Core keywords are the center of a website. They are usually the simplest words that reflect the theme of the website. They are mainly the names of industries, products or services, and can also be some attributes or special words of the names.

1. Characteristics of core keywords

Generally speaking, core keywords have the following characteristics.

(1) They are usually used as the title of the website homepage.

(2) They are usually a word or phrase consisting of 4 to 6 characters. In most cases, there are multiple core keywords.

(3) They are accurately positioned. Search engines have a certain number of stable searches every day.

(4) Users who search for target keywords often have relevant requirements for the website’s products or services, or are interested in the website’s content.

(5) The main content of the website revolves around the core keywords.

2. Selection of core keywords

Core keywords can be said to be the soul of a website. Their importance to the website is self-evident. If the wrong core keywords are selected, the website will not be able to obtain an ideal ranking. So, how should we choose core keywords? We can start from the following aspects.

(1) Content relevance. Core keywords are closely related to the content of the website. They should tell search engines what your website does, what products or services it can provide to users, and what problems it can solve for users. For example, if your website sells mobile phones, but the core keyword is set to “earphone sales”, this keyword may prevent target customers from finding your website.

(2) Baidu Index. Baidu Index is a platform for data statistics and analysis based on the data of Baidu search engine. It can tell users the search volume of a certain keyword in Baidu, the rise and fall trend over a period of time and the changes in related news and public opinion, as well as the type of netizens who pay attention to these words, where they are distributed, and what related words they searched for at the same time. Baidu Index can reflect the popularity of a certain keyword and help companies decide whether to choose the word as a core keyword.

When selecting core keywords based on Baidu Index data, the higher the index of the keyword, the more times the keyword is searched, the greater the traffic, the more popular the keyword, and the more valuable such a keyword is, but the competition for the keyword is also more intense.

(3) Accurate positioning. Core keywords cannot be as broad as general keywords. Otherwise, not only will they not reflect the information of the website, but they will also increase the competitiveness of the keywords, making it difficult for users to find your website. For example, if a website selling maternal and infant products sets the keyword as “maternal and infant products”, it is too broad and not conducive to user search. The correct keyword setting should be “regional + brand + extensibility”. For example, “Changchun Amy Maternal and Infant Products Import and Export Trading Company” can well reflect the store address, store name and store type and other information. The results obtained by searching for such keywords are more accurate than those of searching for “maternal and infant products”.

(4) Commercial value. The main purpose of core keywords is to optimize search engines (Search Engine Optimization, SEO), so that customers can search for the website and facilitate transactions. Therefore, the setting of core keywords must be able to reflect certain commercial value. For example, it is meaningless to set the core keywords of the website as “how computers work”, because users who search for such keywords are searching for the working principles of the products, not for purchase. If the keywords are changed to “which brand of computer is good” or “the price of computer”, etc., it will stimulate customer demand and achieve the purpose of transaction.