The heat is on! Where just over a short decade ago the internet was viewed a free-roaming Wild West pioneer’s game. These days the practices and techniques used in obtaining web traffic have become more refined, precise and competitive. With an ever evolving set of rules, services and content to sort through, many individuals and businesses have become lost to best Search Engine Optimization (SEO) practices. If you’re one of the many despaired by the multitude of information dancing between you and online monetization, the following entry will offer up a foundation from which to grow your SEO understanding.
Keywords are key! What is your page about? What do you sell? What do you do? These questions work to define which keywords you will use to direct traffic to your site. Think back to your last Google search… What did you search for, and how did you locate your target?
Let’s say a company designs, manufactures and sells puppy costumes. For this example, let’s also say that they have a very minimal page layout containing 5 phrases and a single image:
– Cute Puppy Costumes
– Bottled Water
– Superman
– Puppy Videos
– Cheap Sushi
– Image – named “image1.jpg” sans alt text.
Do you think Google is going to point potential puppy costume customers in your direction? Perhaps… but not a crowd.
Compare the first example with a more cohesive set of keywords/image:
– Cute Puppy Costumes
– Cheap Puppy Costumes
– Detroit Puppy Costumes
– Puppy Costumes For Sale
– Dog Halloween Costumes
– Image – named “cute-puppy-costume.jpg” – alt text “cute puppy costume”
Due to the more cohesive set of keywords, Google and other search engines will be able to determine that this particular site contains information pertaining to puppy costumes. In light of this fact, the site will be awarded a much higher search ranking.
Once you have a set of appropriate keywords picked out, it’s a simple matter of proper placement. Best practices for keyword phrases tell us to designate a single phrase or keyword to a particular page. Keyword stuffing is generally frowned upon by search engines, and will typically do more harm than good.
Ideal keyword placement:
– Menu Navigation Optimization
– HTML Meta Title Tag Optimization
– HTML Image Alt Tag Optimization
– HTML Meta Tag Optimization
– HTML Body Content Optimization
– HTML H1 Tag Optimization
The next step in your SEO journey entails filling these areas with relevant and significant content. Do your best to avoid simply listing your keywords; cutting corners – as with most things – will get you nowhere.
Corner Cutting:
“sedation dentist – family dentistry – dental implants”
Best Practices:
“Need A Sedation Dentist In Miami? Call Solomon Family Dentistry! From Routine Cleanings to Dental Implants, Solomon Family Dentistry has you covered for the gentle, friendly, high-quality care you need to achieve the smile you deserve.”
By implementing and mastering these basic SEO practices, not only will you be able to drive traffic and customers to your site; you will place yourself ahead of the competition.
Of course, these are just the basics. Optimizing your content and code for your target keywords involves character limitations, ideal placement on the page or in the code and many other variables.
SEO just not your thing? Let Eminent SEO get the job done for you! Contact a representative today to get started on your calculated keyword campaign… We are pros at this stuff!
