Successful SEO: Keyword Locations

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Search engine optimization (SEO) is a new pseudo-science that is studied by many that operate businesses online, or that cater to online businesses. The fact is that if you want your site to be seen, you need at least a tertiary understanding of what optimization is, and how to achieve it. You will find in this article some direction by reviewing the one of the top four criteria that are considered in determining your search engine page rank (location, keywording, back links, and click-throughs). Though each search engine will have it’s own ranking system, these properties are generally reviewed by all.

Keyword Locations

When you look for a site online, you generally will go to a search engine and enter a keyword. The difference between the sites that you find and those that you do not depends very little on the quality of the content, or the years of experience that the person that developed the content brings to the table. The person who will be found first is he or she that will sell themselves first and foremost. The more important you make the keyword in your page, the more important the search engines will find that to be in consideration of your content. If you and Mr. Businessman X both have a site that is dedicated to roses with exactly the same content, both having been in the business for the same number of years, the difference between the customer visiting your site or Mr. X’s site may be in the title of your page.

Meta Tags

When I say title, I am not talking about your url. You could have the roses.com url and still be below Mr. X on a search for roses if he has a title that reads “Red Roses Ready-To-Order” and yours says “We Dig Flora.” This may be a difficult idea to wrap your head around, but think of it this way: if your business card said “Rose McMurphy, Flowers and Centerpieces” and his said “Mr. Businessman X, Roses and Floral Arrangements,” then who would you call for roses? The one with Rose in her name, or the one that says he has roses on his business card? I know who I’d call, and the search engine views it in a similar way. Though most search engines will find you, and possibly before Mr. X for different terms, you will not be given top ranking in who they’d call for roses. There are tags in the head division of your HTML code known as meta tags. This is where you can title your page and add a description as well.

Highlight Your Niche

The same principal applies throughout your web page. Your page needs to be authored in such a way that your keywords are given places of honor. They should be on prominent display for that search engine crawler to find easily. Though you cannot rationally put all of your best keywords in your title, you can work in the ones that most directly address your product, information, goal, or most effective keyword(s). This seems pretty common sense, but you would be surprised how often people that decide to take their businesses online grab a template and fail to include their keywords in the meta tags or title. Yes, we love to see your personal spins, but what Google, Yahoo, and MSN want to see is who you are and what you’re selling. This is why when you write something for the web, it is best to give it a direct title that addresses it literally rather than a clever pun or word-play.

The next time you are working on your site development and are scratching your head over the shrinking hits, or the number of click-throughs you are receiving, check out your content for keywords, as well as direct and literal wording. These are two ways to ensure that the visitors that are finding you are those that you want. Going back to the “We Dig Flora” model, what do you think you may be attracting with keywords like “dig” and “flora”? Maybe excavation, landscaping, or science-based searches? Sell roses on your site with your title and meta tag, for your sake, and for the sake of the poor herbological anthropologists out there.