![\"bathtub-boats\"](\"https:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/boat.jpg\")
<\/a>1. Look for overlapping words.<\/h2>\n
Ideally, the two keyphrases share words. Even better, the primary keyword is a subset of the secondary keyword. Here are some examples:<\/p>\n
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- Bad<\/strong>: \u201cSocial media for beginners\u201d and \u201cTwitter tips\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
These phrases may share a meaning, but they don\u2019t share any words.<\/p>\n
- \n
- Good<\/strong>: \u201cHow to research keywords\u201d and \u201cKeyword research tips\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
These two phrases both share two words, keyword and research, but the words appear in different order within the phrases.<\/p>\n
- \n
- Better<\/strong>: \u201cGoogle Authorship markup\u201d and \u201cGoogle Authorship\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Here, the second phrase is contained within the first phrase. One phrase is really just a more specific version of the other.<\/p>\n
2. Look for semantics and synonyms.<\/h2>\n
You\u2019re not done researching a keyword<\/a> until you\u2019ve actually searched for it in Google. When you do that search, you\u2019ll see the keyword bolded in the search results. Look closely and you may find words you didn\u2019t search for, bolded in those same search results.<\/p>\n
Google engineers call this \u201clatent semantic indexing.\u201d Google is showing pages that include words that are semantically linked to the words for which you search. Often, they\u2019re actual synonyms.<\/p>\n
For example, a search for \u201csearch engine optimization<\/a>\u201d will show you search results with the word \u201cSEO\u201d bolded in some listings.<\/p>\n
![\"secondary](\"https:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/screenshot-secondary-keywords.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nWhen you notice these words, it\u2019s a sign that you can target both words, even if you\u2019re just using one of them. Now you know that you can target a secondary keyword that shares the same meaning as the primary keyword, even if the actual words aren\u2019t the same.<\/p>\n
3. Add internal links using both phrases.<\/h2>\n
Once you\u2019ve finished your keyword research<\/a> and written the page with proper SEO best practices<\/a>, it\u2019s time to go live! But there\u2019s a final step in the process: creating links to the page.<\/p>\n
Yes, Google may think you\u2019re a spammer if all the links to a given page include the exact text of the target keyphrase. This kind of over-optimization led to penalties for many websites in 2012. But if you haven\u2019t been doing hard-core SEO, you probably don\u2019t have many \u201cexact match keyword links,\u201d so I recommend the following:<\/p>\n
Find other pages on your site (or older posts in your blog) that mention the topic of your new page. You can do this by searching through your own site on Google. Just search for \u201csite:www.yourwebsite.com [topic\/keyword].\u201d You\u2019ll soon be looking at a list of pages that are candidates for internal links to the new page.<\/p>\n
If there are at least two, create one link to the new page using the primary keyword as the text in the link. Create another link on another page using the secondary keyword. Each link is an indication of relevance to Google. Two links containing two phrases from two different pages will indicate relevance of the page for both phrases.<\/p>\n
Pro tip: Links from other websites are always stronger indications of relevance. Look for opportunities to guest blog on other websites and write posts related to your page. When some of these guest posts link using the primary keyword and other posts link using the secondary keyword, you\u2019re indicating relevance for both phrases!<\/em><\/p>\n
Watch Your Rank<\/h2>\n
When targeting one more general keyword and another more specific keyword, you\u2019re likely to find that the longer, more specific phrase is the first to rank. If it does, you may love what happens next.<\/p>\n
The page ranks for the more specific phrase, gets visits, and maybe gets mentioned by others on their websites, which could result in new inbound links. Then, when they link to it, those links may help it rank higher for the more general phrase causing traffic to jump, then jump again.<\/p>\n
For this to work, the content has to be really, really good.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, the idea is to give Google evidence that your website is trustworthy, which can help everything on your domain rank a bit better. That\u2019s what SEO is all about.<\/em> Start narrow until you build up your authority. Then you can go wider.<\/strong> Targeting secondary keywords can make implementing that technique on a single page possible.<\/p>\n
EDITOR’S NOTE: See our SEO Guide for direction\u00a0on\u00a0how to\u00a0choose the best keywords<\/a> and much more.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pages rank higher in Google when they are tightly focused on a single topic. It\u2019s unlikely that one page will rank high for a dozen phrases. So if we expect to rank, we need to pick a phrase and create a great page on that topic.<\/p>\n
But what about just two phrases? Can we optimize a page for a primary and secondary keyword? Yes. Here\u2019s a guide to targeting secondary keywords.<\/p>\n
- Better<\/strong>: \u201cGoogle Authorship markup\u201d and \u201cGoogle Authorship\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- Good<\/strong>: \u201cHow to research keywords\u201d and \u201cKeyword research tips\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n