There is no doubt about the importance of keywords.
For those not familar – a keyword is basically a general topic that your post, or even your site is focused on.
Good keywords are terms that lots of people search for often in Google or Yahoo or Bing, and that few people actually write about. This lots of searches to low supply ratio gives your article a good chance of being listed on page one of the search results fir that keyword.
And if you are on page one – then it is more likely that a searcher will click through to your site.
But, as I discussed yesterday in my Keyword Bondage article – keywords can be limiting. They can stop you from writing about something that you want to discuss – or they can force you to write about things that you really have no interest in.
The problem lies in each individual’s personality.
I am a pretty rigid person. I follow the rules, I go by the book. Fluid interpretation is foreign to me.
Yet – if I loosen up – keywords can actually provide me with a map where I can choose the direction.
Coming up with a good list of keywords involves some research – but once you have that list, the sky is the limit.
Take this very broad example.
Let’s say your site is about Bahama vacations.
The best keywords will probably be something like: cheap Bahama vacations, discount Bahama vacations, free Bahama vacations, etc.
Boring.
Who wants to create pages for all of these extremely similar subjects? Unless, of course, you are a travel agent.
How much is there to actually write about these subjects?
If you are not in the business of selling travel – then you need to take a step back and figure out what direction you want to take on your map. You can create a page or two about discount vacations, and then maybe find keywords that have to do with travel to Bahama, things to see in the Bahamas, good restaurants etc.
There are a lot of paths to take.
Find the one that you find interesting.
And let the keywords guide the way.
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