Everyone wants a high-traffic website. Some may even say that it is one of the key indicators of your website’s success! But to have a high-traffic website, there is one thing that is needed: keywords.

A keyword is a word or even a short phrase that a user can use to search for content that is related to yours. It is a short way of describing your content and more importantly, a way for your content to rank high in terms of SEO.

How is the keyword “short stories” going to increase traffic?

I am a writer who focuses on fiction short stories and books. Hence my website is filled with immersive and enticing short stories meant to keep a user engrossed and wanting more. Read Deadly Dance if you are looking for a story to get lost in! I’m saying this to say that the keyword “short stories” is right up my alley. This is because when a user searches it, my many pages of short stories will appear as suggestions.

Why was “short stories” the keyword of focus?

Whether my readers are looking for fiction, fantasy, horror, adventure etc. they can find it on my website. The can find any genre of short story to ease their minds once they search short stories. They will have a wider selection to choose from if they search short stories as opposed to when they search a longer tail keyword such as “fiction short stories.

I wanted to ensure that no matter what my readers are looking for, they can find it under one keyword. And yes, that is especially for us readers who don’t know what our delight is until we skim the blurb!

What other keywords can a writer use to drive traffic to their website?

The writing community is a very saturated one and to stand out you have to not only produce great bodies of work but also know your audience. You have to know what they search for and create keywords to suit and stand out. The following are keywords that I intend to use to stand out in my niche:

1). Fiction Short Stories

All of my short stories are works of fiction. Every single one of them, even the ones that have inspiration from real events. Fiction is also one of the most popular genres in writing. Many bodies of work are fiction that are both short stories and novels or series. Hence using the long tail keyword “fiction short stories” not only ropes in more readers, but it also ropes in readers from my specific niche.

2). Storytime

When most think of storytimes, we think of videos or details of drama that some influencer or someone with a platform has gone through and wants to share with the world. Or at least that’s what I saw when I researched this keyword. But in a minute part of the internet, storytime just means storytelling. One that is real or one that is fiction. One that has an air of mystery or one that has an air of adventure. I want to reclaim this keyword. For all bodies of writing is just another story time.

3). Storytelling

Like “storytime”, storytelling has slightly lost its true meaning. Nevertheless, it is a great keyword for writers who compose short stories. It is also not a very competitive keyword like “short stories” or “fiction short stories”. It suggests an immersive and enticing experience for readers. This is why this keyword should not be overlooked.

4) Books

I know what you’re thinking, “You write short stories, isn’t using books lying to your audience?” While you are correct, you are also wrong. When searching for books of any genre, I am sure you have seen other websites that are geared towards short stories come up. That is because when readers search for books, they are just looking for something to read or get lost in and they don’t care what kind of content provides it.

Most of us short story writers have hopes of going down the path of an author and what better way to gain an audience than to promote your short stories in the genres of other books? You can gain a following that returns for more and more of your work until you are ready to be published!

5). “Genre” Short Stories

I had expressed earlier that putting the fiction genre before the keyword short stories was necessary because all of my short stories are just that. But what about the other genres they are a part of? What about the short stories that are heavy on romance, horror, thriller, adventure, mystery, and crime? Why limit your chance of being seen by sticking with one genre if your short story can rank for two!

I have only learned so much on my journey to learning SEO and while it might be overbearing at times, I think that keywords are the one thing I understand most. These are the keywords I want to use to grow my site and gain an audience, but if you have any suggestions of more keywords I should be using, please leave them in the comments below. Let’s help each other in this vast space.