Using keywords in the website copy for your purpose-led business

Do you know what's one of the keys to a successful website?

Using keywords.

As a SEO copy and content writer who specialises in working with purpose-led and creative businesses, one of the biggest issues I find when doing website audits is not websites not using keywords properly.

In this post I'm looking at why keywords are so important, and how by using them you can make your website work much harder and increase your chances of showing up in Google searches.

Why does your creative or purpose-led business website need keywords in the first place?

The copy on your website needs to do several jobs at once. It needs to showcase and sell your product or service, telling potential clients what it is you offer, and just why your product or service is what they're after.

But the copy also needs to work in a way that the page it's on gets found, indexed and returned in searches by Google – and one of the crucial factors in this search engine optimisation is using keywords.

Keywords are words or phrases that people type into search engines to find information, products or services. So you want to make sure that your website includes the keywords people will use to find your product or service.

Broadly speaking, there are two types of keywords: short-tail and long-tail. Short-tail are search queries such as 'Bristol physiotherapist' or 'Bath florist'. Long-tail keywords are longer, more niche phrases such as 'Bristol physiotherapist women over 40' or 'Bath florist dried flowers'.

Short-tail keywords have a lot more search volume – i.e. more people type these into Google – so they're a lot harder to rank for due to increased competition from other sites. Long-tail keywords are more specific, so usually have lower search volumes and are therefore easier to rank for.

Choosing keywords for your creative business website

When deciding what keywords to include, I always advise people to answer these four questions: what do you do, who do you do it for, how do you do it and where do you do it? These will form the basis of you thinking about how people will find your site through search engines.

It is really easy to write copy that's lyrical and beautiful, or witty, or chatty, but that doesn't actually tell people what your product or service actually is. So start with this, and think about what people will be typing into Google when they're researching your product or service. From this you can start to get an idea of keywords to target.

Once you've done this, you can start backing up your initial research with more data-driven research using programmes such as Ahrefs, Moz or Keywords Everywhere. These can help you see search volumes for keywords, compare sites who already use them, find out how hard it'll be to rank for them and find related terms.

Another great thing to use is Google's People Also Ask: that section on the first page of search results that highlights similar search queries relating to yours. This can be a goldmine of useful info for how people may find your site.

Because Google ranks pages, not websites, you need to pick a target keyword phrase for each of your pages to avoid cannibalising your own SEO. By having distinct keyword phrases for each page, that clearly tell visitors and Google what it is you offer, you're not competing for keywords with your own pages.

So, to use the example of the physiotherapist who specialises in working with women over 40, you could focus on 'physiotherapist for women over 40' on your home page and 'female physiotherapy for over 40s' on your about page. (These are just examples by the way, and would definitely need backing up with data and research before you picked them!)

A handy keyword tip: Google loves local, so it's really great if you can be specific about where you work: city, county, geographical area. This also means you're not trying to rank for broad search terms that will likely have much more competition.

Adding keywords to your business website

Once you've found the keywords you want your website to target, here's what to do with them.

1. Use your keywords in your body copy

   Body copy is the main sections of your text, the bit underneath headings and subheadings. You want to make sure you use your keyword phrase in here. Not in a spammy, keyword-stuffing way (in fact, please don't, because Google penalises sites with low-quality content and keyword repetition), but in a way that feels natural for humans to read.

   
   

   Search engines have got a lot cleverer these days, so it's actually much easier for them to pick up on intent, meaning you don't have to worry as much about repetition. But you do need to ensure you've been explicit enough so that people can instantly tell who are you, what you do and where you do it.

2. Use your keywords in your header tags

   Header tags are what you use to structure website pages so they can be easily scanned by both search engines and humans. (For a deeper dive into this, check out my post on header tags.) You want to make sure you include your keyword phrase in your H1 (the main 'title' for the page), and preferably at least one H2.

   
   

3. Use your keywords in your meta title and page description

   This is the description that shows up on search pages – the title of the web page and a short description of what it's about. Make sure you edit these for each of your website's pages, and make sure you include your keyword phrase in them.

   
   

Once you've written the copy for your page, you can review it using a free keyword density checker to see if you've included your keywords enough.

As well as your main website pages, you'll also want to structure blog posts around a specific keyword phrase. Blogs are a really great way to target long-tail keywords, particularly some super niche ones.

Going back to that Bristol-based physiotherapist, some examples of blog posts that would target long-tail keyword phrases are 'physiotherapy exercises for women in perimenopause with hip issues', or 'exercises that are good for women over 40 to improve knee pain'.

Want some help with keywords?

Hopefully this has been a helpful overview on keywords and how you can add them to your website. But if the thought of writing 'website keyword check' to your already full to-do list makes you blanch with horror, I'd love to help! Part of my copy clinic service is reviewing your keywords, as well as the rest of your SEO, tone of voice and user experience. A copy clinic session costs £250, which is then deducted from any full website copy or website copy editing you may book in after.