The short answer is yes, but only if used properly.

When I began my online writing career the trend with keywords weighed heavily in favor of putting as many relevant keywords into your copy as possible. This was great for search engine rankings, but made for awkward - if not impossible to read- copy.

Thankfully, search engines today don’t favor pages that are stuffed with keywords, and the practice can even get you banned.

So how, and where, do you use keywords so that you get good search results while still retaining copy that people want to read?

One of the keys to getting decent search engine rankings is to create pages based around a specific keyword or phrase as opposed to writing posts that include multiple keywords and phrases.

For example: If you want to rank high for the search terms quick oil change franchises and Cleveland Ohio oil change franchises, you’d want to have two distinct pages. One page about quick oil change franchises and one about Cleveland Ohio oil change franchises. This gives you ample opportunity to use your keywords in your page description (important for rankings) and in your body copy.

Once you have your main keyword or phrase set for your page description, it’s time to begin writing your copy. Here is where you can begin to use similar keywords and phrases so long as they’re still relevant to your main theme. It’s important to remember to use these words and phrases so long as the copy is clear and readable.

While your primary keyword or phrase should appear in your page description, it’s also a good idea to put it, either in your heading, or as close to the beginning of your copy as possible. Some people say to use it in the first sentence, but you’re good as long as it appears within the first paragraph.

Keywords and phrases will be important to getting good search engine rankings for a long time to come, but clear, well-written content will keep readers coming back once they find you through the search engines.

Mike Sieber is a freelance web copywriter.

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