Are you confused, befuddled, and frustrated over SEO? Or are you like I was a year ago -- wondering "What the heck is SEO?"
Just in case -- it's search engine optimization, and if you do it, the search engines will rank you higher, so your future customers can find you.
The trouble is, there is too much advice out there about it. And much of it is bad advice. Some of it assures you that you, as a reasonably intelligent person, can not possibly optimize your page yourself.
You need experts who know the tricks that can fool the search engines. Not good. Remember the old margarine ads that said "It isn't nice to fool Mother Nature?" Well, Google and the others can be just as vengeful as Mother Nature when you try to fool them. In fact, if you try too hard and too obviously, they'll boot you from their rankings.
Nobody likes a sneak, Google included.
So what can you do? Pay attention to common sense advice. Fill your site with good, useful content, and use your keywords sensibly. That makes sense from both sides: the search engines, AND your readers.
After all, if you "stuff" your site with keywords and it does get you a top ranking until Google figures out what you've done, what good is it if the copy makes your visitors click away? Not much, I'd say.
Early in my copywriting career I was hired to write a sales page that was nothing short of terrible. I did what "the boss" said, but I sure didn't post that link on my site as an example of my work.
It went something like this: "If you're looking for a home for sale in Utah, then we can help you find the best homes for sale in Utah. Just click on homes for sale in Utah and you'll be taken to a complete list of homes for sale in Utah." It went on for several pages in the same manner. Awful. But those folks had read about the latest "tricks" and believed they'd work.
Don't do that. Make your copy flow naturally, while still adding your keywords wherever they will fit smoothly. Try to get them into the first and last paragraph if possible. If you want more exposure, break your ideas up into sections and create a page for each. That's easier on your readers, better for getting your message across, and search engine friendly all at the same time.
After you get your content written, create your title tags and meta descriptions. Make sure each uses your keywords.
Once you've got your on-site optimization refined, then work on getting links from other sites - and try to get those links from your keywords.
For instance, say you have a company called "House Beautiful" and you provide a home staging service in Dallas. First check to see what the top keywords are for your service. Then try to use them, rather than your name, as the link. For now I'll assume that your keywords are "home staging in Dallas." Use those words as the link.
Author: Marte Cliff
Previous news: 29 April 2007
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