Get your keyword strategy right

As part of our work, we do a lot of website audits where we evaluate how well a website is designed to attract visitors and convert those visitors to sales or leads.

One of the most common problems we come across during the website audit process is that the keyword strategy on many websites is all wrong. Whatever the merits of the website from a search engine optimisation perspective, if the keywords are wrong, then the traffic coming to the website is not properly qualified, and visitors to the website are unlikely to convert.

Common problems we see with keyword strategies:

• There is no keyword strategy. Nobody has ever sat down and thought about what keywords potential customers might use to find the website.
• There is a keyword strategy, but it hasn't been implemented. The keywords meta tag has been defined (moderately important) but the rest of the site does nothing to promote those keywords.
• There are too many keywords. If you've got more than 3-5 keywords or key phrases per page, then the search engines struggle to figure out what the page is actually about. Not only that, but it's difficult when writing the content to give the necessary emphasis to all of the keywords that have been identified. Far better to have a concentrated effort across a few keywords than a diluted effort across 10, 15 or even 20 keywords.
• The same keywords are repeated across all the pages on the site. First, you run the risk that the search engines will see this as duplicated content. Second, if every page is about the same thing, then why not put all the content on one page? Of course, each page is about something different - so makes sure you have unique keywords for each page, and write the content accordingly.
• Keyword myopia. This one is very common. The keywords are what *you* would search for, not what your customers would search for. Try to put yourself in your customers' shoes. Do they want website design, or website results? A subtle shift in your thinking can move your website from moderate to major success almost overnight.

Is your website suffering from one or more of these keyword strategy problems?  Fixing your keyword strategy isn't difficult (although getting it right isn't always a trivial exercise), although it can have a domino effect on your website since it can mean you need to revamp all of your content. But if it results in more, and better qualified visitors to your website - and ultimately generates better results from your website, then surely it's worth it?