Beginner's Guide: Turn Keywords into Website Traffic and Rankings

The three steps to make the best use of keywords as outlined in the guide are:

1. Finding good keywords: Identifying keywords that are rankable and bring value to your site.
2. Using keywords in content and meta tags: Utilizing the target keyword to structure and write content that satisfies readers and sends relevance signals to search engines.
3. Tracking keywords: Monitoring your own and your competitors' performance in terms of keyword rankings.

To find good keywords and build a keyword list, follow these steps:

1. Pick relevant seed keywords to generate more keyword ideas, using methods such as brainstorming, analyzing competitors' website navigation, using tools like Ahrefs, and examining your own website and promotional materials.
2. Refine the list and cluster by applying filters in Ahrefs Keywords Explorer, such as Keyword Difficulty (KD), Traffic Potential, Lowest Domain Rating (DR), and Include/Exclude filters. Clustering helps determine if multiple keywords should target the same page.
3. Identify search intent and determine value for your site by analyzing the top-ranking pages and assessing whether the keywords will attract the right audience and be valuable to your business.
4. Enrich the list with your competitors' keywords by performing a content gap analysis using Ahrefs' tools to find keywords that competitors rank for but you don't.

To effectively use keywords in content and meta tags, consider the following:

• Determine the search intent by analyzing the top-ranking results for your target keyword and identifying the content type, format, and angle.
• Include the target keyword in the URL slug, which is the readable part of the URL that identifies a specific page.
• Use the target keyword in the title and match it with the H1 tag, as both are crucial for Google and searchers to understand what the page is about.
• Craft meta descriptions that are compelling for searchers, and include the target keyword naturally.
• Find and use secondary keywords as subheadings and throughout the content by exploring related terms in Ahrefs Keywords Explorer.
• Incorporate primary and secondary keywords in the main content naturally, without overemphasizing their frequency.
• Use the target keyword in link anchor text and/or surrounding text to provide context for the link.

To track keyword rankings for your own and competitors' websites, you can use a tool like Ahrefs' Rank Tracker. Here's how:

1. Add your keyword list to Rank Tracker to monitor their positions in the search engine results.
2. Compare your performance against competitors in the Competitors report by tracking metrics like Share of Voice (SOV), which accounts for search volume trends.
3. Set up alerts with Ahrefs Alerts to get notifications whenever your competitors start ranking for new keywords, allowing you to monitor their keyword performance.

Advanced tips for using keywords for SEO include:

1. Finding guest blogging opportunities by using Ahrefs' Content Explorer with a broad keyword related to your niche and applying various filters to identify high-quality sites to pitch.
2. Finding internal link opportunities with Ahrefs' Site Audit, which suggests where to place new internal links based on the top keywords for each crawled page.
3. Finding link building opportunities by researching the backlinks of top-ranking pages for your target keyword using Keywords Explorer and Site Explorer.
4. Avoiding common keyword pitfalls, such as keyword stuffing, keyword cannibalization, sacrificing content quality for keyword usage, and using unrelated keywords or forced keyword frequency without substance.