I wrote this article to help content writers use keyword research in their writing. It assumes the keyword research is already completed, and you’re sitting down to write/edit with that list of keywords in front of you.
tl;dr: Maintain a natural style of writing. Use keywords with higher search volume more frequently. Modify keywords only if necessary.
Keywords provide data and context for what real people will actually type into Google when they search for your content.
You should do keyword research to understand:
- The language your audience uses when searching.
- The intent of your audience – what are they trying to learn?
- What related topics/subtopics to include in your writing.
Keep in mind that Google is almost certainly advanced enough to detect unnatural writing, so you should always write naturally. Don’t stuff keywords in willy-nilly.
But at the same time, you shouldn’t make Google “guess” at what the article is about. Keywords are the actual language that your readers will use when searching for information. So if you can include these exact keywords while still writing naturally, you should.
Let’s take this set of keywords as an example, which was researched and created for a blog post called “How to Get Twitch Followers”:
| Keyword | Difficulty | Volume |
| how to get twitch followers (primary keyword) | 3 | 1600 |
| how to get followers on twitch | 3 | 1400 |
| how to get more followers on twitch | 2 | 600 |
| get twitch followers | 5 | 600 |
| how to get more twitch followers | 3 | 350 |
| get twitch followers free | 11 | 300 |
| how to grow twitch followers | 3 | 250 |
| how to get followers on twitch fast | 3 | 200 |
| getting twitch followers | 4 | 150 |
| get followers on twitch | 5 | 100 |
| how to gain twitch followers | 5 | 100 |
| how to get free twitch followers | 14 | 50 |
| get more followers on twitch | 3 | 40 |
| twitch giveaway for followers | 0 | 40 |
| getting more followers on twitch | 2 | 30 |
At first glance, these keywords might seem repetitive. But if you pay close attention, you’ll see they represent a broad variety of ways that people search for this information. People want to know:
- How to get, gain, grow, and get more followers
- Whether you can get followers fast or for free
- Whether Twitch does a giveaway for followers
We should try to speak to all of these related concepts surfaced by the keyword research in our writing.
But some of the keywords would sound kind of awkward if we used them verbatim. Could you imagine using “get twitch followers free” in a sentence? It would be clunky.
So what we want to do it make sure we’re representing the variety of ways that people search for this topic in our final written piece. Let’s break down how to use this list.
The Primary Keyword
The primary keyword for this topic is “how to get twitch followers“. I chose it as the primary keyword for 2 reasons:
- It’s most closely aligned with the intent of the piece, which is how to get more twitch followers.
- It has the highest search volume of the keywords which match the search intent we’re trying to satisfy.
In other situations, we may want to focus on another keyword instead (for example, “how to get twitch followers fast” if we wanted to write content about how to do it quickly). But this article is about getting more Twitch followers in general, so it’s perfect.
Side Note: I always recommend that writers and editors Google the primary keyword to see what other content is currently ranking well for that keyword. This will help you set the bar for your own writing. If what you’re creating isn’t better than what’s already out there, why write it at all?
How Often to Use The Primary Keyword
However we choose our primary keyword, it would be perfectly natural to see it used in the article title, URL, and probably once or twice in the body of the article.
But it might be reasonable to use a primary keyword more often in some writing than others.
For example, if the primary keyword was “streaming on Twitch” you’d probably see that phrase repeated several times in the article. For example:
- …getting started streaming on Twitch…
- ….things gamers are looking to do when they’re streaming on Twitch…
- …streaming on Twitch isn’t easy…
- …we hope you have a good idea of how gamers approach streaming on Twitch…
But in an article about “How to modify your wireless Xbox One controller” it would be strange to see that phrase repeated more than once. It’s such a specific phrase. It would sound awkward to repeat it multiple times. In that case, it would be fine to mention it once and move on.
If you’re unsure, go to Google and search for your primary keyword. Click on the top results and use Command+F (or CTRL+F if you’re on a PC) to search for that keyword. If Google’s OK with the keyword appearing frequently in the top-ranking content, you can probably use it just as frequently in your writing.
Supporting Keywords and Word Variety
In addition to the primary keyword, you should be using the other keywords in your writing.
You don’t always need to include every keyword verbatim, but you should honor the concepts and word variety they reference in your writing.
For an example, look again at the list of keywords above and notice the variety of ways people refer to “growing” “getting” or “getting more” Twitch followers when they search. That means you should try and include them all. Here’s how:
- You could include language in the article such as “grow your follower count on Twitch” “get Twitch followers” “if you want to get more followers on Twitch”, etc.
- Remember, the keywords don’t need to be an exact match for the entire phrase, but if you can include an exact match while sounding natural, go for it.
How to Use Search Volume
Use search volume as a proxy for frequency.
In other words: Use keywords with higher search volume more frequently than keywords with lower search volume.
If I was using the keyword research example above, I would try to use the phrase “get twitch followers” or some variation of it the most. And I’d probably try to use every other keyword at least once.
How to Deal With Unnatural Keywords
Maintaining a natural tone is most important. If a keyword/phrase sounds awkward to read, don’t include it, but you should not take that as a signal to completely skip that keyword.
Instead, you should use it as a signal to think creatively about incorporating the concept and intent of that keyword in a different, more natural style of writing.
Take our example from above: “get twitch followers free”. This phrase would be very awkward to use in a sentence and you shouldn’t use it verbatim.
But, we know there are about 300 people who are typing this exact phrase into Google every month. Therefore, if you’re submitting an article on getting Twitch followers, and you want it to be comprehensive, it should probably include a section that discusses various free ways to get Twitch followers, or discusses which of the already recommended solutions are free or not.
In Summary/Rule of Thumb
By now, you should understand how to incorporate keyword research into your writing. If you’re looking for a rule of thumb, follow this:
- Google your primary keyword and see what’s currently ranking in the top 3 positions. Your goal is to create something that better serves the user’s intent than what you see in those top 3 spots.
- Try to include the primary keyword in your page title, in the h1 tag, and as many times as is natural on the page.
- Include all keywords from the research if it’s possible to do it naturally.
- If it’s not possible to do this naturally, try to at least speak to the concepts/intent behind all the keywords.
- Keyword frequency should roughly follow search volume. High volume keywords? Use them as many times as natural. The rest? Try to use them at least once.
Who do you know that would enjoy this article? If anyone comes to mind, I’d appreciate if you’d share it with them too.
I run a small SEO consulting business in San Francisco, CA. I like to write a little bit and get in arguments with my friends. It’s the only way I can make sense of the world.