When it comes to optimising your website for search engines like Google, using the right keywords can make all the difference.

However, it's not just about including as many keywords as possible. To truly succeed, you need to understand the different types of keywords and how to use them effectively.

In this article, we'll cover four important keywords for Google:

1. positive keywords,
2. negative keywords,
3. keyword dilution, and
4. keyword density.

Positive keywords are words or phrases that you want to rank for in Google search results. These are the terms that you believe your target audience is searching for when looking for products or services similar to yours.

For example, if you sell organic skincare products, your positive keywords might include "organic skincare," "natural skincare," "cruelty-free skincare," and so on.

To use positive keywords effectively, you need to include them strategically throughout your website. This means including them in your page titles, meta descriptions, headings, and content.

However, it's important to avoid keyword stuffing, which is the practice of including too many keywords in your content in an attempt to manipulate search engine rankings.

Instead, focus on creating high-quality, useful content that naturally includes your positive keywords.

Negative keywords are the opposite of positive keywords. These are words or phrases that you want to exclude from your search results.

For example, if you sell organic skincare products but don't want to attract customers who are looking for non-organic products, avoid using a phrase like "non-organic," "synthetic," or "chemical".

While this may be in the context of “why you should use organic skin care instead of chemical”, Google may confuse the intent of the page and list your site against that keyword.

Attention to negative keywords is important because they can help you avoid irrelevant traffic and wasted ad spending.

By excluding certain keywords from your campaigns, you can ensure that your ads only appear to users who are more likely to be interested in your products or services.

There is a really good reason to do this. Google keeps track of every customer they send you from a search page (paid or free), if the customer goes to your site and doesn’t come back then Google will assume that was a successful search and send you more traffic for that term, improving your SEO score for the site as a whole.

The reverse is also true. If Google sends you traffic that is mis-targeted, the visitor will come back to Google and your search score will be reduced for your whole site.

Keyword dilution occurs when you use too many different keywords on a single page, making it difficult for Google to understand what your page is really about. This can hurt your search engine rankings because it dilutes the relevance of your page.

For example, if you're creating a page about organic skincare, but you also include keywords related to haircare, makeup, and other unrelated topics, Google may not be able to understand the primary focus of your page.

This can happen easily if you type words on the page that mimic what you would say in real life - conversational content. This can go wrong when a crawler reads the page, not a human.

Always look at what you are writing and ensure it is strongly focused on the point of the content and does not mention words that could confuse a crawler.

Additionally, using long-tail keywords (which are more specific and targeted) can also help you avoid diluting your primary keywords. Long tail keywords are longer phrases.

For example, a top-level keyword is “acne”. A long-tail keyword would be “acne treatment for salicylate intolerance in adults”.

That term may only get 1 search for every 100 on “acne”, but it will do two things – give you traffic on that keyword which may exceed your share of the top-level keyword traffic (if your site isn’t ranked top 5 for instance), and it will better inform Google about your site, which may cause Google to show your site even if that specific term was not what the person typed.

Keyword density refers to the percentage of times a keyword appears on a page in relation to the total number of words on the page.

In the past, many website owners used high keyword density as a way to manipulate search engine rankings. This is called keyword stuffing. However, Google's algorithms have become more sophisticated, and now, high keyword density can actually hurt your rankings.

Instead of focusing on keyword density, focus on creating high-quality, useful content that naturally includes your positive keywords.

As long as you're using your positive keywords strategically and naturally, you don't need to worry about keyword density.

Here are some key takeaways to keep in mind when it comes to using keywords for Google:

1. Positive keywords are the words or phrases you want to rank for in search results.
2. Negative keywords are the words or phrases you want to exclude from your search results.
3. Keyword dilution can harm your search engine rankings by diluting the relevance of your page to the keyword you want the page to rank for.
4. Keyword stuffing is now a really bad idea. To use keywords effectively, focus on creating high-quality, useful content that naturally includes your positive keywords.
5. Use long-tail keywords to target specific and relevant searches.
6. By understanding and using these keyword strategies, you can improve your website's visibility and attract more relevant traffic to your site.

Creative Web Marketing specialises in developing online presence for small businesses, entrepreneurs, and solopreneurs.