Will Keywords Hurt My Business?

I was having a conversation with a young female entrepreneur who curates and sells Scandinavian jewellery from the 1960s. We were talking about the value of using keywords for blogging and focusing your online marketing campaign. She asked me, “will keywords hurt my business?”While Cosima sees the value in using keywords to help customers find hopea online, but she was concerned that her brand would be hurt by the strict focus on writing about keywords. Her brand is built around design and aesthetics, and how can she show her value when she’s forced to use certain words in her blog?

So, Will Keywords Hurt My Business?

It was a great discussion, and frankly not the first one I’ve had. I think there’s a misconception around when and how to use keywords. While the goal is to focus your writing so people can find you online, the trick is to not pump your blog so full of “enter keyword here” that it reads like a science paper. You can smell keyword stuffing a mile away. It gives keywords a bad rep, and it gives your customers a feeling that maybe you’re trying too hard. We’re all guilty of it once and a while, including us, however let’s try to do a better job.

Try A Balance

I recommended Cosima try a balance of blog posts with and without a focus on keywords. She’s already posting regularly, and instead of changing her beautiful images and thoughts, I suggested adding to her repertoire with 1-2 posts a week focusing on keywords that her customers would be searching for online. (This is a start – ideally she’d move it up to 2-3 times a week.)Why the balance? This will ensure she can keep a clean focus on imagery and design, but for those people who want to read more, Google will point them in the right direction. And if it’s woven with her existing collection of thoughts, it will act as a blend and strengthen her online presence.What do you think? Are you concerned about this as well? Has this stopped you from blogging? Why not try a combination of both for a few months and see if that works. And let us know how it goes – we’d love to hear your thoughts.p.s. If you’re not sure what keywords are, check out our post on how to do keyword research for your small business.