Business 101: SEO Keyword Conundrum – 5 Common Mistakes People Make When Choosing SEO Keywords

There are 5 critical mistakes many companies make when writing and optimizing online press releases for search engines. If you see yourself in any of these mistakes, take the time to correct them. You’ll be surprised at how easy it is to improve your rankings with properly crafted press releases!

If you’re using online press releases to help drive traffic to your website and increase your search engine rankings, you’re likely already ahead of your competition. However, if you’re not taking advantage of proper keyword usage, you might be making critical mistakes that can actually harm your efforts. Google and the other major search engines are using new benchmarks to determine a page’s authority and weight, but keywords are still vital.

Misused keywords can make an online press release less authoritative, less readable and even make it rank lower in the search engine results. Check to make sure you’re not making these critical keyword mistakes. If you realize you’ve been committing one of these keyword sins, don’t panic. Just take the time to correct them.

SEO Mistake #1: Choosing The Wrong Keywords

If you’re just starting out, you’re probably confused about keywords. It’s a common mistake for business owners to choose keywords that bring in an enormous number of visitors. There are two problems with this: phrases that attract a lot of attention also attract a lot of competition, and then this attention may not convert at all.

For instance, if you sell shoes online, targeting the word shoes can be nearly impossible. A high-traffic word like “shoes” doesn’t help identify what searchers are looking for and is likely to be targeted by a number of other competitors. Instead, think about how you want your customers to find your businesses. Target less competitive terms like “comfortable shoes” or “athletic shoes” to reach people who are looking for your specific terms and you’ll have better luck.

SEO Mistake #2: Crafting Headlines For Search Engines, Not People

Words in the titles of your online press releases carry weight and have greater importance than words used in your body and the summary. Because of this, press release headlines are vital when the search engines determine the rankings of a press release.

However, many business owners make a critical mistake concerning headlines. They know that the titles are the most important, so they cram every keyword they want to use in the headline. This creates headlines that are unreadable and won’t entice anyone to click to read the entire press release. Instead, create headlines with the information that readers want and use your keywords intelligently.

Mistake #3: Shooting For A Specific Keyword Density

Previously, content stuffed with keywords ranked well. As long as your pages had a certain percentage of keyword use, it was nearly guaranteed to rank on the search engines. However, Google and the other major search engines have really improved their criteria and now look at more than just keyword density.

Instead of creating online press releases filled with keywords that sound stuffed and stilted, add keywords carefully. Use keywords in the most important part of the online press release, such as the title and the summary and then naturally throughout your release.

SEO Mistake #4: Sacrificing Grammar For Keywords

How do you use Google? If you’re like most people, you rarely type a complete sentence. Instead, searchers type exactly what they’re looking for, such as “Italian restaurant Dallas” or “computer repair Seattle.” It might be tempting to use these fragmented phrases to match a searcher’s inquiry, but this is a terrible idea.

The search engines have become skilled at ignoring content that uses poor grammar. Also, using these fragmented phrases throughout an online press release is likely to make bloggers, readers and journalists move on by without bothering to even read the release. You don’t need to be an award-winning journalist to write an effective press release, but your release should position you as an expert in your field.

Keywords will continue to be important when optimizing online press releases as long as content is king. Take care to avoid these critical mistakes and you can help ensure you’re not interfering with your efforts.

SEO Mistake #5: Not Optimizing Your Online Content

Journalists, bloggers and customers use search engines to find sources. That’s why it’s important to have your content rank well for the keywords that your audience is searching for.

If your website isn’t ranking for a term yet, use it in the title of a press release. Your customers (or journalists) can find you from multiple routes. A press release leads them right to your website if it’s written well and optimized for SEO.

Your Turn!

How do you choose your keywords? When you submit press releases online, do you try to optimize them for SEO? If you haven’t tried it before, try it next time – and see how well your press release ranks in Google next time. A well-placed keyword in the title can do wonders for your visibility!

For a FREE copy of Tara Geissinger and Christine O’Kelly’s e-book, “The Results-Driven Press Release Forumla,” visit: http://www.onlineprnews.com/how-to-write-a-press-release.