Ten years ago, no one gave a damn about keywords. If anything, they were what the geeks in advertising were trying to sell to make a few quid.

Nowadays, a company can’t move without monitoring the phrase, how it ranks, and how organic it looks. Search engine optimisation has taken over the business world and it doesn’t seem to be loosening its grip.

So, you have one job and that’s to come up with the best keywords possible. Sounds easy, right? Well, you mustn’t have tried to develop a strategy before because it’s trickier than it looks. Here are the tips which will help you get unstuck when you end up in an SEO tangle.

Forget About Length

One thing experts hear all the time is how they can’t use certain phrases because they’re too big. First of all, don’t teach your grandma to suck eggs. Second of all, it isn’t true. Think of it this way.

You sell cat food to people with pets. Well, “cat” and “food” on their own aren’t going to rank highly. What these words need are some prepositions and conjunctions to bring them together. In the beginning, forget about the length and focus on what words and phrases are bang on the money.

Don’t Be Vain

Vanity keywords get businesses in trouble all of the time. Usually, it goes a little something like this: you choose a term which relates to your brand and stick with it to the death. Normally, this will work, but not when the phrase is vain.

Watch sellers can’t throw the word “jewellery” out there and hope it sticks. There’s too much competition and it’s too hard to stand out, which is why “silver watch” or “gold band” works much better. Sometimes, you need to work around the obvious and think outside of the box rectangle.

Ask For Help

It’s only a keyword or two – what’s the worst that can happen? Well, in short, you can pick poorly and your entire digital marketing plan can collapse. Don’t let the terms fool you because they’re essential to success and hard to get right.

You can find out more from a dedicated SEO consultant or you can hire them and ask for their help. When a boss doesn’t have the knowledge, he needs someone who can fill in the gaps. SEO specialists use their experience and analytical data to figure out which phrases are perfect for your plan.

Vary Phrases, But Only A Little

Another myth is that using the same keywords won’t help. Although it can be true, it is only the case when there isn’t a slight variation on the root. For example, “West End show review” and “West End show ratings” are quite similar.

So, the results will mirror one another too. However, “West End show review” and “the best West End show” are different enough to group together new hits. The trick is to figure out when it’s a synonym of the phrase and when it’s subtly different.

What do you think it takes to come up with killer keywords?