SEO Keywords: Examples and How To Use Them - Portland SEO Growth (2024)

• Why Are Keywords Even Important For SEO?
• SEO Keywords: Examples For A Local Business
• SEO Keywords: Examples For An E-Commerce Website
• SEO Keywords: Examples For A Blogger
• Where To Find Example SEO Keywords

Search engine optimization and keywords go hand in hand. Building an SEO strategy begins with the keywords you are targeting.

Starting with these keywords, you can include keywords in specific places in your website copy or content in order to rank for that keyword in the search engines.

Search engines, such as Google, scour website copy and content to see if the information on the page matches the keyword the content is built around.

In other words, you have to provide quality content that is relevant to the keywords you’re using.

The best part about using keywords is that when done correctly, it levels the playing field for local businesses, e-commerce websites, and bloggers when competing against big businesses.

Using SEO to rank in the search engines is also cost-effective. It is less expensive to rank for keywords organically in search engines than it is to pay for ads on Google, Facebook, Instagram, or other networks.

Portland SEO Growth services Portland-based businesses and businesses across the United States. Click here to learn more.

We’re a Portland digital marketing company, so we do more than just SEO.

The good thing about SEO keywords (and this is going to sound SUPER logical so stay with me) is that they’re keywords that people search on Google.

So if you’re looking to run Google Ads and drive engaged, ready-to-convert traffic that’s choosing to click on the Sponsored links at the top of Google, then they’re searching for the same keywords as everyone else.

Once you know the SEO keywords you should target, youalsoknow the PPC keywords that you should be targeting.

SEO keywords are crucial to your local business. Not only do they help you stand apart from your competition, but SEO keywords can help you rank higher in the search engines. This helps to:

• Drive more traffic to your website
• Drive more customers to your business (online and in-person)
• Increase your sales

Focusing on SEO keywords is one of the most efficient ways to get your business seen by potential customers AND then convert those lookers into buyers.

While we can tell you all day long how SEO keywords can help your local business, showing you examples of keywords with SEO can really drive home the power that SEO keywords can have on your local business.

Let’s use “chiropractor in Portland” as the focus keyword SEO example for keyword searches for local businesses.

Primary keywords are the main keywords that you want to focus on when you are writing website copy or content for a blog post or article.

Some primary keyword examples SEO when you search for “chiropractor in Portland” are:

• Best Chiropractor in Portland
• Chiropractor in Portland
• Portland Chiropractors

Since a local business focuses on attracting local customers, local primary keyword SEO can help them attract customers that live, work, or play in the area where the business operates.

Best SEO practice is to include the primary keyword in the:

• URL
• Page Name/Title/Headline
• Sub-header on the page (H2) — at least one of the H2s
• Body copy/content (at least a few times)

You can find primary keywords to focus on by using local keyword research SEO tools, such as SEMrush or Ubersuggest.

Some long-tail keywords SEO examples for “chiropractor in Portland” include:

• List of chiropractors in Portland
• Best Portland chiropractors
• Best Portland chiropractors near me
• Top-rated chiropractors in Portland near me

A long-tail keyword has five or more words. Primary keywords typically only have one to four words.

Long-tail keywords are generally very specific, where a primary keyword may be more general.

Primary keywords are high value and extremely hard to rank for while long-tail keywords are more valuable and easier to rank for.

This means that If you are only going after primary keywords, then you are not as likely to rank in the search engines

OR

It will take years to rank for those high-value and competitive keywords.

Long-tail keywords allow you to rank and rank faster — and there is still a ton of opportunity in ranking for long-tail keywords over primary keywords.

What’s a question-based keyword? You guessed it. It’s similar to a long-tail keyword, , but it is in the form of a question instead of a phrase.

Some examples of question-based keywords for “chiropractor in Portland” are:

• Who is the best chiropractor in Portland?
• How can I find a chiropractor near me?
• Who are the top rated chiropractors in Portland?

When it comes to an E-Commerce site, SEO keywords can be highly beneficial. Keywords help match the people who are searching for the solution that your products provide with your e-commerce site.

For example, if a pet owner has a dog with itchy skin and you sell dog skin allergy lotions, SEO keywords can help put your product in front of the dog owner.

Sometimes, SEO keywords make a direct connection — meaning it puts the product you sell in front of them.

Other times, SEO keywords put your content, like blog posts, in front of them that leads to your product.

For example, a pet owner may be searching for reasons their dog has itchy skin. They type into Google,, “Why is my dog scratching his neck and ears?”

If you have a blog post on your site that has this as the question keyword, then the pet owner may click on the link to it in the search engine.

The article may then lead them to the solution to their dog scratching problem —your lotion. Desperate to get their dog to stop scratching and to give their beloved pet some relief, they buy your lotion.

Voila!

This is how SEO keywords can help an e-commerce site sell its products.

We can see that an e-commerce site benefits from SEO keywords but looking at an SEO keyword list example can help to illustrate the benefits.

For our example, we’re going to use the search term related to dogs throughout the e-commerce section.

SEMrush or Ubersuggest are two keyword research tools you can use to find primary keywords to focus for an e-commerce business.

Some primary keywords pet owners might search for that relate to a pet supply e-commerce site include:

• Dog harness
• Dog harnesses
• Dog dishes
• Dog leash
• Dog sweater

For an e-commerce site, there are two places you want to focus on your SEO efforts: the product pages and content pages (such as blog posts).

For product pages, you want to include the primary keyword in the:

• URL
• Page Name/Title/Headline
• Product name
• Sub-header on the page (H2)— at least one of the H2s
• Product description (at least a few times)

For content pages, such as blog posts, you would include the keyword in all of the same places as above, except the product name since it is not a product page/description.

You could, however, mention the primary keyword/product name in part of the blog post content with a link to the product page where readers can buy your product.

When you are writing any type of SEO copy, you want to avoid keyword stuffing. Keyword stuffing is when you use the keyword over and over again in the copy to try to rank for that keyword.

Instead, you only want to include the keyword in the places mentioned above. You want to make sure your content flows naturally. Don’t add keywords in places they wouldn’t make sense.

A keyword stuffing SEO example for dog harness in a product description might be:

“The Teensie-eensie Dog Harness for small dogs is the best dog harness of dog harnesses for walking small dogs on a dog harness. This dog harness is the only dog harness that you want to use to walk your dog. It’s a no-pull dog harness. The dog harness comes in a variety of colors including blue, red, pink, aqua, and orange.”

The keyword “dog harness” is mentioned seven times in this description and the description is only 61 words.

This is considered keyword stuffing in the eyes of Google, which can penalize your site, moving it down in the rankings

OR

Remove your site from the search engine altogether.

Some examples of question-based keywords for “dog harness” are:

• How do you put a harness on a dog?
• How do you measure a dog for a harness?
• How does a dog harness go on?
• How should a dog harness fit?
• How do I put on a dog harness?
• What is the best dog harness?

Remember, long-tail keywords typically have five or more words in them.

These types of keywords typically are more specific than primary keywords and narrow down what the searcher is looking for in their search.

Some examples of long-tail keywords for “dog harness” are:

• How to put on a dog harness
• How to put a dog harness on a small dog
• How to put a dog harness on a big dog
• No pull dog harnesses for small dogs
• No pull dog harnesses for large dogs
• Best dog harness for small dogs
• Best dog harness for large dogs
• Dog car harness for medium size dogs
• Best no pull harness for small dogs

Bloggers can benefit greatly by using SEO keywords.A blogger typically writes blog posts containing information that is useful and relevant to their audience. Keywords can help the audience to find the blog.

Since a blogger typically makes money through his or her content, SEO keywords can directly affect the bloggers income from affiliate sales, product or service sales, sponsored posts, etc.

Take a food blogger, for example. A food blogger can write all sorts of content that contains keywords centered around food topics.

They can write articles about must-have kitchen gadgets, eating healthy, quick and easy cooking tips, and share recipes. The article topics just go on and on.

When a blogger focuses each article on their blog with a keyword, it can help them rank that page in the search engines above their competition, which in this case is other food bloggers.

Some primary keywords that a food blogger might try to rank for may include:

• Kitchen tools
• Cooking tools
• Easy recipes
• Fast recipes
• Dinner recipes
• Chicken recipes

Long-tail keywords that a food blogger could try to rank for might include:

• Kitchen tools that every cook needs
• Cooking tools for a new cook
• Easy recipes for a working mom
• Fast recipes for a family of 5
• Dinner recipes in under 30 minutes
• Chicken recipes for a picky toddler

Some question-based keywords that a food blogger might use include:

• What kitchen tools do I need in my kitchen?
• Which cooking tools does a new cook need?
• What chicken recipes take less than 30 minutes to make?
• Can I cook a meal that toddlers like?
• What can I cook with cilantro, chicken, and kale?

Oftentimes, business owners and marketers aren’t fully aware of how SEO works.

They think:

“All I gotta do is find some SEO keywords and just throw them on my site, right?”

Well, no. That’s not how it works.

SEO keywords need to be used naturally and on pages where they’re relevant.

If you’re a roofer in Portland and want to rank for a keyword example like “roofing repair in Portland” then you should structure your website in a way that allows for keyword implemention.

You should have a page for “roofing repair” such as example.com/portland-roofing-services/roofing-repairs. Then, on this page, you can find all the variations of the keyword example used “roofing repairs” which might be “roofing repair company”, “shingle repair,” etc.

You should do this instead of just using the keyword example of “roofing repair” and throwing it EVERYWHERE on your website.