What is a Focus Keyword?
A focus keyword, or focus keyphrase, is a word or group of words you want your content to rank for. So when the audience looks out for that specific phrase or keyword in the search engines, they should probably locate you.
The term ‘focus keyword’ originally referred to a word, while ‘focus keyphrase’ was used for a group of words. However, both terms are now used interchangeably, with ‘focus keyword’ being more common.
Including focus keywords in your content is a great way to drive traffic to your site. Optimizing your content around a focus keyword also increases its chances of appearing on search results pages for relevant queries.
When selecting a focus keyword, you will choose a primary keyword with one or more secondary keywords. In this case, the primary keyword is the main keyword you want to rank for, while the secondary keywords are the keywords that are closely related to the primary keyword.
Importance of Focus Keywords
At the keyword research stage, the focus keyword also lets you know what keywords to include in your content. You will include this focus in crucial areas of your content, including your page title, meta title, meta description, and header tags.
This, in turn, allows Google to understand your content. Google uses the focus keyword to understand and index your page correctly, thus increasing its chances of appearing for relevant search queries.
How to Find Focus Keywords
You will require dedicated SEO and keyword research tools to find focus keywords for your content.
One common method is to find a set of keywords you would like to rank and select the appropriate one based on their search volume and keyword difficulty. You can refer to this guide on doing your keyword research using Rank Math.
Another method is to engage in competitor research. You find the keywords your competitor already ranks for and then optimize your content for them. You can easily do this using the free SEO Analyzer tool. You can refer to this guide on analyzing your competitor’s SEO strategy.
Where to Include Your Focus Keywords
To maximize the effectiveness of your SEO efforts, you should strategically place your focus keyword in several areas of your content. This signals to search engines that your content is highly relevant to the target keyword and helps to improve your chances of ranking for them on search results pages.
1 Title Tag
The title tag or page title is the visible title at the top of your content. It is a prime location and is typically the first thing visitors see on your webpage. It should contain your keyword.
Pro tip: Place your focus keyword near the beginning of the title for maximum impact. An article that targets the focus keyword “Yoga for beginners” could have a meta title like “Yoga for Beginners: A Step-by-Step Guide to Starting Your Practice”.
2 Meta Title
The meta title is the title displayed on search results pages. By including a title tag in your content, you can recommend a preferred meta title that you want Google to use.
3 Meta Description
The meta description is the summary displayed on search results pages. It provides searchers with additional information about your content. You may recommend a meta description to Google. Google may also select and use part of your content as your meta description.
4 URL Slug
The URL slug is the part of the URL that identifies a specific post or page. It should contain your keyword. For example, yoga-for-beginners is the URL slug in the URL https://yourdomain.com/yoga-for-beginners
5 Headings and Subheadings
Your headings and subheadings make your content scannable for readers. Search engines also use them to understand your content’s structure and topics. Include your focus keyword in the H1 tag. If that is impossible, add it to the H2 tag, preferably one closer to the top of the page. You should use variations of the keyword in other subheadings.
6 Body Content
You should include the focus keywords in multiple areas of your content. Do not stuff the keywords, and make sure it is relevant and flows with the rest of the content. The keyword should be in the introduction, particularly within the first 100 – 150 words in your content. You should also include it in the conclusion.
7 Image Alt Text
The alt text helps search engines understand what your image is about. This can help your images rank on Google and appear in image search results. However, you should ensure that the keyword is relevant to the image and flows with the rest of the alt text.
8 Anchor Text of Internal Links
You should use the focus keyword as the anchor text when linking to other content on your site. So, after creating your content, you can optimize your existing posts by linking to the new content using the focus keyword as anchor text. However, ensure that it is relevant and not over-optimized.