Maybe not quite to the degree that they used to, but yes, keywords really do matter. When used properly.. 

A very important key thing is HOW they are used. The days of keyword stuffing are long gone.

There was a time that a person could get an article or post ranked simply by inserting a bunch of their main keywords into the article in any way, shape, or form. Not only does that not work any longer, it will work against you if you do it.

Your keywords need to be strategically placed. Not only in the title, the URL, and the meta description, but throughout the post as well. But it has to make sense. The keywords must fit accordingly, so as to flow with the content.

Google is now looking more for high quality content that has value and that reads well. Therefore, the keywords must be integrated and a relevant part of the article.

There are tools and methods of keyword research that will help you learn to choose good relevant long-tail keywords.

Keyword Tool is free and it's easy to use you. Type in the main keyword and the tool will show you a lot of variations of that word. They are listed in order by how often they are used in searches. This will give you ideas.

You can also use Google Search itself.

First you'll get the SERP results (Search Engine Rank Page) so you can see what others are doing, and secondly you'll see at the bottom of the SERP page Google's "related searched" listing which is a great way to revise keywords.

Google Search can also tell you how popular a keyword is. Realizing this can help you deter from trying to compete with words and with bloggers that are just too big and too competitive to even mess around with.

To find out start first with a general and popular keyword and note the number of pages of results. 

Now try a long-tail keyword. Use "quotes" around the phrase so the results are only for that particular phrase or set of words. Look at how many pages of results you get. Do you notice the difference? Would you rather compete with words that bring back 100's of pages, or a handful of pages?

Do you think it would be easier to get on the first page of Google using long tailed keywords?

If you answered yes, you are correct.

If you have expanded to the level of doing some Google Adwords advertising, you can use the tools for deeper research. They will show you search volumes, costs per click, even who the competitors are and how many.

Choosing the right keywords for PPC Adwords will save you money and get you better results with your campaigns.

You might have to upgrade into a paid version of the Keyword Tool to get the information you want. This is a more advanced keyword research.

When doing your keyword research, always make note of the companies and domains that are ranking at the top.

Are the top page rankers huge companies and bloggers that have tens of thousands of subscribers and millions of website visits each month? You would want to stay away from even trying to rank with those giants. 

This is why we say that it's advantageous, especially when you are getting started, to go after a much narrower niche and target market. The narrower the better.

This is also why we talk about long-tail keywords. You use those to narrow your niche.

Keywords must be used correctly. Place them in page and post titles, preferrably at the beginning of the title.

Also place your keywords in the meta descriptions and "sprinkle" throughout the post content where it makes sense.

If you are using WordPress, the Yoast SEO plugin will make your life easy when it comes to placing these keywords. Yoast is a free SEO tool that is a favorite for most WordPress bloggers and marketers.

Make sure you keep the flow and that it reads naturally. This is a big thing for you to learn and use in the right way because a lot of your competitors will not be doing it correctly. You can fill a void and jump over them in the page rank results.

The use of keywords and SEO is not an exact science. It's not a black and white picture. There are some grey areas and it will require some testing and tweaking as you go.

No one really knows the exact Google algorithm. There are indicators to learn however and you can do well if you follow those indicators. Google is constantly changing so it is something you will want to keep track of.

But it's a learned skill and once you have it, it's with you for life. It can be very worth it. Learning SEO is a good investment of your time and your money.

Getting ranked on the first page of Google for your chosen niche can bring lots of additional traffic to your website and result in a steady growth of your business.

Thank you for reading. Hopefully now you realize and understand that keywords really matter with Google and SEO ranking. I didn't think about it too much when I was new to online marketing, but now I'm fascinated with it all. There's a lot involved but worth it to learn. Check back often as I'll be adding to this post with updates and additional information.

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I'm sure you've heard it before about a gazillion times... know your audience. It only makes sense though. I do not need to spend a lot of time here. It kind of goes without saying that you will know who your target audience is. But even so... knowing who your audience is, and what they need to hear might be two slightly different things. It's crucial to provide content that your readers have an interest in, and in a way that will capture and keep them.

There's big talk about the importance of being consistent and regular in your online content. And it's true, you do need to be somewhat consistent. But that doesn't mean writing randomly about the sky just to get something out there. You do have to have a topic, and you do need to know something about it. So study up on your chosen topic if you need to. We are all a mouse click away from the largest information source in the world and it's all free, so use it.

Headline your article, and some of your paragraphs too. Headlines should not be tricky or cute. That's hard to pull off. Headlines should do nothing but tell the reader what they are about to hear. Use your headlines to "hook" the reader, but never in a deceptive way. Creating good "hooker" headlines is a skill that you will learn and get better at. When a reader stays you know they are intrigued and want to learn more.

Gone are the days of keyword stacking and rambling just to deliver content. Google, and your readers, want to see real content that means something. You can suggest, recommend, teach, opinionate, summarize, educate, or narrate, but just make sure your reader walks away feeling as though they got something from reading your post. Provide value and benefit. That is what will keep your audience coming back for more.

Will you agree that some of the reason for doing all this is to be found on the internet when people search for something? That means writing blog posts the way Google wants to see them written. They are the ones that need to be kept happy when it comes to page rank (your ranking or positioning in the search engine results).

There was a time when a blogger could write in just about any way, at any length, and stuff a bunch of keywords anywhere in the content. Not any more. Now google wants to see high quality content, details, and explanations, and quite frankly so does your readers. They can get filler and fluff anywhere. Google also wants to see longer posts than before. Keywords need to be strategically placed within the content in a way that makes good reading. It should all flow and make sense.

Images do three things. They provide more SEO juice for Google, they get the readers attention, and they break up your content so it's more visually stimulating. Your images should relate to your topic in some way. It can be indirectly, but it should have some kind of connection, even if it's symbolic in a sense. You'll be able to keyword tag your images which is one of the SEO magnets. Your images can also be found in search engines for additional exposure back to your brand. Images are one of the most attention grabbing pieces of content used today. So are videos.

The main thing is to get started. You can learn and get better as you go. You won't break anything and you won't be spanked. These are simply guidelines and things to work towards. Just get started and you'll be surprised how fast you get the hang of it. 

So there you have it. The A,B,C's of writing blog posts. It's not rocket science and it does not have to be perfect. It's better to be constant and conform as best you can to these simple basics. The rest will all come with repetition. You'll be fine. Writing blog posts does not have to be a dreaded chore. You can enjoy yourself doing it. So have fun and happy blogging to you!

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Try content marketing and get yourself noticed. There are two things that I learned early in my internet marketing career that must be done to even think about becoming successful online - Getting Seen, and Becoming Known.

It's a simple concept

Do you remember having a favorite teacher in school because they taught cool stuff that actually meant something to you? Stuff that you could use in real life. Stuff that might benefit you in some way? Or how about that friend who was unique and that always had something interesting going on. You were always open to hearing what they were up to right? You may even have thought that you could learn some things from that person.

Consider the 5 points below to get you started with content marketing. Start your journey of becoming that go-to person for some of you contacts.

1. Choose A Topic

Everyone is good at something .... everyone has something to share on some given subject ...everyone has something to contribute that others can get some use from.

2. Create a Website for Your Content

3. Create Your Content in Multiple Formats

4. Build Your Email List

The money is in the list. Yes we do hear that all the time don't we? Over and over again. So are you building a list? Have you learned how to build a list? Using content marketing is an excellent way to do it. Show people good value and they want more. Once you get people to opt-in to your list trust me you will not have trouble knowing what to send them next. One great method is to use others people stuff. Spin it into your own words and put your brand on it. You don't copy and paste. You use other peoples material to get you started ... to get the gears turning in your brain ... and take it from there. Makes sense right?

5. Market Content on Social Media

Well of course! You are on social media ... I am on social media ... everyone is on social media. So use it to your benefit! Share everything on social media, and the great thing about content marketing is that it doesn't get boring. You are mixing up all your delivery methods. Nothing is ever the same. Share your blog posts, your how-to vidoes, your explainer videos, your voice over videos... there are so many different variations of videos and thats the #1 method today. AND ... put share buttons on everything! When your content becomes so good that people start to share it on social medis... then you know you are well on your way.

Now .. rinse and repeat

You will develop a style and a routine that gets easier and easier. You might start with a blog post, turn it into a podcast, then a video of you, then a power point type video with voice-over. You can take your blog post and turn it into several social media posts. Bring images into the mix. Brand your images with your name and website domain. You get the idea right?

Content Marketing - the simple strategy of sharing material in different formats that people find useful and benefit from.

So I've learned the search engine optimization basics, and happy to pass those on to some other beginners.

For those who need a crash course, search engines serve to find and create different search results based on the "keywords" that are put into the search box. The technology is smart though and getting smarter. Your results can be a reflection of some of your history and habits. They might pull up pages for you based on pages you've found useful in the past, or your profile if you have one, or your location, or a number of other things relative to your habits.

For the marketer who is counting on rankings to get traffic, keeping up with the changes will become a continual thing, and could become a challenge to stay in front of. Google's search engines programming will continue to evolve and grow and change, making it necessary to stay in tune with what' s happening. The basics will remain pretty straight forward, but some of the SEO marketers get deeply involved with the technology and it becomes quite competitive.

Those who stay in the know, will win the SEO game..

Google does however continue to provide a good assortment of tools and training for webmasters to help them improve their page ranks.

One thing that has not changed: The marketers most powerful weapon in their arsenal will remain high quality content to attract their audiences. So regardless of how techie you are on search engine optimization, your job stays the same ... to continue creating well written authority content. If you do that you will continue to rank. 

Don't try to trick the search engines, they are 3 steps ahead of you. Instead focus on providing quality content your audience wants and needs. That is your main objective. You can always study to learn the nuances of SEO if you want, but do that first.

Search Engine Optimization Still Works

Yes it does work... it will get you traffic, and some niches are better served by search engine optimization than others. SEO works exceptionally well for local businesses, maybe because the keywords inserted tend to be more precise. I'm not sure, but even so, online businesses where location does not matter can benefit from SEO as well. Provided of course that you are delivering great content and lots of it, and you understand how to use keywords properly.

So keep it natural, insert the keywords where they make sense and keep the story flowing. Of course you want to continue using your keywords in your page titles, tags, subtitles, and headers.

Use Social Media to Drive Traffic

Social media has become a force for marketers i think we can all agree on that... but ... don't for a minute think it has replaced websites for sending traffic to. Social media is a means to drive traffic to those sites. (or your brick and mortar store). You don't want your audience to go to social media and stay there, and you don't want your social media base to not experience a well rounded marketing loop or funnel. You still want to take them on a journey that educates and informs them along the way, on autopilot.

Social media is a great place for an initial contact or introduction... a means for people getting to know you, and then getting into your funnel. Your website and blog are you base. Your websites still are used to build your list. So getting ranked in google (and YouTube) will remain a force with savvy networkers.

Things evolve quickly online these days. Yes search engine optimization is still a major factor, but also pay attention to video, webinars, online events, and more traffic generating technologies that have become prevalent today. Bottom line .... continue to focus on delivering high quality useful content that is focused on your audience, and you will benefit from search engine traffic.