Important PR Keywords to Include on Your Website
Traditional public relations has roots reaching back much further than the internet. Embracing technology and using SEO to your advantage will help your marketing campaigns have a bigger impact.
Search engines have become a part of everyday life. Think about the last time you went an entire day without Googling something — almost impossible, right? The total number of online searches has risen every year since it’s invention. In 2017, that amounts to an average of 3.5 billion searches per day!
Using PR keywords on your website will increase your SEO ranking and help you reach more of those people searching. Plus, increased ranking means more visitors and more brand awareness.
Here are some ways to use keywords on your website to ramp up your SEO today!
How to Plan Your PR Keywords
Some keywords might seem obvious to you, like the name of your product or company. That’s a great start, but it’s important to use keywords that people are actually searching for. You’d be surprised at how different your expectation of search terms is from the actual keywords your target audience is using. Hint: businesses usually miss the mark about 90% of the time.
Using Google Keyword Planner
A great way to do that is with Google’s free Keyword Planner. You need a Google AdWords account to access it, but you don’t need to buy any ads.
Once you log in, click on Get Search Volume Data and Trends.
Type some keyword ideas into the box, and click Get Search Volume. You’ll see how many people search for those keywords, on average each month.
For example, if you’re a car dealership, you could try entering keywords like:
- car dealership (CityName)
- new cars (CityName)
- used cars (CityName)
- buy a car
- buy a car (CityName)
On the results page, choose keywords that have a high number of people searching for them.
Those are the PR keywords you should use on your website because the highest number of people are searching for them. When your content appears in a search result, people will find you and ideally click to visit your site.
Using Google Trends
Google Trends is another good source for keywords.
You can type in a topic to search to see historical search data, or you can see what the current trending topics are. Then, you can use this data to publish content on your website with those keywords.
But where should you add those to your site? Read on to find out!
How to Implement Your PR Keywords
Once you have a list of keywords, you’ll want to use them in several areas of your website:
Page Meta Title and Description
This is what shows up when you look at search results in Google. It’s the title of the page, and the 1-2 line blurb underneath it. Be sure to include your keyword in the title and at least once in the description text.
Image ALT Tags and Filename
Name images on your website with your keywords, such as “car-dealership-cityname.jpg”. You should also include relevant keywords in the ALT tag of the image. This can be done with a bit of HTML.
Some website platforms, like WordPress or HubSpot, have an easy way to add this when you upload an image.
Website Headings
Make sure your keywords appear in at least several large headings throughout your website. Those headings should be <h1> or <h2> tags. Heading tags range from h1 to h6, with one being more important in Google’s eyes than six.
Adding important terms to h1 headings throughout your copy is an easy way to increase your search engine ranking.
Website Body Copy
Use your keywords throughout your body content, but remember to keep it sounding natural. If Google thinks you’re trying to stuff keywords into content, you’ll get penalized instead of rewarded.
For maximum impact, use your keyword 2-5 times per every 250-500 words. At that ratio, you typically won’t be penalized for keyword stuffing.
Remember that although Google algorithms should be in the back of your mind any time you write content, it’s more important to make your content appeal to humans, not machines. Avoid over-using your keywords, which could come across as being spammy. An appropriate suggested keyword density is around 1.5%.
Keyword density is calculated like so: (Number of keywords / Number of words) * 100
For example, if you use a keyword 3 times in a 400-word piece of content, your keyword density would be (3/400)*100 = 0.75%.
Press Releases
This may seem obvious, but you should also use your keywords in your actual press releases.
Press releases distributed digitally through services like PRWeb or Newswire can positively impact your SEO when they include your keywords. Plus, they’re also a great source of links back to your website, further helping your SEO rank.
Social Media
Did you know that search engines take social media into account too? They do— so be sure to use your keywords in posts on your social networks.
Frequently updated, SEO-friendly social media accounts help your ranking. This practice also helps potential customers find your brand.
White Papers
Whether offline or online, include keywords in your white papers.
Even if this content isn’t indexed by search engines, your customers will recognize your keywords. This furthers your brand awareness and helps you remain top of mind to customers.
(Not sure how to do all of this yourself? We can help! Ask us about our marketing and PR services.)
Is Your Website Crawlable?
Google recently changed the name of Google Webmaster Tools to Google Search Console. It’s a powerful tool that’s free to use.
Visit Google Seach Console, sign in with a Google account, and click Add Property. There are a few ways to verify your website and the wizard will walk you through it. Once you’ve been verified with Search Console, Google will crawl your website regularly.
Crawling means it looks for new content and indexes that content into search results. Your content will show up more frequently in search results if it is easily crawlable by the internet spiders.
Benefits of Using PR Keywords on Your Website
There are mounds of benefits that come from properly optimizing your website for keywords, such as:
- Increased SEO ranking
- Increased traffic to your website
- Heightened brand recognition
When it comes to adding in PR keywords to increase your SEO ranking, it’s not “the more the merrier.” Try a few different phrases that are unique but still relevant to your topic.
A good rule of thumb is:
- Include your main target keyword 2-5 times per 250-500 words
- Include variations throughout, in a natural sounding way
An example of this is if your main keyword is “dog treats”, you’d want to include that term 2-5 times in your website copy.
Then, use some related phrases like “healthy dog treats”, “dog treat recipes” or even “dog food” in your copy. If someone is searching for those keywords, your post could show up in those results too.
Increasing Website Traffic with SEO
SEO is a long-term strategy, so don’t feel discouraged when you don’t see big results right away. Make sure you set realistic expectations for the amount of time you hope to see results.
It can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months to start seeing a measurable increase in traffic from search engines after optimizing your SEO. Also keep in mind that it’s important to regularly add keyword-optimized content to your site.
Google and other search engines take into account the quality of your content and how frequently you update your website. You should see results from a concentrated SEO campaign within four to six months.
More Ways to Improve Your SEO with PR Keywords
In addition to keyword-rich content on your website, social media, and other channels, you can:
Get Backlinks from Other Sites
Getting links back to your website from high authority domains is a crucial factor for improving your SEO. When you send out a press release, include a link to your website in it. When news outlets publish your release, that link appears on their website.
News sites like CNN, Fox, MSNBC, and many others, are great authority websites. Having backlinks from authority sites like those can be very beneficial to increasing your own authority, and domain ranking. For content other than press releases, build relationships with authority websites in your category and ask for links. Comment on their content and include a link back to your website.
Start a PPC Campaign
Another easy way to increase your SEO and make use of your keywords is to launch a PPC, or pay-per-click, advertising campaign.
Typically this is done with Google AdWords, though other options exist. Studies show that using PPC along with traditional keyword optimization can increase your total website traffic from search by as much as 66%.
Write Longer Content
Longform content, typically described as content between 1,200 to 2,500 words, ranks extremely well in search engines. All ten of the top organic Google search results for over 20,000 different keywords were longer than 2,000 words in a recent experiment.
Not every piece of content on your website needs to be long form, but having at least a few posts that are will help your SEO a lot.
Conclusion
SEO is a huge topic to cover. This article has hopefully provided you with an overview of some of the ways you should be using your PR keywords on your website, and other channels that can help you.
Some key takeaways to start implementing today are:
- Make sure all of your content is keyword optimized, including social media, press releases, offline materials and newsletters
- Be sure to use your PR keywords in key areas of your website, such as H1 headings, subheadings, page URLs, page titles and image ALT tags
- Ensure your website is set up with Google Search Console, and easily crawlable
- Consider starting a PPC/AdWords campaign
- Write longer content for your website
Have big ideas for your PR campaigns, but lacking the time or human resources to implement them? That’s what we’re here for!
Contact us for a consultation, and let us manage all your PR campaigns for you and your clients to help you see the best results.