Google ranking is often used as a quick measure of how good
a website is.
This won’t give you an accurate assessment however, as it
won’t tell you anything about how well your site is converting visitors into
sales. You may be ranked at number 7 on page 1 of Google, but maybe you’re
making twice as many sales as the websites above you!
However, Google ranking is often seen as the be-all-and-end-all.
To help you get a better idea of how your website compares
to your competitors, and potentially why they’re ranking higher than you, we
would like to introduce you to something…
This nifty little tool is very straightforward to use, and
will give you instant information on the kinds of keywords your competitors are
using and how frequently they use them on their website (the keyword density).
Bear in mind that keyword choice and keyword density are
only two factors in the Google Ranking system.
As we’ve mentioned in earlier
articles, there are around 200
official and potential Google ranking signals but a little bit of insight
into your competitors' keyword density, and even your own, is very useful when
considering your content.
Benefits of Knowing Your Competitors' Keywords and Keyword Density
You may find some
keywords relevant to your own website that you aren’t currently using. Adding
these to your website content could boost your performance on Google.
2. Discover Your Competitor's Content Strategy.
With information
about your competitors keyword choice and use, you can quickly identify the
keywords they’re targeting, and knowledge is power. Use this information to
hone in on those keywords via your website and beat the competition.
Alternatively, you could focus on keywords your competitor
clearly hasn’t discovered yet, and beat them in those keyword searches instead!
3. Compare Websites and Identify How You Could Improve.
And
lastly, compare your competitor's keywords and keyword density to your own, and
try to identify why they are higher on Google than you. Are they using a wider
variety of keywords? Are there keywords more or less dense? Adopt their
strategy if they have a higher rank, and you can get craftier with your methods
after you read up on the optimum keyword range and density!
How to Use the Free Keyword Density Analyzer Tool
There is no download required; just visit this URL to get
started: http://tools.seobook.com/general/keyword-density/
Enter the website address for the website you want to analyse,
in the big text box. Then click the Submit button.
Your results will then appear as below:
Browse through the various keywords on each area of text:
All text includes everything, but you can break it down into specific areas of text too, so that you only see all the keywords in the Main Body, Headlines, Links, or Image Tags.
This will get you a clearer idea of how keywords are being used!
Analyzing your Keyword Results
Take your time and have a look through the results to get a general idea of the type of keywords your competitor is targetting.
1. Make a note of keywords that are near the top of the density lists.
These are clearly a strong focus on the website you analyzed, whether they realise it or not. They may have written up all their content without analysing it after all, so may not know what their densest keyword even is!
2. Compare these with the densest keywords on your own website.
Are you using the same keywords? Are yours more or less dense overall? Try adapting your content to adjust the keyword use and density and see how the keyword tool responds.
Keep in mind that the tool may not pick up on website changes immediately; it may take a few days.
Once you have an idea of how to adjust your own keyword use, you can play around with it and try to make your website line up with top ranked pages. Over time, you may see your website start to rise up the ranks in Google.
3. Make a note of the variations of certain keywords, e.g. pest, pests, pest control, control pests, pest controller, etc.
This is where you might discover some good phrases, keywords and variations to use in your own page content.
Using one phrase over and over in your content will make you look like a spammer, and your ranking may suffer. However, if you use variations of the keyword, you'll look more legitimate. So instead of saying 'pest control Dundee' over and over, include similar phrases as well like 'pest control Glasgow', 'pest controllers Dundee', 'Dundee pest control', 'Pest services Dundee', etc.
Give it a try!
A Word of Warning...
Don't get carried away! Small changes over time are best, so that you can measure the effect it has on your website rank.
There is no ideal keyword density or range of keywords which will magically get you to the top of Google, because as we mentioned earlier, keywords are only one factor in the 200 or so ranking signals Google look at.
- A high density of keywords can be very damaging to a website; Google will flag it as spam and lower your ranking.
- But a low density of keywords can lead to a weak, watered down website; Google won't strongly identify the website with a specific set of keywords, so it will rank low for everything.
- A wide range of keywords can be positive because your website is targeting a variety of important phrases and making you look like an expert on the general subject, but Google may not rank you highly for any of your keywords because you've given them all equal weight.
- A small range of 2 - 3 keywords could help focus the message of your website and get you a high rank for those keywords, but you run the risk of using those keywords too frequently, leading to a very high density, which will result in Google identifying you as a spammy website.
So it's a balancing act.
Analyse a few websites with the free SEO Book Keyword Tool to get a general idea of how everyone else is using keywords, and then you can try to improve your own website by adjusting the keywords you use in your web content...
Slowly but surely!
For a Professional & Thorough Analysis of Your Website,
Get in Touch with Vital Hike
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