Where to use which keywords...

[Jana_Joubert]

After doing keyword research and coming up with a list of keywords/phrases that I'd like to optimise a specific page for (an additional page to an existing website), I get confused about WHERE to use which keywords.

For example, choosing between two keywords like home insurance and specialist home insurance.

Let's say home insurance is more searched than the other, and but is more difficult to rank for,  and specialist home insurance is less searched but easier to rank for. Firstly, which one should I use as my "main keyword" and secondly, what benefit does the other keyword(s) then have on the rest of the page, and were do I use them?

I hope this makes sense. Any help will be greatly appreciated!

[Jana_Joubert]

Thank you for your answers! Much appreciated.

[BradsDeals]

I'd point out that "home insurance" is actually a distinct keyphrase existing intact within "specialist home insurance"... so if it was me, all else being equal and contextually appropriate, I'd probably lean just a little heavier on the latter knowing that I'm actually capturing both at once.

[MattRoney]

Bryan's advice is good, but make sure to balance your focus on search traffic and competition with a consideration of what would make the most sense for your visitors. I'm not very familiar with the industry, but are "specialist home insurance" and "home insurance" synonymous? If they're not, make sure to use language that fits the content on the page.

Also, keep in mind that the search engines are quite good at figuring out intent and associated terms. Cyrus Shepard's "Keywords to Concepts" covers the idea of topical search quite well.

[Lumina]

I don't think this is something you should take any speculation about. I suggest doing concurrent A/B testing for these terms; meaning, you should optimize the page for Keyword A for a month or so and record the data, and the next month, optimize it for Keyword B to compare your KPIs. That way, you have hard data backing whatever decision you make.

If, however, you don't want to do any A/B testing, or have time constraints, (and I can't stress enough that this advice should only be taken under those conditions) choose the higher-volume keyword as your primary and the lower as your secondary keyword. Optimize, and leave it for a bit. After a while, tweak things more toward the lower and, if your KPIs improve, tweak again. If your key data points get worse, however, then it's fair to assume that the higher-volume keyword is better for your traffic and such.