Bloggers just want to blog and reap the rewards of writing something interesting. Now, bloggers also have to act in the role of an SEO consultant. You have to concentrate on implementing certain keywords and researching how well you're doing. Finding new keywords is the least enjoyable part of blogging.
It isn't particularly difficult when you know what you're doing. It just requires commitment and the willingness to ensure you're doing everything you can to maintain high levels of SEO.
Here are some tips for finding the best SEO keywords for your blog.
Google's Keyword Tool
You're essentially writing for Google. Yes, there are other search engines but Google is the most popular engine by far. Google has its own free keyword tool you can use. It's simple and anyone can understand how to use it in a few minutes.
Not only can you search for any potential keyword. You can check how much competition it has. Your goal as a small blogger is to find the right balance between competition and the amount of times people are searching for it. Lean too much in one direction and keyword performance plummets.
This powerful tool breaks down the number of times people have searched for it by describing who searched for it and where they searched for it from. Use these results according to which demographic you're trying to target.
Related Search Feature
As a web surfer, you've likely spent no more than a few seconds glancing at the related search feature at the bottom of every Google search page. This is a hidden tool for discovering new keywords. Choose your blog's niche and look at the related searches. Consider using these keywords as secondary keywords.
To make the most of SEO, you have to target synonyms of your main keywords and scatter these throughout.
Alexa Rankings
Alexa is a useful tool for checking on your competitors. The 'High Impact Search Queries' column explains how these competitors continue to bring in new readers. Once you know what your competitors are doing to garner a larger readership, you can copy them and outrank them.
Alternatively, search for holes in their strategies and exploit them to your advantage. Your direction depends on how much effort you want to put in to getting your traffic levels up.
Google Webmaster Tools
Google Webmaster Tools informs you about how your keywords are doing. Provide a link to it on your site and you can register an account. Sign in with this account and it will give you a full breakdown of which keywords your readers are using to find you.
Successful keyword usage is about trial and error. Even with these tips, you won't always choose the correct keywords. Some just have too much competition. You don't want to spend time (and sometimes money) promoting a keyword few people are using to visit you.
This tells you what's working and what isn't. If you find something which doesn't work, change your tactics and see if they work for the better.
Filter by Location
Focus on your local and national area. As a blogger, you likely have no geographical limitations. Google prioritises results in your local area for a lot of keywords. If you dedicate part of your SEO campaign to local SEO, you'll enhance your results.
Consider differences in wordage. For example, if you ran a blog about football in England and you wanted to target America, you would have to focus locally. In America, football indicates American football. In the US, you would have to call it soccer or your chosen audience wouldn't find you.
All local SEO isn't as complex as this. Sometimes it's just a matter of throwing a few locational words on the end of your keyword string. Rather than talking about 'football' you would use 'football in England' and this would satisfy your SEO requirements.
Be Careful
Google Panda and Google Penguin have placed the emphasis on quality content. The last thing you should do is focus on keywords at the expense of your content. Too many keywords can make your writing read unnaturally, and this will raise a red flag.
Despite the fact sites have obeyed every SEO rule there is poor quality content will ruin all your hard work. Make sure your content is useful and relevant to an audience. Keywords should remain a mere addition to boost the performance of what you already have.
Continue reviewing the performance of each keyword against your content quality and you'll soon have thousands of visitors every month!
Author's bio: The guest post is written by Sonia Jackson from http://www.essays.mightystudents.com. She writes essays on different topics and can give you useful advice.