpful, and right to the point. I’m new to all of this, and overwhelmed with all of the information out there. This gives me a great start. I’ll be back in touch for more help in the future. For now, I’ve got my hands full implementing these suggestions.
Thanks Josh, appreciate you saying that. Oh yeah there’s tons of information out there but stick with creating a long-tail keyword list and getting your content development strategy down… that part is so important. And making sure your blog articles have long, descriptive/keyword-rich titles without going over the character limit :)
Thanks @Tom Dupuis
Thanks for guiding us, how to choose keywords in high competition.. This is really valuable post for me i have lean many thing. ..
Awesome Sandra, thanks for your feedback and let me know if you have any questions – I’m here to help.
First of all i would like to thanks for this wonderful post Tom Dupuis :)
Currently i am using yoast SEO plugin, which i think is a very powerful tool for SEO. But i am having problem with focus keywords-when i about to write any post in my site i am unable to focus on that small keyword. If i uses a long tail keyword as FOCUS KEYWORDS then my density reduces in my post through which i am unable to get GREEN LIGHT in SEO.
I would be very thankful if you can suggest me some tips so that i can differentiate between a long tail keyword and focus keyword in SEO.
Hi Harinder,
The long-tail keyword is the focus keyword. The most important part of content optimization is writing/creating awesome content around that phrase – incorporating a video or doing whatever it takes to make your content the most useful piece out there. Keyword density helps but is overrated… as long as your content is awesome and your page title, seo title, url, and meta description all include the long-tail keyword (doesn’t have to be a completely exact match but should incorporate the phrase somehow… “crafting” your titles to read well AND incorporate your keyword is the key, just like I did in this very post… the title doesn’t have “yoast focus keywords” as an exact match but it’s still in there)… then you’re golden.
I have just stopped reading after “You are only allowed to set 1 focus keyword.”. What a lie. If you would focus only on 1 KW then your site would be punished. You has to focus on 1 MAIN Keyword, few secondary keywords and some Long Tails ;)
Yes, you can do that… up until about 5 days ago when a new update was released, the plugin only allowed you to set 1 focus keyword though – now the premium version comes with secondary keyword targeting options. It depends on your site too. If you have low domain authority (low content/links) then your main keyword probably should be long-tail since you’re probably not going to rank for competitive phrases. But yes you’re right in that you can target secondary keywords regardless by including it in your meta description, content, and “crafting” your titles. For many people “properly” targeting 1 keyword is a challenge in itself :)
Thanks for nice article. I am trying to select keyword for my client’s website proforbes but not getting the place to put on homepage. Could you please help me on this??
Thanks in advance
Hey Wattson,
It’s probably a widgetized homepage which means you won’t see a section to enter a focus keyword… so just follow the same content optimization tips as you would on any other page. You should be able to edit the homepage’s SEO titles/meta description under SEO –> Titles & Metas –> Homepage.
Let me know if that helps.
Thanks @Tom Dupuis
It works for title description only.
But Client is still saying he is not giving any keyword on page but automatically caching few keywords. Now he said he want to put their own keyword. Now i am confused what should i suggest him.
Thanks again for help…
Really nice helpful plugin you have. I always gives 10/10
Hey Wattson,
Yes, Yoast only allows you to optimize the homepage’s title/description only. Since the homepage is a blogroll you won’t be able to really optimize it besides that.
As a general rule though, I suggest your client not just focus on 1 keyword only. It’s a bad strategy. First research 1 relevant keyword for each category (Auto, Energy, Europe…) then optimize the category page’s title/description. Next, research 1 relevant keyword per blog article (current or existing) and make sure they have well-written, optimized content for each keyword. For “link building” you can start incorporating more internal linking. They should also make sure each category is populated with content – especially if they want that page to rank higher. You can’t rank higher for a keyword if you don’t have content about it.
I’m here to help with any other questions you have.
Thank you for the great post! I was wondering – is it bad protocol to use multiple keyword phrases as Yoast’s Focus Keyword. E.G on a page I would enter a focus keyword as “business valuation services”. However my colleague inputs “business valuation services, business succession planning, transition planning”. Which one of us is right? Thanks!
Anytime Emma! Yes, those keywords should be targeted on different pages since they are very different from each other. So just set “Business Valuation Services” as the focus keyword then use Yoast’s green lights and the page analysis tab to optimize the content. Also don’t forget to use the social tab to upload custom Facebook/Twitter/Google graphics so if the content is shared on those social networks it formats properly – which is a very small ranking factor but is still good practice.
Let me know if that makes sense and if you need anything else!
Awesome Post wonderfully explained it help me alot thanks again
Anytime.
Awesome post, thank you! I am focused about one thing. I see a lot of blog posts dedicated to focus keywords, and all the examples show multiple words, including yours, but you say to only use one keyword?
Yes, only target 1 keyword per page. However you can target multiple keywords (only if they’re similar, these are called LSI keywords) by incorporating it in the meta description/content. See the example:
Primary Keyword: SEO-Friendly WordPress Themes
Secondary Keyword: SEO-Optimized WordPress Themes
Meta Description: Browse over 25 SEO-Friendly WordPress Themes which have mobile responsive and HTML5 design, all of which are SEO optimized via the Genesis Framework.
This is wonderful. Now I know where are my mistakes. you explained it so beautiful way. I am glade I find your this on Google. Thanks again
Brother Thank you so much for the article, I actually setup my yoast plugin after i read your article on yoast settings. However, I have a question that is bothering me for a while now. I upload a weekly show that comes on tv wwe raw, how do i chose the keyword for that show?
Whenever i put the same keyword i used before the yoast plugin point it as weekness and says i have used this keyword this many times before. Now I can not make to the google top pages where my competitors who use same plugin and upload same kind of shows make it to the 1st pages of google.
I am much worried can you please help me where am i making a mistake? Is using the same keyword for a weekly show is aweful? and if yes then what is your opinion what shall i do when i know users on internet search the show with the same one keyword again and again
Regards
You’re welcome Leonardo, glad you liked the tutorial!
For the keyword selection for your content (whether it be a page, post, or a video), it looks like it would be something with a date. For example, I see Google Autocomplete has “WWE SmackDown march 17 2015” in their system – so maybe target those types of keywords (the ones with dates)?
Yes, you should only target your keyword on 1 page (or a post/video) and NOT use multiple pieces of content to target the same keyword. If you’re looking to improve rankings for that keyword, instead of targeting it on multiple pages/posts, focus on improving your content and getting links through content marketing (sharing it on forums, other blogs, social media promotion, etc).
Hope that helps!
Thanks
I recently started ghostwriting for a few blogs and I was provided with lists of keywords to use in the articles. Thankfully just ONE keyword per article!
It’s made me start to think about my own SEO efforts. That plugin looks easy and effective!
I have been using yoast seo plugin from last 1 month and the results are terrific.Thanks for sharing ……..
You’re welcome Dar. Glad you’re seeing improvements – keep it up!
This article is of great help, many thanks for your help.
I have one question, can we use multiple keyword using comma as separator in basic free version of yoast (not the premium one)?
You can only set 1 focus keyword in Yoast unless you buy the premium version. However you can easily optimize for both by crafting your SEO title, meta description, content body to include elements of both phrases.
Very helpful article for learning about yoast, but i have questions regarding plugin. Is only one focus keyword sufficient for whole article SEO.
Content that focuses on just 1 phrase has a better chance of ranking for that phrase. Especially when you think about exact URL matches, exact title tag matches, etc. It adds up. You can target 2 keywords by using them both in the content/meta description and even sometimes in the title tag, but I found really focusing on just 1 phrase gets you the best results – especially when a keyword is competitive.
Hi Tom,
I can’t thank you enough for the awesome post. I have always pondered over the ‘Good’, ‘Ok’ and ‘Poor’ ratings of the SEO plugin by Yoast. Most of the times I have tried to stuff keywords just to turn that orange to a green and I so regret it now ! This post has changed my perspective on how to use this plugin and I am sure that I will be using it more intelligently. You rock !
-Arpit Roy
Thanks Arpit! These are the kind of comments that keep me going. I’m so glad I was able to help you with your keyword research strategy and let me know if there’s anything else you need help with. I’m always looking for new topics to write about.
You rock too!
-Tom
Hi Tom,
Thanks for the article, it was very useful! I’m using the Yoast plugin in my Wordpress blog and it’s sometimes hard to know if you should do everything that’s required to get a ‘green’ rating. Can you explain why its not usually a good idea to use the same keyword on multiple posts? I got this message from Yoast before but it didn’t explain why not.
Thanks,
Danielle
Hi Danielle,
Thanks for your feedback! To me, the main reason you don’t want to use the same keyword on multiple posts is because you are better off spending time on the content for 1 high performing post, rather than writing other posts with mediocre content. The rankings and traffic you will get out of the 1 high performing post will probably to be more than writing even 5 mediocre posts. Also, the mediocre posts might dilute the performance (rankings) of the higher performing post. Does that help?
First off, thanks for writing this post! Great to find so much useful info in one place.
I just wanted to add to this discussion, because I have a similar question.
Here’s my situation.
Yoast keeps telling me that I’ve used my focus keywords before. If I’m writing (what I believe to be) useful posts on various aspects of the same topic, how could it be bad to use that topic as the keyword numerous times?
I’m currently blogging twice a week to improve traffic. I have a reasonably long list of keywords with decent search volumes (though the volumes aren’t too high). Also worth noting: I’m in a niche industry with very specific terminology.
I suppose I’m wondering how one might build a successful blogging keyword strategy targeted at one audience without reusing keywords or simply using slight variations of the same keywords with essentially the same meanings.
I hope this question makes sense :)
Thanks!
I think the rule of thumb is… if you really want to rank for a keyword, spend time creating 1 amazing piece of content rather than creating a bunch of mediocre pieces of content. The variations are tricky to know when to create a new post for 2 similar phrases. If you Google each keyword and the search results are very different (plus you feel like you can add value for both topics), then you can create 2 posts. It’s hard to say without actually knowing the keywords but that is just the rule I follow.
I wouldn’t target the exact same phrase on multiple posts though because of my 1st point. It’s just redundant. I remember when I wanted to rank for “yoast seo plugin settings” and I spent a couple days really improving the content by taking screenshots of the settings, including a preconfigured zip file, etc. That post went from 5 visits/day to 100/day which basically sold me that yes, improving the content is worth the time and the way to go.