Now that you’ve analyzed your keywords, you can start thinking about how to use them in your content. The research is over, and it’s time to learn how to use them on your site! You’ve found your keywords, you’ve chosen the ones that meet the best criteria. The question is: what to do next?

In this chapter, we’ll take a look at the basics and useful tips on how to use keywords correctly. They’re closely related to on-page optimization and content strategy, but they’re also very relevant to keyword research.

Consider keywords as topics (content hub model)

Instead of organizing articles into artificial categories (or even worse, having no structure at all), organize them by topics that are divided into content hubs (sometimes called topic clusters). Here’s a sketch of a typical content hub model:

(If you haven’t read the content cluster model, then check out this post!)

There are two types of content in the content cluster model:

• Columnar content: Post or homepage that broadly covers the topic, targeting broader keywords
• Clustered content: Supports blog posts that explain subtopics in detail, targeting more specific keywords

The column content and supporting clustered articles are linked together in the way shown in the diagram above.

Topic clusters strengthen the semantic relationship between articles. As a result, it can help search engines better assess the topical relevance of posts. That’s the theory, let’s look at a specific example:

If one of your blog content focuses on running, your keywords and content titles might look something like this:

Keyword focus and column article title: Running (Running: Everything You Need to Know) Focus on possible keywords and clustered article titles: Types of jogging (What are the main types of jogging for beginners?) Jogging Mistakes (The Worst Running Mistakes and How to Fix Them) Benefits of Running (7 Incredible Health Benefits of Running) Running on a Treadmill (15 Tips for Running on a Treadmill at Home) Best Running Shoes (How to Find the Best Running Shoes + Reviews)

If you think of keywords as separate content topics, it makes you think about the natural relationships between them. You’ll realize that keyword research isn’t just about search volume and issues. First and foremost, it should help you understand how people search and think on the internet. This will help you create content that covers the topic thoroughly and meets the needs of users.

Use focused keywords when necessary.

Once you have chosen a focus or main keyword for your page, use it on the page in key elements. Don’t overuse the keyword. The best way to use an exact match keyword is to:

• Title tag
• Page title (and subheadings, if applicable)
• Body of the page (ideally in one of the first paragraphs of text)
• Anchor text of internal links pointing to the page

Everyone knows that keyword stuffing is an old technique. Don’t try to stuff the exact keyword into the post to meet a certain keyword density (there is no ideal number, and there never has been).

Tip: Some SEO plugins (like Yoast SEO) suggest optimal keyword density. Take that as a guideline, but never forget about user experience. For example, if your focus keyword is “social media scheduling for agencies,” using it 5 times in a 1,000-word article would look unnatural. Always consider keyword length as well.

LSI keywords!

There is an old SEO joke that goes like this:

Although it is an exaggeration to state the point, it shows that artificial use of keywords is not the right way to go. It is easily identifiable and hurts readability. The “LSI keywords” method falls into this category.

Latent meaning indexing is a term that refers to a specific natural language processing technique, ostensibly used by search engines to identify keywords that are related or meaningful.

The problem is that many “SEO experts” claim that LSI keywords are synonyms and related keywords that you should use in your text to improve your rankings. Which is kind of silly if you really think about it.

Google’s John Mueller has been very clear about it:

There is no such thing as LSI keywords, anyone who tells you otherwise is wrong, sorry.

John Mueller, July 30, 2019

Let’s make a reminder:

• Trying to artificially insert some keywords into your post, just because some tool told you to do so, is the wrong approach. Instead, write naturally and cover the topic thoroughly.
• You don’t have to use every single relevant keyword. You might actually rank for keywords you didn’t even use in the text.

Let’s take a look at this example:

If you search for the keyword “strong coffee,” the first result is Caffeine Informer’s definitive list of the best strong coffee brands.

A quick glance at the article will show that this is a well-written and comprehensive post with a lot of useful information and tips. If we analyze the post, we will see that in addition to the main keyword (“strong coffee”), it ranks for 92 other keywords in the US (many of them in the first SERP). For example, it ranks first for the keyword “highly caffeinated coffee”, a strong keyword with 2,800 searches per month.

Now, if you look at the actual post, you’ll notice that the phrase “high-caffeine coffee” doesn’t appear in the text at all (nor does “high-caffeine” or “high-caffeine”). Yet, the post gets the #1 ranking for it!

The guide writer can write a separate article with “high caffeine coffee” as the focus keyword. Or they can try to include it in the post along with many other “LSI keywords” to increase their chances of ranking for them.

Instead, he wrote a quality post that comprehensively covered the entire topic of “strong coffee” and used natural language. The result? He ranked for many other keywords too! If Google sees that your content is top-notch and relevant, it may rank for keywords you didn’t optimize for at all.

Google’s algorithm is best at understanding content and knowing what the page is about. You don’t need to use every single keyword.

(tl;dr) How to use keywords in your content strategy What to do: Consider the main keywords as the topic. Choose a focused keyword that represents the topic and follow keyword placement best practices. Follow the pattern of 1 focused keyword = 1 page. Write long, in-depth articles that cover the entire topic thoroughly. What to avoid: Don’t think about the number and placement of keywords. Don’t follow keyword density recommendations. Don’t place keywords unnaturally in the text (remember, “LSI keywords” is a myth)