Adding keywords to your website is a foundational SEO strategy that helps Google understand where your business should, or can, rank in its search results. Learning how to add keywords to your website in an effective, seamless way is the first step toward using SEO to your advantage.
Dialled In are marketing and sales experts who can manage and deliver SEO and marketing strategies, so you can focus on running your business every day.
What are keywords?
Keyword is a term used to describe searches that users make in a search engine to find information, products or services online.
SEO keywords are a foundational way for businesses to signal their authority and relevance for a certain topic to Google. The keywords identified on your site are essentially the list of topics that create the bridge between your website and Google.
This means having a solid keyword strategy behind your website can be instrumental in appearing in more Google search results, boosting visibility to users and traffic to your website
Keyword Research: How to Find Keywords
Your keywords tell Google what your business does, who you help and where you should appear in search results. Get them right, and your website has a much better chance of being found by the people who are actually looking for what you offer. Get them wrong, and you could end up chasing traffic that never turns into enquiries.
That is where keyword research comes in.
Keyword research is the process of finding out what your potential customers are typing into Google, how often those terms are searched, how competitive they are and what kind of content is already ranking. It helps you understand the language your audience uses, the questions they are asking and the level of intent behind each search.
For example, someone searching for “what is SEO?” may still be learning. Someone searching for “SEO agency Sheffield” is likely much closer to making an enquiry. Both keywords have value, but they need different content and a different approach.
A strong keyword strategy should look at:
- The services you want to be known for
- The locations you want to target
- What your competitors are ranking for
- The search terms already bringing traffic to your website
- The questions your customers ask before buying
- The commercial intent behind each keyword
It is not always about picking the keywords with the biggest search volumes. Sometimes, the best opportunities come from more specific phrases that attract fewer searches but better leads.
At Dialled In, we can help you understand where your website currently stands, which keywords you are already ranking for and where the biggest gaps are. From there, we build a commercially driven keyword strategy that helps your website attract the right traffic, support your wider marketing and turn more searches into meaningful enquiries.
Where to Place Keywords For SEO
1. URL & Link Features
When Google crawls your website, one of the first things it reads is your URL. That is why it makes sense to include your highest value keywords in your page URLs where possible.
The friendly URL is the editable part of your link, for example:
This is where you can include keywords that clearly signal what the page is about.
That said, URLs should always feel natural. Keywords should only be used when they genuinely match the content of the page. A clear, accurate URL is far better than one that feels stuffed, confusing or written purely for Google.
The same thinking applies to internal links. When you link from one page on your website to another, the clickable text is called anchor text. This gives Google another clue about the topic of the page you are linking to.
For example, if you want to optimise a page for SEO services, linking to it with anchor text like “SEO support” or “SEO services” is much more helpful than vague text like “click here”.
Clear, relevant URLs and anchor text help Google understand your website structure, while also making things easier for your readers.
2. Meta title & Meta descriptions
Meta titles and meta descriptions are key areas for adding keywords to your website. Your meta title is often the main clickable heading that appears in search results. It should clearly describe the page and, where possible, include your primary keyword.Think of your meta title and description as your search result shop front. They should be clear, relevant and written to encourage the right people to visit your page.
Your meta description sits underneath the title in search results. While it is not a direct ranking factor in the same way as on-page content, it can influence whether someone clicks through to your website.
3. Header Structure
When you’re ready to bring SEO into your website and marketing strategies, headers and title structures move from nice to have for readability, to essential for SEO accessibility. Google crawlers identify title and header tags as important information, therefore incorporating clear, organised and keyword driven headings can improve both your user experience for readers but your ability to rank in search results.
When adding keywords into your headers and titles, consider:
- Keyword prioritisation: When adding keywords into your headings use one H1 or title tag per page with your primary keyword to define the main topic.
- Content structure: Use H2s and H3s to break the page into clear, useful sections.
- Search intent: Make sure each heading helps answer what the reader came to find.
- Authenticity: Much like many aspects of SEO, you will be judged upon your expertise, relevancy and trustworthiness. To help achieve this, keep headings clear and relevant so users and search engines can easily follow your content.
4. Image
Images don’t have to be a missed opportunity when adding keywords to your website either. When searching for yourself in Google, you will probably have noticed that many searches create an image results carousel at the top of the results.
Using keywords in your image alt text establishes context as to why that image is relevant to the topic. This, in turn, helps to provide Google with a readable way to match your image with relevant searches. Whilst search engines cannot visually interpret your images, it will be able to read the alt text and any attached links in your images to display them in search results or reinforce webpage rankings.
5. Body Content
This is the copy that sits across your service pages, blogs, landing pages and other key areas of your website. It gives you the space to explain what you do, who you help and why your business is relevant to the search terms you want to rank for.
The key to mastering adding keywords into your body content is to write naturally, in a way that allows readers to explore the page without thinking ‘that’s a keyword’.
Keywords should be built into content in a way that feels useful for the reader, not only for Google rankings. If your page is about social media management, for example, phrases like “social media marketing” or “social media management services” fit naturally.
Well-keyword-optimised content should answer the core user questions on a topic, demonstrate how your services are unique, and help Google understand the purpose of the page.
How to Add Keywords: Best Practices
- Be mindful of content structure. Struggling to answer core questions that balance keyword inclusion and user experience? Try writing some FAQ content for reader ready and high-quality content.
- Avoid the dreaded keyword stuffing. Keywords should slip under the radar for most readers, and the overuse of keywords can actually cause more harm than good in the eyes of SEO rankings. Over the years, Google’s crawlers have become smarter in prioritising content which is written for the user rather than over keyword-optimised SEO content.
- Spot strong keyword opportunities: Unsure what keywords to include? Look to your competition
- Avoid overlapping keywords across pages. When planning keyword optimisations on the site, be mindful of not targeting the same keywords across multiple pages, which can cause confusion over which page should rank. Try keyword mapping your site to assign the best keywords to relevant pages, whilst avoiding overlap.
Get Professional Keyword Strategy Support With Dialled In
Adding keywords to your website is one thing. Building a keyword strategy that supports real business growth is another.
At Dialled In, we help businesses across Sheffield, Yorkshire and beyond improve their SEO visibility with practical, commercially focused strategies.
We look at what your website is already ranking for, where your competitors are performing well and where your biggest opportunities are. From there, we help you create content that attracts the right traffic. We create SEO strategies that support your sales activity and turn searches into meaningful enquiries.
If you are ready to make your website work harder, let’s talk.