For every small business that has a business website, keywords are very crucial. This is because they direct targeted web traffic to your site for free. In fact, the whole internet is run and organised by keywords.

Anytime you type a word or phrase into a search engine like Google or Bing, you are using keywords. Whatever you type, wether itâs a single word, or even a five word phrase, every phrase is known as a keyword.

Selecting the right keywords to be known for in your business can lift your business to online sales success. Prior to giving a lot details, about keywords, you might be asking yourself, what is a keyword?

A keyword is a phrase or a word typed into the search box of search engines by internet users in order to try and get websites that address what they are looking for. There are keywords that are highly searched over the internet every day and others get few searches daily. Consequently, various high trafficked keywords are highly competitive online. Searches about health, fitness and technology are extremely competitive to rank for in the SERPs.

This is because numerous business ventures are trying to obtain traffic and referrals from internet users when the keywords are searched while this does not happen to others.

It becomes very important that a business should invest a lot of time while selecting a keyword for a business website. You can get some help from online tools that are free to help you figure out the most valuable and relevant keyword for your business. Tools such as MOZ or Google Keyword Planner are very helpful in giving you insights about the number of users searching for a certain keyword in the internet. They also provide information regarding the competition of those keywords online.

The information you get about this particular keywords go a long way in helping you realize the keywords that your website should build content and posts around.

So, how many keywords should you target?

It is advisable to start with one or two. Why? Because if you can focus a single webpage on a single topic, you are much more likely to rank highly in Googleâs algorithms. As you begin to be ranked for one keyword, you then can add more. Build additional pages, and focus on this new keyword.

That is why Search Engine Optimisation is such a long term process. And at the same time, a great investment.

Renowned SEO Newcastle company www.zacdillon.com.au says that you should ultimately rank for as many keywords as possible. But it all starts with one. This is because, unless the one keyword you intend to use is highly searched by internet users, you might be in for a great scare after you realize that your site is not having visitors. One keyword cannot cover all you are providing or selling in your business website. It is, therefore, not sufficient to attract adequate visitors to your website.

On the other hand, it is also advisable that you do not target too many keywords. This is because the more the targeted keywords, the less the resources to assign on each and every one of them. This as a result, makes it harder for each of them to rank well. Therefore, this brings the question that many people ask, how many keywords can I rank for? 

To start off, you require to be realistic and focused, even if you want to rank for numerous keywords. This especially if, your budget for SEO is small or you have less time to promote your site as well as creating content. So, how much is much and how less is less when it comes to keywords and ranking? The number depends on your time frame for results as well as your budget. However, for small businesses, a target of 2-5 keywords with each having a search volume monthly of a 100 or more searches in your local area is recommended. Many SEO agencies say this is too low, however, a target of 5 keywords doesnât necessarily mean that only the 5 keywords will rank your site and generate traffic. This is because you can have your keyword phrase in a different word arrangement order and this will still count as one keyword.

Focusing on specialising, and producing great content about specific keywords is the ultimate way to rank well in your local area. Donât forget you can add your city name to the keyword to make it even more specific to your location.

Ranking number one in Google for your city or region for your main keywords is a very worthwhile asset that can last for years.