One of the most common ways for people today to find the products and services they want is to search Google. But how does Google know which websites to lead them toward? Keywords.

What are Keywords?

Keywords are the words and phrases that Internet users type into search engines like Google and Bing. They also are the words search engine algorithms look for when they scan web pages that tells them what the sites are all about.

Placing the most important keywords for your business in the right places on your website can exponentially improve the chances of your pages appearing on the front page or top spot of Google searches when prospective customers are searching online for the types of products and services you offer.

Where Keywords Should Be Placed

So where should you place the best keywords for your business?

• The most important place is in the page’s the title tag. The first 64 characters of the title tag are shown as the click-through link on Google search result pages.
• Your keywords also should appear in the meta description tags, which are what describes the page’s content. Keep meta descriptions less than 160 characters.
• The H1 tag is the page’s header. You should have only one H1 tag per page. The header needs to both describe the page and appeal to the page visitor.
• Your keywords or keyword phrase should appear at least once near the top of the page’s content, as well as anywhere it makes sense. Try to get your keywords in at least four to five times per page, but no more than that or it will seem like you are “keyword stuffing” the page.
• Alt tags are the floating descriptions that appear when you place your cursor over an image. Use your keywords in the alt text of an image and also in the image file name.