Developing your content, title and meta tags for the search engines
Your Homepage
Search engines and directories all want unique content from a site that is easy to navigate. Keep the following in mind if you want an optimized and "search engine friendly" Web site: -Homepage should present subject matter, using thoroughly researched keyword phrases in the text. |
The two most important parts of your Web site: |
How do I create keyword phrases?
Write down all the words and phrases that you think best describes your business, products and/or service. The more targeted and specific the keywords, the more helpful they will be in generating traffic to your site. For example southwestern collars would bring in more targeted traffic than just the word collars. One way of thinking about it is to ask yourself:
What do I want someone to type in a search engine to find my business online?
Creating two to three word keyword phrases can can bring in more relevant hits than a single keyword as shown by several studies. Limit these phrases to 3-4 words. Use your city and state in your keyword phrases if your location is important to your business. For example Web designer in Albuquerque rather than Web designer.
How do I create a <title>?Use your keyword phrases to create a 6-20 word or ~60 character length title. If your geographical area is important, be sure to include your city and state. Don't include company slogans, promotional language, superlatives, punctuation marks or special characters as part of your title. All your most important keywords and keyword phrases should be at the beginning of your title.
How do I create copy for the homepage?
They copy on your front page, at least 200 words, needs to be content rich in order to get the search engines attention. Use your keyword phrase to create a content rich page. Write the content in such a way that it includes your keyword phrases in a logical manner - meaning that it reads well. DO NOT blatantly sticking in your keywords here and there. Use the most important keywords twice if you can and near the top of the copy. Hiring a professional SEO copywriter is always an option too.
How do I create a Meta description?
Using the your keyword phrases from above, briefly describe your business with just a sentence or two that is around 150 characters/20-25 words. The description is used when submitting your site to directories/search engines and it is also the copy that a person sees when a search engine query is made. Do not use all caps, dates, pronouns or other time sensitive numbers when creating your description. Use proper grammar and try to write something enticing to your users, something that will make them want to see your Web site. You can do this by briefly highlighting your product or services.
BIG MISTAKE!
Do not use the same meta tags and title for every page! Just like a table of contents of a book, your Meta tags should describe what is on the page - if the page wasn't unique to the homepage you wouldn't need it right? Reflect what each page is about wisely using your titles and Metas. This allows you to optimize each page, uniquely, for the search engines.
