Have you ever wondered about whether you can use an entire phrase for your business’s SEO? Indeed, search engine optimization is something that many people struggle to wrap their heads around, and the rules seem to continually be changing – which makes it incredibly difficult to decide on a suitable approach for your own optimization needs. Fortunately, though, if this is something you have been struggling with, our team is on hand today to help you find out more about optimizing your website’s approach to keywords for SEO.

Can SEO Keywords be Phrases?

So, you’re just starting out when it comes to SEO for your website, and you’re not sure which keywords to target. This is a challenge everyone in the SEO industry has faced at some point in time, so you’re absolutely not alone – but still, it’s always nice to know where to begin when it comes to your SEO efforts.

But what are the requirements for an SEO keyword, you might be wondering. Indeed, it can be easy to assume that a keyword for SEO is exactly that: a single word. However, the reality of SEO is more complex than this, and SEO keywords aren’t necessarily a single word. In fact, an SEO keyword can definitely be a full phrase, if that’s what you want to target.

Generally speaking, the highest search volumes online will be for single word keywords or short keywords (e.g. “SEO” or “SEO agency online”). However, these keywords may not always be the optimal choice for your website to target; in some instances, targetting a longer phrase can be beneficial for your website to consider. Long phrase keywords can be varied and are usually in the form of a question, such as today’s topic: “can SEO keywords be phrases?”

Why Target Keyword Phrases for SEO?

At this point, you might be wondering – why should I target long tail keywords and phrases for SEO if single word SEO keywords have higher search volumes?

Single word keywords are often the ones with the highest search volumes – however, targeting these is often a near-impossible challenge, with existing high authority websites usually firmly dominating the search engine results for these.

To this end, unless the keyword is a new trend – for example, a brand new product name that has not been targetted by other websites previously – you will likely want to target multiple word keywords as standard. However, phrases can also be an incredibly effective choice of keyword, so long as your target market genuinely searches for the full phrase in search engines.

You Should Always do Keyword Research Before Targetting Long Keyword Phrases

As we’ve clarified at this point, keywords don’t need to be a single word. In fact, an SEO keyword can actually be a few words or a whole phrase. However, before you begin thinking of different phrases that you might want to target, we highly recommend you carry out effective and meaningful keyword research before you get started.

For example, let’s consider a random phrase here, such as, “how can I get the most from my SEO efforts for my business?” Chances are, for that specific keyword phrase, the search volume will be incredibly low. To this end, while you could target an article for this long tail keyword phrase, you might not have much potential for attracting new visitors to your site.

Instead, you should always carry out SEO keyword research to find the highest value long tail keywords for your website to target. Indeed, there’s nothing wrong with targetting the aforementioned phrase, but as a randomly generated phrase, it likely won’t give massive results. Instead, you should select keyword phrases that have low competition online but a relatively high search volume to make the most of your SEO efforts.

Get Professional Assistance for your SEO

SEO is difficult; there’s no doubting that. Indeed, knowing which keywords to target, how often to include them, where to include them for the best results, and the like can all represent a significant challenge, and that’s all before considering how to ensure the content you are providing is genuinely valuable and relevant to your website visitors!

In short, this is a massive task, and it’s something that many people struggle with. Fortunately, it doesn’t need to be this way, though. As experts in all things SEO, our team here at can help with all of your website’s digital marketing needs. From conducting thorough keyword research to identify the best long and short-tail keywords to target through to developing backlink solutions for your site and more, we can carry out full SEO support to give your website the boost it so deserves!

So, make the right choice for your business’s SEO needs and invest in professional support from a friendly team such as ours here at GetBackLinks – your number one choice for all things website SEO!