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| Search Engine Positioning and Search Engine Optimization |
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Search engines send out spiders to index your site and to quantify and qualify the words contained within your web pages. This is how they determine what your site is primarily about and how to rank your site in response to searches conducted by visitors to the search engines.
For example, if you are a children's clothing manufacturer specializing in winter coats, one keyword phrase that might be important to your web site's success is "children's outerwear." You would want your site to be included within the search returns for that keyword whenever someone enters "children's outerwear" in the search box at a search engine. For that to occur, the spiders would have to find the keyword children's outerwear used at least once (and probably more often) within at least one of your web pages.
If a portion of your site does not emphasize - or optimize - the keyword, there is no way for the search engines to know that you manufacture children's outerwear. Therefore, they will not include your company's site in the listings when a visitor searches for such apparel.
Optimizing a keyword within your web site can be accomplished through the use of a variety of HTML coding techniques and other methods. The most basic procedure for incorporating your keyword strategy is within the META tags for each page.
Get ready to build a Top Ten list of the best, most targeted keywords for your site using our easy-to-follow interactive guidelines.
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Please note: Keywords do not refer to single words only. In fact, multiple-word keyword phrases are often more effective than single keywords. We use the words "keywords" and "keyword phrases" interchangeably throughout this tutorial.
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| Tips for Selecting Successful Keywords |
To select the most effective keywords for your page, you need to think like a marketer. What are your customers looking for when they use a search engine? Which keywords do you think someone might enter when looking for a product or service like yours? For example, would it be more effective to use a keyword phrase of "wide-leg, four-pocket, denim overalls" or "clothing for kids"? Think about how your target audience thinks in order to develop a list of effective keywords. Follow these guidelines when selecting keywords for your site:
- Be specific, not general. For example, "e-mail software" is better than "software".
Use two or three-word phrases, instead of one word. For example, "large screen TV" is better than "TV".
- Avoid the use of highly competitive words. Think of creating specific niches for your web site through the use of your keywords. So, while you may want to rank highly for "children's clothing", there may be overwhelming competition for that keyword phrase. Think also about including more targeted phrases such as "children's outerwear" or "flame retardant sleepwear".
- Think like a customer. How do your customers describe your products or services? Is it a "cellular phone" or a "cell phone"? A "desktop computer" or a "PC"? Be sure to integrate commonly used words into your keyword phrases, as well as commonly misspelled words!
- Consider adding a regional aspect to your product or service. If you run a Bed and Breakfast in Maine, "Bed and Breakfasts-Maine" or "Bed and Breakfasts-New England" will deliver more qualified leads than "Bed and Breakfasts".
- Use words directly related to your web site. While the words "Cindy Crawford" may attract a lot of traffic to your site, it will likely be the wrong kind of traffic. And following up poor quality leads is expensive for your sales force. Also, search engines can ban a site for supplying keywords that are unrelated to the site's content. Make each word count. Avoid using "throwaway" words such as "the, and, or, etc."
- Think through these guidelines and how they relate to your web site, then get ready to start defining keywords of your own
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