SEO and Keyword Association

It is time for another post and for this one I would like to cover how keyword association in my eyes is taking over SEO mainly on-site keyword density though it is also seen when building links externally. First off I want to define SEO (Search Engine Optimization) now I kinda throw it in with SEM (Search Engine Marketing) as anything done to increase position in Google's and other major search engine SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages). Now we have a basic idea of what SEO is lets get into how keyword association fits in with the subject.

When it comes to SEO there are a certain key aspects to keep in mind. First is always and I mean always place readability and usability over SEO. If for example you have to option to place a keyword, but it would sacrifice how well your site/content reads then do not place the keyword. The reason for doing this is when you build a website for a visitor rather than search engines your site becomes much more linkable and it is much easier to become the authority within your niche (category of website such as business or fishing). So as you read this post and others I have written on SEO remember who comes first.

Now keyword association is the process of search engines mainly Google being able to rank a website high for a keyword through the search bots ability to tell what a site is about through words other than the keyword. For example if you have a blog about "website marketing" such as this one and I go into discussion on "SEO" or "Internet Marketing" the search bot will put those all together and rank me well for website marketing. Another example is if you are running a fishing website and have content on the topic of boating or sportsman wear Google will still rank you well for fishing as long as you stay with content and keywords that are closely associated.

The great thing about keyword association is it allows you to not give up readability since you now have a much wider array of words that you can replace the keyword you want to rank well for. Let us do a little association let's say you have a website about "online business" and those are the keywords which you would like to rank well for. If you would like to have content to reflect that then it would be good to place "online business" once or twice, but after that begin to use associated keywords. Here is a list of keywords that are associated with "online business":"make money" "make money online" "online money" "finance" "online finance" "home business" "business" "work at home" "work from home" "earn money" "earn money online" and the list goes on and on. Put in your mind the subject then think of as many words as you can to describe it.

Well this ends the topic of on-site SEO "keyword association" lets discuss off-site association. When creating or trying to acquire links on websites other than your own there are a couple of rules to follow. I usually place a point system when trying to describe backlinks here it is:

10 pts: The backlink is relevant to your niche, authoritative (such as high PR or very well known), and the backlink is a one way link.

7 pts: The backlink is a one way link that has high authority, but is not relevant.

5 pts: The backlink is one way and relevant, but with little authority, trust, or PR.

3 Pts: The backlink is a reciprocal link that is relevant, but with little authority.

1 Pt: The backlink is a reciprocal that is not relevant and does not have authority.

Now on the topic of keyword association the type of backlink which falls into the category is relevance. So if you run a website which sells fishing line and you want to find relevant backlinks will you only be able to trade links with sites about fishing line? No.

If you use keyword association then you can branch out within your niche and begin to develop links about all topics covering fishing or outdoors. If you gain a backlink from a hunting website Google closely relates these two so you will still have acquired a relevant backlink. If the backlink is one way and authoritative then you have a backlink worth 10 points. This gives you the chance to have a much wider area where the acquiring of backlinks becomes much easier since now rather than only fishing you can pretty much gain a backlink from any website that is associated and count it as relevant. Personally I have found that Google relates e-marketing and e-business very well so when I cross promote my web presences which relate to those two areas they seem to do very well in the SERPs.

Anyway there it is "my thoughts" on how keyword association and SEO if you have thoughts that differ or you agree then please leave a comment I would love to hear what you have to say.

Also if you like this blog and would like to read my new posts make sure to:
Subscribe in a reader