Congrats on finally making your keyword list! You may have found keywords or keyword phrases that are often four to five words long with a high search count and low competition. So what’s the problem you ask? Well, even if you have a bunch of keywords when you put them into your site the copy does not seem to flow. It just doesn’t make sense. Do you remove them from your copy? No way! Did you know you can break up these keywords with the use of basic punctuation and line breaks?
What do I mean by basic punctuation? Basic Punctuation can include a colon, period, semi-colon, exclamation mark or question mark. When it comes to this type of punctuation, Google pays them no mind. It just reads right through your copy as if they never existed. I’ll show an example in just a bit. Just remember punctuation like the @, #, { }, and [ ] Google does take them into consideration when searching your copy and it can determine what it reads and the end result.
Let me show you why breaking up your keywords can prove to be super beneficial for SEO. Let's take a look:
The key phrase for this particular section of text on this salon’s website is Genuine Mink Lashes Eyelash Extension. Having the break makes it easier for the visitor to read however Google reads it as Genuine Mink Lashes Eyelash Extension Beauty Salon in Austin Texas. How cool is that? Super helpful in search! You can see that this site incorporated their keywords into a tiny section of text without making it look spammy.
The next example shows how breaking up text can give you an SEO advantage without you even knowing it. The headline or section of this home page was titled Austin’s Brow Artist, however, Google is reading Austin’s Brow Artist Channing Jackson. If I type Austin Brow Artist into the search box in Google, chances are this site and even the owner of the site will appear in search. How cool is that?
Let’s take a look at a third example. One of my fave places to shop for unique indie designers is Artists and Fleas. Here's their about page:
So let's say this website wanted one of their key phrases to be a place to show and sell together? You can see that Google will read makes show and sell together as an alternative to a retail setting. They both may be valid search key phrases so it's a win-win for everyone!
Using punctuation and line breaks provides a natural way for a visitor to read your site. Google sees it an entire phrase providing you an instant SEO win! Want to know more SEO tips? Stay tuned for our post next week. In the meantime make sure you grab our FREE SEO CHECKLIST below!
