📝 How to Rank for Multiple Keywords
Learn how you can rank for multiple keywords, why it's important to do so, and how to accomplish this efficiently
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SEO experts like to say that keyword targeting is dead, and they're onto something here. Google changes algorithms all the time. So, it's not a surprise that you can't rank as well as you could with keyword targeting. But why are we talking about it then?
Well, using keywords and targeting them are two different things. In essence, keywords are just phrases that people type into search bars to explain what they're after.
However, they help search engines find relevant content for them. So, when experts say that keyword targeting is dead, they mean that there's a new way of using them. In fact, if you want to do well these days, you should aim to rank for multiple keywords.
If two people are searching for the same thing online, all the chances are that they'll use different keywords to find it. And search engines are getting smarter, so it's not a problem for them anymore to understand the meaning of the search. However, because of this, matching the exact keyword ceased to be the vital thing.
In the past, if you wanted to market your blog, you just needed to find a single keyword with low competition and high traffic, and that's it. You'd be on the first page of Google in no time. But today, you'll have to do a bit more. Let's dive in and see what the things you need to focus on are.
Search Intent
As you can surmise from what we already told you, search intent is the most important thing these days. You want to put yourself in the user's shoes and think as they think. If you know what they want to find, it shouldn't be hard to find keywords to match it. But for it to work, you need to have an overlap between the keywords.
Let's look at a few examples to get a better grasp of it.
When trying to rank for multiple keywords, searcher intent is the first thing you want to think about.
Mismatched Keywords
Let's say you're writing a blog about gardening. If you target terms like trimming hedges and pesticides on the same page, that doesn't make much sense. You might have a thing or two to say about both, and you may even want to rank for both. But from the user's perspective, it doesn't make logical sense to see these two together.
A person looking for a way to trim a hedge has different needs from someone who wants to get those bugs out of their flowers. Hence, they have different intents, and they need to see different content. It's hard to serve both of their intents on a single page, so it's a much better idea to split them up.
Matching Keywords
You can also choose to talk about pesticides and herbicides on the same page. This is an example of good practice as these two clearly make sense together. Although they're not the same thing, they have the same end goal - making your garden look beautiful. And on top of that, they pretty much do the same job. They help you get rid of things you don't want to see in your backyard. So, a person looking for one might be interested in the other.
Of course, it takes some time and effort to find the right keywords you want to rank for, but social media can be a valuable tool here. Listen to your audience, follow trending topics, and use hashtags to your advantage. With these, you'll always know what to write about.
Don't Interfere With Your Conversions
We understand that you're here to learn how to rank for multiple keywords. But doing this shouldn't get in the way of the ability to market the content externally or get conversions on the page. Using multiple keywords should improve your engagements, not stop them.
So, if you know that you'd get more conversions with separate pages on herbicides and pesticides, go ahead and split them. Also, if putting two things together will make it harder to market, don't do it.
Instead, focus on finding keywords that work great together and complement each other. Don't be afraid to spend some time on it. The more you think about it, the better thing you'll come out with.
Don't Go for Too Many Keywords
As you could learn from our blogging tips for new bloggers, SEO is essential, so you should pay attention to it. However, what you shouldn't do is try to take advantage of it. Don't try to rank for all 10 of the keywords you're after with a single article. No matter how good of a writer you are, this won't work out in your favor. On the contrary, you're going to hurt yourself more than you'll help.
So, if you notice that one of your pages has many links leading to it, leave it as it is. If you change it so you can capitalize on it, you'll see it rapidly fall in the rankings. Visitors will come, look at it, and pogo stick away. Google will notice that, and you'll lose what you had in the first place.
You can't rank a single page for all the keywords you're after.
How to Rank for Multiple Keywords
Now, we'll share with you some tricks you can use to make your content pop out to the visitors, but the search engines as well. In our experience, two or three keywords per page are the ideal number. And here's how to get them out there.
Headline
Spend some time working on a headline. You want it to be an intelligent, creative, and fascinating combination of words. So, don't write something like ''Herbicides and pesticides you can use''. That will get you nowhere. But if you write ''The best organic pesticides and herbicides for your precious garden'', you have something. You're ranking for both keywords, and you're doing it properly.
Repetition isn't Everything
Keyword use matters, but you don't have to repeat it like a broken record. You should focus a lot more on things like content quality, usage metrics, topic relevance, and even writing a meta description. These are what will differentiate you from your competition.
Therefore, as long as your keywords are on the page, in the title, and in the headline, you're good to go. If you manage to mention them a couple more times on the page, that's even better. Just be sure not to make this your primary thing.
It's important to use keywords you're ranking for, but don't overuse them.
Anchor Text
And the final thing we want to talk about is anchor text. When you're trying to rank for multiple keywords, do your best to make your anchor text look natural. When you or anyone else links to it in the future, it should flow with the content. If it looks out of place, that can signal search engines that you're doing something manipulative. And even if you aren't, you might have a difficult time explaining that to them.
Until next time,
—Casey