Last Updated on May 18, 2026 by Paula

Keywords are still an important part of SEO in 2026. Keywords are the terms your target audience is typing in that search box on Google when they need an answer, or they are looking for you!

“How to write a website about page,” or “why my website isn’t converting” are examples of keywords. Knowing which ones your audience is searching and placing them strategically in your content is how you help search engines connect your posts to the right people.

But here’s what’s changed: Google and AI tools have gotten remarkably good at understanding meaning, not just matching exact phrases. You don’t need to force the same keyword into every sentence. What you do need is to write content that genuinely answers a question, and then place your keywords in the spots that signal relevance most clearly.

So here are six places that you should be using keywords in your blog posts.

In the Page Titles and URL

Your title is still the most important keyword placement on the page. It tells both readers and search engines exactly what the post is about before they ever click. Lead with your keyword where it reads naturally, and keep the title clear over clever.

Your URL should match. WordPress will pull it from your title automatically, but if your title is long, trim the slug down to the core keyword phrase. Something like yoursite.com/keywords-blog-posts is clean and clear. Avoid dates, numbers, or filler words in your URLs.

One handy feature in Yoast SEO and Rank Math: you can set an SEO title that’s different from your display title. So if you wrote something creative for your readers, you can use a more search-friendly version in the snippet editor without changing what shows on the page.

In Your Sub-Headings

People today rarely read an entire article from start to finish. Instead, they “skim” it for the most important points. Based on that they will decide if they want to invest time in reading the entire post. If your blog post is more than a few paragraphs long, be sure to include sub-headings to break up the text and give those skimmers an idea of what to expect.

And don’t forget to work your keyword and related phrases into your subheadings. You don’t need to use it in every one, but a few well-placed subheadings that use your keyword reinforce what the post is about.

In the Image Titles and File Names

Before you upload any image to your site, rename the file to something descriptive. Use your keyword where it makes sense and separate words with hyphens, not spaces or underscores. web-designer-working-on-laptop.jpg tells a search engine something. IMG_5492.jpg tells it nothing.

Then add alt text to every image. Alt text is the written description of what’s in the image. It serves people using screen readers, and it helps search engines and AI tools understand your content more fully. This is one of the easiest keyword placements to overlook and one of the most worthwhile to get right. If you can naturally fit your keyword in the alt text then do so. If not, that’s ok. It’s more important for the alt text to accurately describe the image.

In The Meta Descriptions

The meta description is the short paragraph that shows up below your listing in Google and other search engines. With WordPress, you can set your meta description by using the Yoast SEO plugin.

Meta descriptions don’t really have any weight when it comes to your search results placement. But they can have a great deal of impact on whether or not someone clicks through to your site. If you write a meta description with a strong call to action and using your keywords, people will be more likely to click through and read your post.

Your Internal Links (and Their Anchor Text)

As you write new posts, look for opportunities to link to related content already on your site. And when you update older posts, link forward to newer ones. This keeps visitors on your site longer and helps search engines map out which pages are connected.

The key detail: use descriptive anchor text for those links. Instead of linking the words “click here,” link the actual topic phrase, like “how to speed up your WordPress site” or “what to put on your About page.” That anchor text is another keyword signal, and it tells both readers and search engines what the linked page is about.

In Your Content

That is probably obvious, but you need to include keywords in your content. It’s important not only for search engines but for your readers too. Just don’t use the same phrase over and over again. Doing so will turn your readers off. And it can look like keyword stuffing to Google which is a major no-no.

Today’s search engines understand synonyms, related concepts, and natural language. Use your primary keyword a few times where it fits naturally: near the top of the post, somewhere in the middle, and near the end. Then let the rest of the content do its job by being genuinely helpful.

Your Author Bio

Google’s framework for evaluating content, Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness, places real weight on who wrote something. A well-written author bio that includes your name, your area of expertise, and relevant keywords tied to your niche helps establish that you’re a credible source on the topics you write about.

If your WordPress profile has an author bio field, fill it in. Make it specific. “Faith-based web designer helping coaches build client-getting websites” is more useful than “Paula loves coffee and helping small businesses.” Both can be true but only one helps your SEO.

When this post was first written in 2019, the goal was straightforward: rank in Google, get the click, bring traffic to your site. That still matters. But in 2026 your content also shows up in AI-generated answers on Google, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and other tools that synthesize information before a user ever visits a website.

Those AI tools aren’t matching keywords in the old-fashioned sense. They’re looking for content that clearly and completely answers a question, comes from a credible source, and is structured in a way that’s easy to understand. Good keyword placement is still part of that picture. But it works best when it’s paired with content that’s actually worth finding.