Hiya Reader,

I got the idea for today's email based on a subscriber question in regards to targeting numerous keywords with ONE blog post...

Here's the context from the subscriber:

This is such a good question.

And I'm sure you, Reader, have prob been stumped about this before too!

(I know a lot of my consulting clients get hung up on this!)

So I want to share my thoughts....

When it comes to choosing the "target" keyword, you kinda can't fuck it up, as long as the words are in there and the intent makes sense.

INTENT IS SO IMPORTANT.

It's the make or break factor in a lot of situations when it comes to ranking.

Why?

Because it's not really about the EXACT keyword phrase as it's about solving the problem for the searcher. Like yes, we wanna use similar/exact phrases for CONTEXT of things, but it's not usually a word for word thing like it was 5 years ago.

Search engines & AI are more evolved.

They pick up on context, clues, and patterns (especially AI).

So if you have a list of keywords that align with ONE post, choose the one that best aligns with the content and the one you can infuse in the content more naturally.

The rest of the keywords will NATURALLY become secondary keywords. Secondary keywords are essentially synonyms of the target keyword, so by optimizing for one, you're kinda optimizing for all of them.

So to answer the original question, you don't have to add BOTH of the keywords to the meta description *just* to target them!

Here's an example of what I would do if I was the subscriber asking the question above:

✅ Target keyword: What is your zone of genius

✅ Secondary keyword: zone of genius meaning

Blog post title: Wondering What Your Zone of Genius is? How to Figure it Out

SEO Title: Your Zone of Genius; How to Figure it Out

Meta description: Wondering what your zone of genius is? Learn why it's such a big deal and how to start figuring it out in a way that feels actionable & practical.

I'd also have a section in the post with an H2 header that says Zone of Genius Definition & Meaning and elaborate on that.

Then continue with the rest of the post, making sure to include information that would be helpful as fuuuuuuck for the person looking to learn about this.

I want you to notice a few things about what I did...

• I didn't *list* the keywords anywhere. I weaved them in naturally.
• I didn't put the target keyword EXACTLY how it's laid out, I switched up the words so it makes more sense for people searching
• I added "How to figure it out" because I KNOW that's why people are REALLY searching for this
• The blog post title & SEO title are different in this example, but they don't always have to be. There's no real "rule" about this. They each just serve different purposes. The blog post title is for people already on your site, and we usually don't have a character limit with it. The SEO Title is to entice users to click on YOUR post from search results, and we DO have a character limit with this.
• I plan to intentionally weave the secondary keyword into the content in an H2 heading

SEO is not a science, IMO.

It's an art.

It's VERY literal.

But it should also be HUMAN focused.

What would be helpful for the PEOPLE searching this, while also *intentionally* using the words in the right spots?

We don't have to keyword dump.

We just gotta be intentional.

I hope this example helps!

👇 Action step for this week:

Find out what your TOP 3 performing blog posts are, when it comes to organic search traffic, and try to prioritize updating them before the end of the summer.

Use the keywords they're already being found for, as inspiration on how/what to add to them.

(Need ideas on how to update old content? Check out the ideas I gave in a previous newsletter!)

How to find your top 3 blog posts?

#1). Use Google Search Console:

Open Google Search Console. Click Search Results (Under Performance), and scroll down to the table. Click PAGES. Then you can click either CLICKS or IMPRESSIONS and organize the data accordingly.

Click on a blog post URL, and then it should show you the queries (aka keywords) that are associated with THAT post.

#2). Use an SEO Tool:

My personal favorite is Semrush, but it's a bit pricey. And if you wanna see all the keywords for a popular blog post, you usually have to have a paid plan.

If you have a paid Semrush plan, you can use the ORGANIC RESEARCH TOOL >> Pop your domain name into the box & click search.

Click the PAGES tab near the top (usually under the date), and you'll be able to see the top pages getting organic traffic on your site. Find a blog post and click the number in the KEYWORDS column to see all the keywords associated with that post.

If you want to use a more budget-friendly option, I'd suggest Keysearch!​

To find this information in Keysearch, choose the EXPLORER tool (Under Competitor Analysis tab). Pop your URL in. In the Organic Keywords box, you should see "View top pages" button. Click that, and then click "ORGANIC" next to the blog post URL you want to view the organic keywords for.

You could also EASILY see this information with just a few clicks if you snag the SEO Data Dashboard and set it up! *wink wink*

Stay curious,

-- Mariah Magazine

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