What are keywords?

Ok guys, I have done a lot of research, and I am just not getting this one.
I know what keywords are.

I run a security blog, and I am ranked decently high in google, gets plenty of unique traffic daily, and understand how to keyword with that. They just come in from all over the world all the time.

But recently, I have been doing SEO for my friends blog. I just cannot get it right? The sections it contains are,

• Health
• Friends
• Sex
• Love
• Men
• Work Ethic
• Being a Parent

So, you kinda get what the blog is based on.

And I mean, I cannot get us any daily traffic, or ranked anywhere seeable on Google. I just dont know what I am doing wrong. I have been trying new methods, and have been seeing my rank go down. I just dont get it. I have been trying a lot?

Can anyone maybe re-explain what keywords are in a noob way, and maybe give me insite on what keywords would be for blog posts like these? We post a new article EVERY day. We also use facebook, and have gotten very very little hits from that, due to the low traffic I have.
I wana do some research, but dont even know where to start, since I cant find any effective keywords, or maybe dont understand any keywords (for this site) to research on?

Can anyone please help me out please?
Thanks!

EDIT: Now we are talking on keywords in articles. How many keywords to use, and whatnot, so if you guys wana input anything on that. Would be awesome.
thanks!

Keywords are what people type into google to search. How did you rank your site without knowing this?...and don't tell me you just posted good content that people naturally would link to.

BlackHat3 said:

Keywords are what people type into google to search. How did you rank your site without knowing this?...and don't tell me you just posted good content that people naturally would link to.

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No, I mean I understand keywords, but I am just thinking maybe I had the definition wrong in my head or something. My site got ranked because I used quality keywords. Not one person linked to me, I got all my hits of keyword SEO and thats all.

I just cant get my friends site ranked, and I feel like I am using quality keywords that relate to the articles?

Here have a read of these two articles, may help.

http://www.webseoanalytics.com/blog/how-to-create-an-effective-keyword-list/
http://siddarthrajsekar.com/seo-keywords-and-phrases/

Just found them on Google but if you have a look round this forum I am sure there are some better explanations.
Your friend seems to be blogging about lifestyle issues, so the articles need to have the keywords that people will search for.

W130SN said:

Here have a read of these two articles, may help.

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Just found them on Google but if you have a look round this forum I am sure there are some better explanations.
Your friend seems to be blogging about lifestyle issues, so the articles need to have the keywords that people will search for.

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GREAT MAN!
I dont know what was wrong with me, I just had a major brain dump I guess.
This actually really really helped me!
T/h/a/n/k/s so much dude! I feel I am back on the right track again.
I will just leave this open if anyone else has something to say.

T/h/a/n/k/s again!

SuaveSalmon said:

GREAT MAN!
I dont know what was wrong with me, I just had a major brain dump I guess.
This actually really really helped me!
T/h/a/n/k/s so much dude! I feel I am back on the right track again.
I will just leave this open if anyone else has something to say.

T/h/a/n/k/s again!

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SuaveSalmon it's a newbie who knows how to answer a question and you can see the results of it.

+rep added to W130SN

Hi,

Try targeting long tail keywords as they are easy to rank and the competition is low. eg 'Health problem at age 60'

Numbers of way to look for long tail keywords, but personally i would check google predictive text then get those keywrods to google keyword tool to check the exact local search volumes.

For your secondary keywords, anything above 600 is good but make sure to check competition though...

Thanks so much guys!
Also, I am using the keyword tool like mad just looking stuff up.

But with these keywords, do I wana copy and paste them into the keyword tags area on my blog right? I am using All in one SEO on my wordpress blog, so I would copy and paste them in, or I would mention these "Key Words" in the articles?

i wouldnt suggest too tag too many keywords at once, cause you gonna look like spammer to google, spread keywords around

Hi mate,

It seems you have a lot to learn.

1] find a related long tail keyword eg 'healthy chicken recipes for two'

2] Write an article about it and optimise it (keyword in the title & body, bold keyword, image with the same keyword name alt tag) - as for for the all in one seo, use your keyword as your title, then and in the descripton, again keyword followed by call to action text.

i would put anything in the keyword box, (i used SEO moz for on page stuff)

3] back links and social media, twitter, pinterest, FB, flickr, and YT

good luck & buy me a pint

switch_2012 said:

Hi mate,

It seems you have a lot to learn.

1] find a related long tail keyword eg 'healthy chicken recipes for two'

2] Write an article about it and optimise it (keyword in the title & body, bold keyword, image with the same keyword name alt tag) - as for for the all in one seo, use your keyword as your title, then and in the descripton, again keyword followed by call to action text.

i would put anything in the keyword box, (i used SEO moz for on page stuff)

3] back links and social media, twitter, pinterest, FB, flickr, and YT

good luck & buy me a pint

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Alright yeah man, sorry still super noob mode. I lurked here for a while, then figures ah what the hell signed up, and now asking questions.

I am making up my own keywords and I am copying and pasting from google. Is this a good idea, or no? I am not spamming my keywords, I am using nice quality keywords I feel. Im using probably about 30-40 quality keywords for each.
Should I be using more? I know keywords are vital, but on my old articles I was using about 100-300 keywords. What would you recommend?
Also, I am using facebook
Thanks!

Do you take adsense for the pint

All the answer are good. I have read 3-4 answers and i will read remain after some time.
These theory about keyword will be helpful for me.
Thanks to all that gave time to write such information. Keep it up

Sorry 'm not sure about what you're asking, but i only use one keyword per article. So if you need to optimize your site for 40 keywords, you need to have 40 articles for those keywords.

switch_2012 said:

Sorry 'm not sure about what you're asking, but i only use one keyword per article. So if you need to optimize the your site for 40 keywords, you need to have 40 articles for those keywords.

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Wait so on my tags/keywords/SEO area you only put one keyword in there?
You know in All in One SEO it asks for keywords on the bottom? You only put 1 in there, or whatever plugin or code you use?

I dont put any keywords in there (i just saw my mistake on the above post, meant to say Wouldnt, think still drunk from lst night)

Most SEO guys wouldnt put anything, as long as you optimise your post/page for the keyword, you should be fine...

switch_2012 said:

I dont put any keywords in there (i just saw my mistake on the above post, meant to say Wouldnt, think still drunk from lst night)

Most SEO guys wouldnt put anything, as long as you optimise your post/page for the keyword, you should be fine...

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Wait what?
That makes no sense. If I dont use any keywords down here, how are people gonna find me?
-PMd you picture-
There is no way just writing an article, and underlining certain words would get me ranked as far as I know?

Just pmd you mate but you really need to read a book or article about beginners guide to SEO -

switch_2012 said:

Just pmd you mate but you really need to read a book or article about beginners guide to SEO -

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Yeah man sorry.
I've read numerous articles, but the thing was, I interpreted them wrong. If I think how you are telling me, they make A LOT I MEAN A LOT more sense now.
I can't thank you guys enough!

Hi, it seems your friend is writing the articles then you are choosing the keywords. You need to do your keyword research before writing the article, then write the article using those keywords. Remember, keywords are not what you THINK people are searching for, you need to research it and use what they are ACTUALLY searching for.
Here are a few more things to read but try doing a google search for "basic keyword research" or "keyword research best practices" or something along those lines.
http://www.seomoz.org/beginners-guide-to-seo/keyword-research
http://www.seomoz.org/ugc/advanced-seo-keyword-research-tips-and-ideas-14216
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/perfecting-keyword-targeting-on-page-optimization
http://www.seomoz.org/learn-seo/on-page-factors
http://www.searchengineworkshops.com/articles/niche-phrases.html
http://www.samapplegate.co.uk/keyword-research/how-to-do-keyword-research-tips-tools-and-techniques/

Cheers and Good Luck

The tip to use Google auto complete is a very good and simple tip. These things became autocomplete suggestions because they are frequently searched terms. You can get a lot of hints from them, and to then use the Keyword Tool will give this a bit of extra juice, separating them out in terms of competition and value.