If you’re running a WordPress website, you know that driving traffic is key to your success. But how do you make sure search engines—and potential visitors—can find you?
With keywords!
Mastering how to effectively add the right keywords to your WordPress site is an essential skill that can help you climb the rankings and grow your audience, since search engines prefer optimized content.
This guide breaks it down step by step: you’ll learn about all kinds of keywords, which ones to use, why to avoid meta tags, how to add SEO keywords to WordPress posts to rank high, and how to optimize the entire WordPress site successfuly!
What are keywords?
Keywords (or SEO keywords) are the words or phrases that users type into search engines when looking for information, products, or services online. Also called “search queries”, they connect your site with what people are searching for — or more precisely, their needs to your solutions, presented on SEO optimized web page content.
There are several types of keywords; depending on their lenth:
- Long-tail keywords: More specific phrases with more words and somewhat lower search volume, but higher conversion potential.
Example: “easy healthy meal prep recipes for beginners.” - Short-Tail keywords: Broader terms with higher search volume, but more competition.
Example: “healthy recipes.” Seed keywords are a subcategory of short-tail keywords: the most basic, foundational keywords that you build your strategy around (for example: “healthy food”).
Example: “meal prep,” “healthy eating.”
Depending on the searcher’s intent, there are four keyword types:
- Informational keywords: Used when users are seeking knowledge.
Example: “what is meal prep?” - Navigational keywords: When users want to find a specific website or brand.
Example: “WordPress login page.” - Commercial keywords: Indicating interest in making a purchase but needing more information.
Example: “best meal prep containers.” - Transactional keywords: Indicating readiness to take action or buy.
Example: “buy meal prep containers online.”
Finally, depending on how important they are for your page, there are:
- Primary keywords: The main keyword you want a page to rank for.
Example: For a blog about healthy eating, the primary keyword might be “healthy meal prep.” - Secondary keywords: Related phrases that support your primary keyword.
Example: “meal prep ideas,” “quick healthy recipes.”
Why should you learn how to add keywords to WordPress websites?
Adding keywords to your WordPress website helps increase the chances of your site being found by users seeking the information your site can provide. Search engines use keywords to determine relevant information and rank it high, and find the most relevant results to user queries.
Proper keywords don’t just bring anyone: they bring the right traffic—people genuinely interested in your offerings, which boosts engagement and conversion rates.
Imagine you run a WordPress site offering online guitar lessons. If you optimize a blog post with keywords like “learn guitar online” (primary keyword) and “beginner guitar tutorials” (secondary keyword), users searching for these terms are more likely to find your content. With consistent keyword optimization, your website can become a go-to resource in the niche.
Also, with well-researched and strategically placed keywords, you can outrank competitors targeting the same audience.
Things to consider before adding keywords to website in WordPress
Adding keywords to your WordPress website can significantly enhance your search engine rankings, but there are a few critical considerations to address first.
Understanding search intent, keyword cannibalization, domain authority and keyword stuffing can help you create a more effective and sustainable SEO strategy.
What is search intent?
Search intent refers to the reason behind a user’s query, the goal they want to achieve when entering a specific keyword into a search engine. It falls into four main categories: informational, navigational, transactional, and commercial. For example, someone searching “how to bake a chocolate cake” likely has an informational intent, while “buy chocolate cake near me” reflects a transactional intent.
Understanding search intent is crucial because creating content that doesn’t align with user intent can lead to such as high bounce rates or low click-through rates. Search engines prioritize pages that satisfy user needs, so catering to search intent is essential for ranking higher in search results.
To match search intent, analyze the types of results already ranking for your target keyword. For instance, if the top results for “best hiking boots” are all product reviews, your content should also focus on reviews rather than a general guide to hiking.
What is keyword cannibalization?
Keyword cannibalization occurs when multiple pages on your website target the same or very similar keywords, causing them to compete with one another in search rankings.
This can dilute your SEO efforts, confuse search engines about which page to prioritize, and reduce the overall effectiveness of your content strategy.
To avoid keyword cannibalization, conduct an audit of your site’s existing content to identify overlapping keywords. Use tools like Google Search Console or specialized SEO software to determine if multiple pages rank for the same term.
Once identified, consolidate similar content into a single, comprehensive page or revise each page to target distinct keywords.
What is domain authority?
Domain authority (DA) is a metric that predicts how well a website will rank on search engine result pages (SERPs).
Websites with high domain authority often have a robust backlink profile, high-quality content, and strong user engagement.
Some websites achieve high domain authority because they consistently publish valuable, authoritative content and acquire backlinks from reputable sources. In contrast, low domain authority often stems from limited backlinks, poor content quality, or a lack of optimization. While domain authority itself is not a direct ranking factor for Google, it provides a useful benchmark for evaluating your site’s SEO health.
Paying attention to domain authority is important because it affects your website’s competitiveness. A high domain authority makes it easier to rank for keywords, attract traffic, and establish credibility in your niche.
To boost your domain authority, focus on earning high-quality backlinks, optimizing your site for user experience, and publishing content that satisfies user intent.
What is keyword stuffing?
Keyword stuffing is the overuse of same keywords in content with the intent to manipulate search engine rankings. This outdated tactic involves placing keywords excessively or unnaturally, often to the point where it disrupts the readability and value of the content.
Search engines penalize this practice because it creates a poor user experience and signals spammy practices.
Avoid keyword stuffing and focus on using keywords naturally and strategically within your content, ensuring they enhance rather than detract from its quality.
So, what kind of SEO keywords to add?
It’s all about finding the balance between search volume (how often the keyword is searched) and keyword difficulty (how challenging it is to rank for that keyword).
High-volume, high-difficulty keywords are often dominated by competitors with higher domain authority, making them hard to rank for. On the other hand, low-volume keywords may not drive sufficient traffic to your site.
The ideal strategy is to target low-to-medium difficulty keywords with moderate search volume that align with your content and audience. These “sweet spot” keyword phrase provides a better opportunity to compete and attract traffic, especially if your domain authority is still growing.
On-page SEO
Adding keywords to WordPress is an on-page SEO practice. On-page SEO consists of optimizing website elements such as:
- Website content
- Meta title and meta description
- Heading structure
- Internal links
- Multimedia (images and videos)
Now, get your keyword list ready, and let’s see how to add keywords and meta keywords throughout your WordPress website!
Prepare your WordPress Site for keyword optimization
Before diving into keyword optimization, it’s essential to set up your web page with the right WordPress plugins to streamline the blog post optimization.
Install a WordPress SEO plugin
Start by installing an SEO plugin like Yoast SEO Plugin, which simplifies the process of adding and optimizing keywords. Yoast plugin provides intuitive tools to help you:
- Add focus keywords to individual posts and pages.
- Optimize meta descriptions with character limits and keyword suggestions.
- Analyze content readability and keyword usage with actionable feedback.
With its real-time SEO analysis and SEO score, Yoast SEO plugin ensures that your content aligns with best practices, boosting your chances of ranking higher in search engine results.
Install Strive Calendar to Organize the Process
To stay on top of your keyword optimization efforts, install the Strive Calendar plugin. This editorial calendar tool can replace a SEO plugin and is perfect for organizing your content schedule and ensuring keywords are strategically incorporated into your posts. Key features include:
- Drag-and-drop calendar: Easily plan and adjust your content schedule to align with keyword research and publishing goals.
- Post status tracking: Monitor the progress of drafts, edits, and published posts to keep keyword optimization on track.
- Content checklists: Create customized checklists to ensure that every piece of content includes keywords, optimized meta descriptions, and other SEO essentials.
How to add keywords to WordPress pages: segment by segment
Meta title (or SEO title)
Meta title is also called an SEO title and it’s the blue-colored title you can see on the Google page when you search anything.
It’s a clickable link to your webpage in search engine results and plays a crucial role in attracting users to your site. SEO titles are a direct ranking factor, meaning they help search engines understand what your page is about. A compelling title can also boost click-through rates (CTR) by enticing users to choose your page over competing results.
Best practices for writing meta titles:
- Keep your title under 60 characters to avoid truncation in search results.
- Place the keyword closer to the beginning of the title for maximum impact.
- Be descriptive and make your title distinct from others.
- Use actionable language and words that encourage clicks, such as “Guide,” “Tips,” or “Best.”
For example, if your primary keyword is “chocolate cake baking,” a good meta title might be:
“Chocolate Cake Baking: The Ultimate Guide to Perfect Cakes Every Time.”
Page URL
A page URL is the web address of a specific page on your site, and it plays a vital role in both SEO and user experience.
A well-optimized URL should reflect the content of the page, include the primary keyword, and be concise: up to five words, ideally.
Short, descriptive URLs make it easier for search engines to understand your content and improve your rankings in Google search results. They also help users quickly identify the relevance of your page to their query. Avoid including unnecessary characters or words like conjunctions (“and,” “or”) to keep your URL clean and focused.
Example: Instead of using a random URL like “example.com/blog/1234,” optimize it to “example.com/blog/chocolate-cake-baking-tips” to target the keyword “chocolate cake baking.”
When creating or editing URLs in WordPress, use the “Permalink” section to customize and ensure it aligns with SEO best practices.
Meta description
A meta description is a summary of the web page displayed below the SEO title that explains users and search engines what the page is about.
Adding keywords in meta descriptions improves click-through rates (CTR) and signals that your page aligns with the user’s query.
Optimizing meta description field
The meta description should have 150-160 characters; search engines will cut them off in SERP results if they exceed that character count.
When adding meta descriptions in WordPress, focus on the primary keyword.
There isn’t much place for others, and stuffing secondary keywords could “confuse” the search engines and not yield the results you want.
The rest of the meta description should be descriptive, engaging, and point to benefits for the reader.
For example, for the keyword “chocolate cake baking,” a good meta description could be “Master the art of chocolate cake baking with this guide—perfect for impressing friends and family!”
Headings and subheadings (header tags)
Headings and subheadings structure your content, improving readability and helping identify the hierarchy of your information. Header tags range from H1 (the main title) to H6.
Your H1 tag should include the primary keyword and act as a clear and concise title for the page. Subheadings (H2, H3, etc.) should use secondary keywords or variations of the primary keyword to maintain relevance while catering to search intent.
This enhances SEO but and creates a visually appealing layout, making it easier for readers to skim through your content.
For example, for a blog on “Chocolate Cake Baking,” your headings might look like this:
- H1: “The Ultimate Guide to Chocolate Cake Baking”
- H2: “Ingredients for a Perfect Chocolate Cake”
- H3: “Tips for Baking Success”
Page copy
The page copy is the main body of your content, and optimizing it for SEO involves more than just sprinkling keywords. Start by focusing on your audience—deliver valuable, well-structured content that aligns with their search intent.
Keywords in WordPress content should be naturally dispersed.
How to add keywords to WordPress page copy naturally
Incorporate the primary keyword within the first 100 words and throughout the copy without overstuffing. Use secondary and long-tail keywords to add context and depth. Keywords in each paragraph should be topically relevant and match the keyword used in their heading.
Example: For a page about chocolate cake baking, include the primary keyword in the introduction:
“Want to master chocolate cake baking? This guide covers everything you need, from choosing the right ingredients to decorating like a pro.”
Images with alt text
To optimize images for SEO, you will use keywords in alt text.
Alt text is a short, descriptive attribute added to images in HTML to provide context about the image’s content. It is primarily used for accessibility, allowing screen readers to describe images to visually impaired users, but it also serves an important SEO function by helping search engines understand and index images (search engines cannot “see” images, so alt text acts as a descriptive clue that tells them what the image is about).
Since the audience can also find you via image search, it’s important to optimize alt text for SEO:
- Be descriptive and specific, keeping the character count under 125
- Include keywords naturally, and only if it makes sense for the image description
For an image of a cake on a post titled “Chocolate Cake Baking: Tips for Beginners,” optimized alt text might be: “A freshly baked chocolate cake cooling on a wire rack, perfect for beginner bakers.”
Blog tags
Blog tags are descriptive labels you can add to your posts in WordPress to help categorize content and improve internal navigation. They assist search engines in understanding the broader context of your blog and can help users find related content on your site.
When adding keywords in WordPress blog tags, focus on relevant, primary keywords or phrases that describe the topic. Avoid using too many tags or creating duplicates, as this can dilute their effectiveness. Instead, use about 3-5 targeted tags per post for clarity and SEO impact.
Meta keywords and meta tags
Meta keywords are a type of meta tags that allowed website owners to include targeted keywords relevant to their page’s content. Meta keywords were embedded in the HTML code and intended to help search engines understand the page’s focus.
However, most modern platforms, including WordPress, do not enable meta keyword support by default. To add meta keywords, you often need to use SEO plugins like Yoast SEO which provide options for enabling meta keyword support or manually adding the keywords meta tag.
WordPress users can also add keywords and meta descriptions through these plugins in the meta description field within the post editor. While meta descriptions in WordPress can enhance click-through rates by summarizing a page’s content in search results, using the meta keywords tag is not recommended!
Do not use meta keywords for optimization – here’s why
Adding meta keywords is no longer a useful SEO strategy.
Google and other major search engines have officially stopped using them as a ranking factor, as they were frequently misused through keyword stuffing.
Including them today provides no SEO value and can make your strategies vulnerable, as competitors can view your meta tags and replicate them.
Instead of focusing on the meta keywords tag, prioritize the meta title and meta description. Adding meta descriptions with relevant content improves your SEO and boosts user engagement by making your site stand out in search results.
Focus on including relevant keywords and meta descriptions to optimize your website effectively without relying on outdated tactics.
Conclusion
Learning how to add keywords to WordPress pages will help you outrank the competitors, but only if you do it right:
- Focus on the search intent of your potential customers and provide keywords that make sense
- Create a perfect balance between keyword stuffing and enriching your content with relevant keywords and meta descriptions
- Use a variety of keyword types throughout the page, and be aware of keyword cannibalization so all of your search engine optimization efforts don’t go to waste
- Use tools such as Yoast SEO and Strive Calendar to make your workload lighter
Ready to take control of your content strategy?
Plan, organize, and streamline your workflow with Strive Calendar, the ultimate editorial calendar for WordPress. Track your progress, stay on schedule, and ensure every post is optimized for success.
Start your free trial today and turn your content goals into reality!