How Many SEO Keywords Should I Use?

Keywords speak to your audience and search engines too. They tell search engines what your site’s focus is while convincing your audience that you understand them and know your subject matter. How many SEO keywords you should use is a different matter altogether.

How many SEO keywords should I use? Is that something you’ve asked yourself lately? It’s simple yet complex because of the implications. What’s the best practice?

Where to Begin

Keywords are as helpful as the need they meet. Their purpose is to return relevant results. You don’t know what words people use to find what they need in your industry. That’s where keyword research comes in.

If you already have a website, Google Search Console can tell you what you’re already ranking for, and that can act as a guide. A small summary showing you the best-performing pages and the keywords is handy at this point.

You can use any other keyword research tool to widen your scope and get a better idea of where your content should focus. 

Landing Pages for Your Keywords

Create landing pages for your keywords. The content should be relevant and engaging because people want to avoid reading through a dry post. You’ll probably already have figured out what goes where when conducting keyword research, and that’s great.

These landing pages will influence the number of keywords. That’s why it’s a simple situation but has a few layers.   

How Many SEO Keywords Should I Use In An Article?

Organic landing pages are all set! Good stuff! But how many keywords go into every page? How many should you target?

A topic per page makes it easier to rank for an SEO keyword. That means between one and three reworded variations of the same keyword would work well. Any more can’t fit in the title or meta description.

You need to multiply the three by the number of landing pages for a site with a landing page for every keyword. You could also multiply the number of pages by the range to get a range for the number of keywords. 

For example, five pages multiplied by (1 to 3) gives a range of 5 to 15 keywords. An average of the range gives 2, multiplied by the number of pages gives 10. So you can have ten keywords on average for your website.

This rule will easily not work for authoritative sites or businesses offering unique products, with a page for every product. However, it’s a good template to use.

Let’s try to do it practically.

Step 1: Choosing a Topic

What is your website about? Let’s say you sell hoodies on your website. The page will be about hoodies, but what do you call them? Keyword research comes in. 

Keyword research will show you how popular your keywords are with potential clients. Will it be hooded sweatshirts or hoodies?

Step 2: Different Variations of the Keyword

Now it’s time to add another layer to it. Men’s hoodies, women’s hoodies, brand name hoodies, specific wording hoodies, and many more variations will come up.

You can have different pages for every product if you carry all these items.

Step 3: Organizing the Variations 

Everything must be where it’s supposed to be. Ensure the link with women’s hoodies leads to a page with the same. Is there a sub-type in this category? Make sure you represent them adequately. Evey sub-type page should offer more information about the specific keyword you’re targeting.

From there, you can target long-tail keywords that will bring in more traffic. Refine the content even further, and you can increase conversions. When you finish, choose the next keyword, rinse, and repeat!

Why Use SEO Keyword Variations in a Blog Post

We mentioned using variations of the same keyword in the previous section. Did you stop to think why?

Search engines are more intelligent and can interpret the context of search terms and include results with synonyms. The results will, however, be different with every search query used. Every keyword comes with its own slightly different set of results.

Having variations in the same post means your page can appear for each. Knowing the possibilities for your topic will help you better understand how to mix it up. 

As you reword and twist the keyword, remember to ensure it’s a sensible mix. It has to flow naturally in the text. Specificity tells Google you know your subject matter and may better meet your users’ needs.

How Many Times Should you Use a Keyword On A Page?

You may get very tempted to include the keyword at every turn, but that may work to your disadvantage. The number of times you use a keyword on a page depends on the blog post's length.

Using keywords too often in a post is known as “keyword stuffing,” and Google frowns upon it. They often look unnatural. Consider this: 

Our hooded sweatshirts fit perfectly and are naturally absorbent. You can run in our hooded sweatshirts without them sticking to your skin. Get our hooded sweatshirts today at our hooded sweatshirt stand.

Google can quickly penalize your site for keyword stuffing so go easy on them. 

How Many Words Per Page Is Good For SEO?

The length of a blog post will depend on the industry and keyword. A post over 300 words is better because it will allow you to explain your subject matter adequately. One thousand words are the average, but some go as far as 3000 words.

More information on the subject gives Google a better chance of understanding the content. Thin content leaves little to work with and may not answer the users’ questions. That negatively affects ranking. 

You can fit in the keyword with several variants dropped along the way. You’ll have room to naturally add the keyword you’re targeting within the text and long-tail keywords. 

Should I Use The Same Keywords On Every Page?

You should use different keywords on every page. Targeting the exact keywords on different pages can lead to keyword cannibalization. You’ll have several pages on your website competing against each other. That could reduce the click-through rate on each page, lower conversation rates, and reduce your website authority.

It’s similar to asking Google to rate your content against each other and pick the best for that keyword. You are better off having a single keyword per page than splitting all your results. Make use of longtail keywords instead. 

Conclusion

Following SEO rules on keywords is very important for ranking and traffic. One keyword in a properly-optimized page can go a long way in improving the numbers on a website. Get in touch with an SEO expert today!