The Web Authority
Wednesday, January 30
Top SEO Real Estate for Your Website
Where and what are the most important parts or elements of your website for top search engine optimization impact? What things can give you the most bang for your buck?
1. The most important element is your title tag. This is found in your source code between title and /title. What you put here appears on your browser screen at the very top just to the right of the IE icon near the edge of your monitor. It should be keyword dense, on topic to your website and NOT contain your business name.
2. The second most important element is your navigation. If you are using JavaScripted drop down menus, you must supply text based navigation for search engines to follow or they will not move to the inside of your website to spider pages. Typically we will supply text links in alphabetic order in the footer of a page for a site like this. Better yet would be to build a site with navigation using CSS or text and not have to add footer links. But it is better to remediate than to not have your site be search engine friendly.
3. The third most important is the meta description. This is found only in your page's source code. One of the biggest errors we see is the use of the same meta description and title tag site wide. Each of these elements should be unique for each page. Google did not for a period of time use the description that you created for you meta description tag, but is doing so now if you have header code to tell Google not to use what you have supplied to DMOZ.
4. Everyone asks about the meta keyword tags, but Google and we place no value on them right now. Should you still include them. Yes I guess you could, but I would not waste huge time on them, but I did feel the need to mention them but this field is not important.
If you have another element you think is important, just click comments and leave me one to share what you think is important.
1. The most important element is your title tag. This is found in your source code between title and /title. What you put here appears on your browser screen at the very top just to the right of the IE icon near the edge of your monitor. It should be keyword dense, on topic to your website and NOT contain your business name.
2. The second most important element is your navigation. If you are using JavaScripted drop down menus, you must supply text based navigation for search engines to follow or they will not move to the inside of your website to spider pages. Typically we will supply text links in alphabetic order in the footer of a page for a site like this. Better yet would be to build a site with navigation using CSS or text and not have to add footer links. But it is better to remediate than to not have your site be search engine friendly.
3. The third most important is the meta description. This is found only in your page's source code. One of the biggest errors we see is the use of the same meta description and title tag site wide. Each of these elements should be unique for each page. Google did not for a period of time use the description that you created for you meta description tag, but is doing so now if you have header code to tell Google not to use what you have supplied to DMOZ.
4. Everyone asks about the meta keyword tags, but Google and we place no value on them right now. Should you still include them. Yes I guess you could, but I would not waste huge time on them, but I did feel the need to mention them but this field is not important.
If you have another element you think is important, just click comments and leave me one to share what you think is important.
Labels: Search Engine Optimization, SEO techniques
¶ 1/30/2008 06:04:00 AM 0 Comments
Sunday, September 16
Presentation Highlights from the CPCU Speech
You may be interesting in reviewing our PowerPoint presentation (now made into a PDF) of our speach yesterday at the Capital PC Users Group in Washington DC.
This presentation is a preview of our white paper "The Tangible Benefits of Blogging" that will be published in our e-newsletter in early October.
I think that you will find the case studies and tips on how to be an effective blogger and how to blog for search engine placement interesting and helpful.
This presentation is a preview of our white paper "The Tangible Benefits of Blogging" that will be published in our e-newsletter in early October.
I think that you will find the case studies and tips on how to be an effective blogger and how to blog for search engine placement interesting and helpful.
Labels: blogging for search engines, Search Engine Optimization
¶ 9/16/2007 03:01:00 PM 0 Comments
Thursday, September 6
Trying Something New on Ad Landing Pages
Sometimes a customer just simply wants to do a test to see if something will work before they go whole hog. Here is one case study for Pinnacle Executive Center you may find interesting.
This client leases virtual office space in the Bethesda and Rockville areas outside of Washington DC. Now by virtual I mean 100 to 300 square foot mini-offices. But these offices have a special twist, they are deluxe and have reception service, copy center, conference rooms, and even concierge services. That means get your errands and dry cleaning done for you while you are working.
The client did not want to invest in a full blown optimized website and had already purchased a nice online Flash brochure, plus they were testing a Google AdWords program to see if any or all of it would work to drive leases.
What we did was to do a mini site optimization for the Flash page, scroll to the bottom of the landing page linked into my blog post title and you will see what I mean. You can right click to view source and review the meta tags as well. I tried to create some keyword density for them on a Flash site that had no text as he was hoping to get some organic placement as well.
In addition we are using this same page as a Google AdWords landing page, looking for a good quality score based again on a mini-optimization. I'll let you know how it performs over the next several weeks. It should be an interesting test!
This client leases virtual office space in the Bethesda and Rockville areas outside of Washington DC. Now by virtual I mean 100 to 300 square foot mini-offices. But these offices have a special twist, they are deluxe and have reception service, copy center, conference rooms, and even concierge services. That means get your errands and dry cleaning done for you while you are working.
The client did not want to invest in a full blown optimized website and had already purchased a nice online Flash brochure, plus they were testing a Google AdWords program to see if any or all of it would work to drive leases.
What we did was to do a mini site optimization for the Flash page, scroll to the bottom of the landing page linked into my blog post title and you will see what I mean. You can right click to view source and review the meta tags as well. I tried to create some keyword density for them on a Flash site that had no text as he was hoping to get some organic placement as well.
In addition we are using this same page as a Google AdWords landing page, looking for a good quality score based again on a mini-optimization. I'll let you know how it performs over the next several weeks. It should be an interesting test!
Labels: Google AdWords, Search Engine Optimization
¶ 9/06/2007 07:45:00 AM 0 Comments
Tuesday, July 10
Blogging for Search Engines
Many of the same techniques that you routinely use for good search engine optimization on your website should be used on your blog. Here are some of our top tips.
- Make sure your blog post contains your top keywords but don't spam
- Keep your blog posts keyword dense and on one topic
- Use the title link field to make your title clickable to point to an article or your website for more information
- If you have a link in the content, make sure that you properly use keywords in the anchor text
- For more boost try bolding your important keywords in your post or in your anchor text
- Our typical blog post is about 200 to 350 words, don't write a dissertation
- Use labels if you can with your keywords in the label
There is no right or wrong way to write your blog, but there is a more effective way to get better search engine placement using your blog.
Labels: Search Engine Optimization
¶ 7/10/2007 08:50:00 AM 0 Comments
Wednesday, February 21
Search Engine Optimization
I have just finished search engine optimizing a website that had not received good search engine placement. You can click our blog post title and visit the site. It is called the Center For Permanent Cosmetics.
Not only did we totally optimize the site, but reworked the content, added images, upgraded services, and in general gave it the polish that it needed. I wish that I could show you the before and after to really illustrate that great focused content can really upgrade a website to a new level.
One thing that all webmasters, newbies, and just educated site owners can take away from this post is that it is very difficult to get search engine placement if your only form of navigation is encapsulated in JavaScript. If you love having a drop down menu, just make sure to include text based navigation that the search engines can read and follow to spider your full website. Search engines will not read the links that you have embedded in JavaScript and so you may end up with just your home page being indexed as this site did. When you have more to offer than one page of content, make sure that you are helping the search engines by using spider friendly code, links, and techniques for improved search placement.
Not only did we totally optimize the site, but reworked the content, added images, upgraded services, and in general gave it the polish that it needed. I wish that I could show you the before and after to really illustrate that great focused content can really upgrade a website to a new level.
One thing that all webmasters, newbies, and just educated site owners can take away from this post is that it is very difficult to get search engine placement if your only form of navigation is encapsulated in JavaScript. If you love having a drop down menu, just make sure to include text based navigation that the search engines can read and follow to spider your full website. Search engines will not read the links that you have embedded in JavaScript and so you may end up with just your home page being indexed as this site did. When you have more to offer than one page of content, make sure that you are helping the search engines by using spider friendly code, links, and techniques for improved search placement.
Labels: Search Engine Optimization
¶ 2/21/2007 12:01:00 PM 0 Comments
Tuesday, February 13
Want Top Organic Search Engine Placement?
If you want top organic search engine placement, then you absolutely must use the tool that we use. Click our blog post title to view this neat online tool that is instrumental in getting good search engine organic placement. It is a keyword density tool.
Now the real trick comes in to just how much density on your keywords do you need to have. Well if you need to move up in the SERPs you should be looking for 5 to 7% density on your chosen narrow keywords. Google and MSN like about 3% at this point, so I might hedge to be around 5% at this point. You know we don't want to spam the engines do we? It used to be that 7% was my benchmark, but I am seeing more chatter on this topic in the professional forums and I think that I will personally be striving for about 5% or so at this point.
Easy? Well go ahead and try to write readable content that looks good, sounds good, and makes sense to a reader all the while catering to the search engines. It is tough, it is a craft, and it is an art. So take this nugget and see what you can do now for your site.
Now the real trick comes in to just how much density on your keywords do you need to have. Well if you need to move up in the SERPs you should be looking for 5 to 7% density on your chosen narrow keywords. Google and MSN like about 3% at this point, so I might hedge to be around 5% at this point. You know we don't want to spam the engines do we? It used to be that 7% was my benchmark, but I am seeing more chatter on this topic in the professional forums and I think that I will personally be striving for about 5% or so at this point.
Easy? Well go ahead and try to write readable content that looks good, sounds good, and makes sense to a reader all the while catering to the search engines. It is tough, it is a craft, and it is an art. So take this nugget and see what you can do now for your site.
Labels: Search Engine Optimization
¶ 2/13/2007 07:37:00 AM 0 Comments
Wednesday, February 7
The Face of Search Engine Optimization Has Changed
The art of search engine optimization has changed significantly in the last two to three years, and now it has changed again thanks to Google's personalized results.
These used to be the tactics that worked for search engine placement:
These used to be the tactics that worked for search engine placement:
- Insert keywords into comment tags
- Insert keywords into image alt tags
- Build reciprocal links with other sites more=better
- Bold keyword text on your page
- Create a good title tag
- Have a good meta description and loads of meta keywords
- Use keywords in h1 and h2 tags
Out of that list the tactics that will really work now are:
- Create a good title tag
- Have a good meta description Use keywords in h1 and h2 tags
- Strive for a good keyword density on your content pages
- Work to have excellent content and offer information that will benefit your readers
- Have a blog on your site to keep your content fresh and targeted
It is amazing to me that some people still think that keywords stuffed inside comment tags still work. In fact it does not and Google will penalize you for the use. (Been there done that.) Interesting that a very high-powered Flash designer told me he is using this tactic when we talked about the trouble with his Flash websites placing organically. I do not recommend doing this at all; this is old news.
With personalized search being a default now for Google on the Web, content and I mean good content, is more than important it is crucial. Many of the techniques previously used will not work now to get good site placement.
The face of optimization is changing and now is the time to do your research and change your style and tactics to move your site forward using strong time-tested strategies that really work.
Labels: Search Engine Optimization
¶ 2/07/2007 07:23:00 AM 0 Comments
