When the text of a web page is awkward and bordering on nonsensical, the likely culprit is poor keyword integration. It’s clumsy, sloppy and an instant turn off to readers. The extra keywords may have brought more people to the page, but many are going to go elsewhere if the content is so blatantly meant for search engines.
Developing keywords is essential for businesses hoping to get on the front page of Google, but taking the time to integrate keywords well should be as paramount. There are two primary approaches to incorporating keywords naturally:
1. Working with pre-written copy
If you want to integrate keywords into copy you have already written, search for synonyms of your desired keyword. For example, if your keyword phrase is “wedding planner,” then the phrase could replace “wedding coordinator,” “event planner” or even the plural version of the phrase, “wedding planners.” But this is the tricky part: Rework the sentence so the copy makes sense, and then read it out loud to make sure it doesn’t sound awkward. Make sure to change the form of the verbs if you change it from a plural keyword to a singular, or vice versa
2. Starting from scratch
This is where looking at your keywords first can help. As you write the text, integrate a phrase when you are about to use one of its synonyms. For difficult phrases, consider first how it could fit in a sentence before starting. You can also use it to fill out a sentence, such as “Planning a wedding is a time-consuming task, which is why many brides hire a wedding planner.” When you are finished, double check the keyword density to make sure you didn’t oversaturate the text.
In part 2, we will look at how to integrate tricky keyword phrases.