The Importance of Keywords in Your Marketing Toolbox

I'm delighted to participate in the Insecure Writer's Support Group blog hop and IWSG anthology. The topic is for marketing and I grant permission to Alex Cavanaugh for use in the anthology...

The Importance of Keywords in Your Marketing Toolbox

by Donna M. McDine

Keywords… What’s this you may be asking? Keywords are what people type into search engines (i.e., Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc.) when researching a particular topic or product (i.e., Best Jersey Shore vacation spots; cheap airfare; NYC wedding planners, children’s historical fiction books, etc.). The more a keyword is searched the more attraction it has. The list is endless. But, what does this have to do with me as a writer? Absolutely EVERYTHING!

It is imperative your website and blog have strong keywords in titles, text, and in the meta data. Lets break it down a bit further…

Titles - at least one keyword should be included in the title connecting to the content of the article. If your article is about the importance of press releases the title should be something like… “Don’t Give Up On Press Releases.”

Text – whether it’s the description of your website or an article, keywords need to be mentioned throughout. Of course, repetitive keyword mention that does not include true value to the description or article is a waste of time.  

Meta Data – this is html jargon for the backend of your website. Within the html code page description (Independent Book Store Listings) and keywords (i.e., sci-fi author, children’s author, how to write a press release.) of the particular page are listed. The meta data is used by browsers search engines (keywords), or other web services to show results when someone conducts a search.

How to Search for Keywords - A search of keywords is important to setting up the right combination for you. My go to keyword search site is www.keywordeye.com (NOTE: I do not guarantee your success by utilizing this service, this is a FREE/PAID service that I use for my personal needs). Once you create an account the steps are self-explanatory and I’ve included a snapshot of a recent search for “children’s books” with the results of the different keyword combinations.

The above goes well beyond your website and blog, when writing articles for magazines or guest blogger posts, keywords should be at the forefront of your writing. Of course, your byline helps in getting your name out there further, which is extremely helpful if someone searches your name. To show how important it is to get your name out there and keywords associated with you, I’ve included snapshots of “Rockland County Children’s Authors” and “Whale Poachers Children’s Book.”

Keyword Search: Rockland County Children’s Authors

Search results: I’m listed in 3 of the 5 top searches. Not bad.

Keyword Search: whale poachers children’s book

Search results: My latest children’s book, A Sandy Grave is listed in the top 5 searches. How cool is that!

These results have taken me years to establish and I continue to do so on an ongoing basis. For example, when you guest author at a colleague’s blog it market you further. The more material published about you, by you and connected with keywords will help rise you to a top level in the search engines.   

Good luck to you as you write informative content with essential keywords!

Bio: Multi award-winning children's author, Donna McDine, ignites curiosity in children through reading. 

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Best wishes,
Donna M. McDine
Multi Award-winning Children's Author

Ignite curiosity in your child through reading!

Connect with Donna McDine on Google+

A Sandy Grave ~ January 2014 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. ~ 2014 Purple Dragonfly 1st Place Picture Books 6+, Story Monster Approved, Beach Book Festival Honorable Mention 2014, Reader's Favorite Five Star Review

Powder Monkey ~ May 2013 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. ~ Story Monster Approved and Reader's Favorite Five Star Review

Hockey Agony ~ January 2013 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. ~ Story Monster Approved and Reader's Farvorite Five Star Review

The Golden Pathway ~ August 2010 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc.
~ Literary Classics Silver Award and Seal of Approval, Readers Favorite 2012 International Book Awards Honorable Mention and Dan Poynter's Global e-Book Awards Finalist

The Importance of Keywords in Your Marketing Toolbox by Donna McDine

I am the guest blogger today at A.R. Silverberry's blog. 

My topic… "The Importance of Keywords in Your Marketing Toolbox." 

Since Google defuncted (is that even a word? I like it though) their FREE keyword search I've included a new FREE resource in the article. Hope you have time to stop by, leave a comment and share with your social media network. 

Visit if you are so inclined… http://www.arsilverberry.com/importance-keywords-marketing-toolbox

Thanks a bunch! 

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Best wishes,
Donna M. McDine
Multi Award-winning Children's Author


Connect with Donna McDine on Google+

A Sandy Grave ~ January 2014 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. ~ 2014 Purple Dragonfly 1st Place Picture Books 6+, Story Monster Approved, Beach Book Festival Honorable Mention 2014, Reader's Favorite Five Star Review

Powder Monkey ~ May 2013 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. ~ Reader's Favorite Five Star Review

Hockey Agony ~ January 2013 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. ~ Reader's Farvorite Five Star Review

The Golden Pathway ~ August 2010 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc.
~ Literary Classics Silver Award and Seal of Approval, Readers Favorite 2012 International Book Awards Honorable Mention and Dan Poynter's Global e-Book Awards Finalist

Blog Posting, Keywords, Anchor Text, Tags, and Website Statistics Part1

I am pleased to host guest blogger, Karen Cioffi today as she discusses Blog Posting, Keywords, Anchor Text, Tags, and Website Statistics Part1.

Every marketer knows the importance of article marketing – it’s an effective visibility tool and increases the user’s expert status. For individual websites, this is in the form of blog posting.

But, you can write an article that’s properly formatted, has a great title and amazing information and if you don’t use keywords, include tags, SHARE and Promote that article, you won’t get optimized traffic to your site. This can’t be stressed enough.

I did an analysis of two of my sites. Both are focused on writing and marketing. My individual site, Karen Cioffi Writing and Marketing (KCWM) usually has three posts per week. The Writers on the Move (WOTM) site usually has one article per day. 

Take note though that when getting website statistics, numbers will vary significantly depending on the source of the information. Blogger’s Stats tool was used for this analysis.

According to the Blogger Stats, which site do you think gets more traffic?

Since the marketing philosophy is’ content is king,’ you’d think the WOTM site would get tons more traffic, because it provides quality information on a daily basis. 

Well, if that’s the site you chose, you’d be wrong. The KCWM site gets more traffic than WOTM does.

Another interesting tidbit is that the majority of traffic from both sites comes from:

Google searches
Yahoo searches and yahoo mail
StumbleUpon
Facebook
Twitter

Google is by far the leader of the traffic sources with Twitter holding up the rear.

So, the question to ask is WHY does the KCWM site get more traffic?

The answer has to be keywords, anchor text, tags, and promotion. Let’s take a look at each factor.

Keywords

If you notice above, the leader of the traffic sources is Google searches, which is driven by keywords.

Every post on my site is keyword focused. What this means is that I do a keyword search before posting the article. I start with a focused word, say “blog posts.” If the article focus words don’t pull their search weight, I change them to more effective keywords.

And, as it has been stated before in other articles, your keywords should be in your title,  subtitle (if you have one), and within the content of your article. Be sure to add the keyword in the first paragraph and last paragraph, and here and there throughout. Just be careful not to overdo it. 

Visit with Karen  July 1st for Part 2 of Blog Posting, Keywords, Anchor Text, Tags, and Website Statistics. It talks about Anchor Text, Tags, and Promotion www.writersonthemove.com. 

Karen, it was a pleasure to host you today and I look forward to part 2 of your chat. 

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Best wishes,
Donna M. McDine
Award-winning Children's Author
The Golden Pathway ~ August 2010 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc.
~ Literary Classics Silver Award and Seal of Approval Recipient and Dan Poynter's Global e-Book Awards Finalist