Write a compelling title tag-
I left this as a separate step from meta tags because this is the most important part of your optimization program. Again, it can be done at the same time as the previous two steps, but it’s importance can not be over-emphasized.
This is because the title tag is the tag which is displayed in the SERP (Search Engine Results Page). It is the link that people click on, and also the tag which is generally read by the visitor before they decide to visit.
Therefore, if your title tag isn’t compelling, it doesn’t matter how well optimized your page is, it may not get that click.
For this step, you need to look at your competition to determine what they are doing. Perform a search to see what is compelling about their listing?
Is there one that stands out?
If so what are they doing?
For example, if on every other site the keyword is the first phrase on the title, then consider moving your keyword in to the second or third phrase.
This is because, as you will notice, engines like Google bold the search term in the title and snippets or description. One way to make your title stand out is to have the term in a different position than the competition. That way the bolding stands out like this:
key phrase in title tag
key phrase in title tag
title tag with key phrase
key phrase in title tag
Notice how the third one stands out from the rest?
I can not emphasize enough how important that title tag is. As I said, it is the “hook” to get visitors to your site. If the title is ineffective, then it won’t get clicked which means you don’t get the opportunity to woo that client.
...go to my Summary
To learn more: About Author Stewart Severino, a marketing consultant who specializes in helping business owners and company's with marketing and advertising utilizing different customer touch points. Stewart is the author of the educational blog covering the topics in online, mobile and direct marketing. To learn more about this topic please visit, http://www.maddockmedia.com/
Showing posts with label Search Engine optimization. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Search Engine optimization. Show all posts
Monday, August 13, 2007
Search Engine Optimization -Tip 4- Optimize Pages
Optimize your Pages -
This can be done in conjunction with the writing. In fact it should be done at then to save time. I made this a separate step so that I could outline the finer points of optimization.
Provided that you are following the guidelines found in tip 3, your pages should already have good keyword density, now is the time to improve that optimization by adding optimized meta tags.
First is to write the meta description tag. While many engines will index thousands of characters in your description, I recommend no more than a couple hundred characters. That is about how long this paragraph is.
The meta description should be a readable sentence or two with the same keywords that you wrote the page for. In other words, the same phrases should appear in the meta description as the body. They should also appear as near to the front of the tag as possible however don’t sacrifice readability for this.
If the tag doesn’t make sense with them at the front, then reorganize until they do make sense. Be sure to use proper punctuation as well.
Also preferred but not mandatory is a meta keywords tag. While none of the major engines use this tag, other smaller ones, and some specialty engines do use the meta keywords tag. If your target uses one of these engines then it makes sense to have that tag in place.
Also, with the keywords tag there is a lot of debate over using commas or not. Personally I do not use commas. I just combine the phrases and remove duplicate words. For example, if the page is about real estate, water front property and property tax,then the keywords tag could be: “real estate water front property property tax.”
... go to tip 5
To learn more: About Author Stewart Severino, a marketing consultant who specializes in helping business owners and company's with marketing and advertising utilizing different customer touch points. Stewart is the author of the educational blog covering the topics in online, mobile and direct marketing. To learn more about this topic please visit, http://www.maddockmedia.com/
This can be done in conjunction with the writing. In fact it should be done at then to save time. I made this a separate step so that I could outline the finer points of optimization.
Provided that you are following the guidelines found in tip 3, your pages should already have good keyword density, now is the time to improve that optimization by adding optimized meta tags.
First is to write the meta description tag. While many engines will index thousands of characters in your description, I recommend no more than a couple hundred characters. That is about how long this paragraph is.
The meta description should be a readable sentence or two with the same keywords that you wrote the page for. In other words, the same phrases should appear in the meta description as the body. They should also appear as near to the front of the tag as possible however don’t sacrifice readability for this.
If the tag doesn’t make sense with them at the front, then reorganize until they do make sense. Be sure to use proper punctuation as well.
Also preferred but not mandatory is a meta keywords tag. While none of the major engines use this tag, other smaller ones, and some specialty engines do use the meta keywords tag. If your target uses one of these engines then it makes sense to have that tag in place.
Also, with the keywords tag there is a lot of debate over using commas or not. Personally I do not use commas. I just combine the phrases and remove duplicate words. For example, if the page is about real estate, water front property and property tax,then the keywords tag could be: “real estate water front property property tax.”
... go to tip 5
To learn more: About Author Stewart Severino, a marketing consultant who specializes in helping business owners and company's with marketing and advertising utilizing different customer touch points. Stewart is the author of the educational blog covering the topics in online, mobile and direct marketing. To learn more about this topic please visit, http://www.maddockmedia.com/
Search Engine Optimization- Tip 2 Keywords
Pick the right keywords-
This may be the most difficult part of your journey, especially if you don’t fit the target profile. That is, picking the keywords they will use to find your site.
DO NOT GUESS!!
You can start by using free tools like FREE KEYWORD SEARCH. It gives you a good place to start picking keywords.
Start with a phrase you know your site is about (i.e. if you are in Real Estate in Houston, TX, then simply put “real estate Houston, Texas” in the search box). The tool will then not only return other related words, but also the search volumes associated with each for the previous 3 month.
A word of caution however: Sometimes, depending on when you use the tool, the search volumes are from a couple months ago. So if your product is seasonal based, the numbers may actually be lower or higher than represented.
Don’t be afraid to get a few hundred words to start. Remember, right now you are just gathering ideas – phrases that could drive traffic to your site. They aren’t all necessarily being used by your target customer.
At this point you want as many phrases on your list as possible. Don’t worry, you will cull the list pretty quickly.
Also remember as you are culling your words, don’t just focus on the competitive factors. These won’t account for your target audience. Therefore you need to have that picture in your mind of the target as you are selecting phrases that they might use. If you are unsure, you could always as for help from friends and family that fit the target profile.
A good rule of thumb would be to chose about one phrase per page. That doesn’t mean that you will only have one page per phrase, but it gives you a good target. So if your site is 300 pages, consider having a list of 300 phrases.
...go to tip 3
To learn more: About Author Stewart Severino, a marketing consultant who specializes in helping business owners and company's with marketing and advertising utilizing different customer touch points. Stewart is the author of the educational blog covering the topics in online, mobile and direct marketing. To learn more about this topic please visit, http://www.maddockmedia.com/
This may be the most difficult part of your journey, especially if you don’t fit the target profile. That is, picking the keywords they will use to find your site.
DO NOT GUESS!!
You can start by using free tools like FREE KEYWORD SEARCH. It gives you a good place to start picking keywords.
Start with a phrase you know your site is about (i.e. if you are in Real Estate in Houston, TX, then simply put “real estate Houston, Texas” in the search box). The tool will then not only return other related words, but also the search volumes associated with each for the previous 3 month.
A word of caution however: Sometimes, depending on when you use the tool, the search volumes are from a couple months ago. So if your product is seasonal based, the numbers may actually be lower or higher than represented.
Don’t be afraid to get a few hundred words to start. Remember, right now you are just gathering ideas – phrases that could drive traffic to your site. They aren’t all necessarily being used by your target customer.
At this point you want as many phrases on your list as possible. Don’t worry, you will cull the list pretty quickly.
Also remember as you are culling your words, don’t just focus on the competitive factors. These won’t account for your target audience. Therefore you need to have that picture in your mind of the target as you are selecting phrases that they might use. If you are unsure, you could always as for help from friends and family that fit the target profile.
A good rule of thumb would be to chose about one phrase per page. That doesn’t mean that you will only have one page per phrase, but it gives you a good target. So if your site is 300 pages, consider having a list of 300 phrases.
...go to tip 3
To learn more: About Author Stewart Severino, a marketing consultant who specializes in helping business owners and company's with marketing and advertising utilizing different customer touch points. Stewart is the author of the educational blog covering the topics in online, mobile and direct marketing. To learn more about this topic please visit, http://www.maddockmedia.com/
Search Engine Optimization- Tip 1
Identify the type of Persona-
Define your target audience.
It is vital that you identify your audience. You do not want to cater to the WHOLE. You want to center your content around a specific audience and fulfill their needs.
If you don’t write to the crowd you aren’t going to get too much business.
The best thing is to write down who you think the target is. Be as detailed as possible. For example, your target may be a 30-45 year old male, in executive management, who drives a Merceds. He makes $175,000 per year and has a Masters degree in finance. This is the type of detail you need. You should be able to picture this person in your mind. Not just the abstract idea of hm, but a physical look as well. The better you can picture them in your mind the more successful you will be.
Once you know who you target is the next step is choosing keywords.
...go to tip 2
To learn more:
About Author Stewart Severino, a marketing consultant who specializes in helping business owners and company's with marketing and advertising utilizing different customer touch points. Stewart is the author of the educational blog covering the topics in online, mobile and direct marketing. To learn more about this topic please visit, http://www.maddockmedia.com/
Define your target audience.
It is vital that you identify your audience. You do not want to cater to the WHOLE. You want to center your content around a specific audience and fulfill their needs.
If you don’t write to the crowd you aren’t going to get too much business.
The best thing is to write down who you think the target is. Be as detailed as possible. For example, your target may be a 30-45 year old male, in executive management, who drives a Merceds. He makes $175,000 per year and has a Masters degree in finance. This is the type of detail you need. You should be able to picture this person in your mind. Not just the abstract idea of hm, but a physical look as well. The better you can picture them in your mind the more successful you will be.
Once you know who you target is the next step is choosing keywords.
...go to tip 2
To learn more:
About Author Stewart Severino, a marketing consultant who specializes in helping business owners and company's with marketing and advertising utilizing different customer touch points. Stewart is the author of the educational blog covering the topics in online, mobile and direct marketing. To learn more about this topic please visit, http://www.maddockmedia.com/
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