What is Natural Keyword Usage?

Even the best-written content will fall short if the keyword feels as though it has been crowbarred into the middle of a paragraph. Readers are growing more attuned to the existence of content written with an ulterior motive and, with Google’s emphasis on quality, keyword stuffing or ‘engineering’ a phrase into themiddle of a sentence represents a missed opportunity for SEO.

Of course, some will find this more difficult than others. In the realm of iGaming and casino SEO, brands seeking placement on higher quality sites, for instance, their writers must find a way to lead seamlessly into their keywords without drawing the rest of the content too far in that direction in order to gain the most benefit from their link building efforts.

There is, however, no easy definition for ‘natural’ keyword usage. In many ways, it appears to be a case for subjectivity, and as though a writer’s ability to slip a word or phrase into a piece of high quality content depends entirely on the phrasing of the keyword itself. Some phrases simply lend themselves to spontaneous usage, while others – such as those featuring interrogative words, like ‘how’ and ‘why’ – will simply sound more contrived, however they are used.

So, what constitutes a natural placement, and how can it be achieved consistently?

The Topic

Just as much of the value of a piece of content lies in its relevancy for searchers, the value of a keyword lies in its relevancy for the content itself. What this means for topic creation can vary from one extreme to another. For a site that sells carpet, for instance, the piece may well be about carpets – or, in the very least, flooring options.

But aligning your topic to your keyword does not demand such a degree of homogeneity. When dealing with casino SEO, it is often necessary to choose what would, on the face of it, seem a highly disparate topic and still ensure that the article appeals to relevant searches, and that the keywords can be included logically. If your blogger outreach leads you to quality sites that prefer a less direct modus operandi for iGaming topics, then a certain level of finesse will be required to ensure that the keyword is worked in naturally.

This is, of course, much more difficult, and one of the reasons why effective iGaming content services remain relatively rare. Most topics do not, on the surface of things, facilitate a natural segue into the realm of casino, which means that working with an experienced casino SEO agency on topic creation remains central to ensuring fluidity in the sentences containing your keywords.

Keyword Density

Content that is bursting with keywords falls short in many ways. For one thing, using content as nothing more than a vessel for particular words and phrases significantly limits the value it offers to readers; if you limit yourself to a small, focused lexicon, then there is very little to say, and even a brief, five hundred word post will be nothing more than an exercise in repetition and vapidity.

For another, Google has grown far more attuned to these dated SEO tactics. The benchmark for optimised content deserving of a high ranking on SERPs is not content that has been crammed full of relevant keywords – it is content that is so relevant and informative that these keywords fall naturally within the text, in way that is not discernible to either human readers, or Google’s fine-tuned algorithm.

The Content Itself

While you cannot create content destined for a good spot on SERPs without backing it with strong keyword research, you cannot utilise that research effectively without first creating content written with a human readership in mind. Content written to a high standard remains integral to SEO services packages; without it, your efforts will remain transparent.

As such, creating high quality, informative content often relies, to varying degrees, on forgetting the keywords until the bulk of the piece has been written. Provided the topic was created with your keywords in mind, those words will likely fall into what you have written with ease.

Placing too much emphasis on those keywords during the writing stage will entail a preoccupation with SEO that comes through to discerning readers, but understanding how your keywords relate to the piece as a whole will ensure a far greater sense of fluidity, and a more natural balance between informative writing, and SEO content.

Natural keyword usage remains an elusive topic for many content creators, and only by working with a dedicated link building agency can it be achieved successfully. The struggle, however, is well worth the outcome, as your content will fair much better if keywords are able to be assimilated within the text as though they belonged there all along.