SEO - Keywords and phrases

By Frank

 

Hi Larry,

Search engine optimization is all about second-guessing what the search engines look for in a web-site.

The first thing you should do is establish your keywords. these are the words that people are likely to type into their seach engine in order to find sites of interest.

The mistake most people make is using keywords that reflect the nature of the underlying business. For example. Hotels like to use hotels, travel, tourism etc. These are too broad and don't help searchers find relevant sites.

It's better to use location-specific keywords instead, such as "eaiting out in Thailand", "Crocodiles" or "elephant show". These are all phrases associated with the country of Thailand. If someone enters these search terms, and you have a section on a hotel site that promotes these events, then you're likely to get a hit.

Once you¡ve discovered your keywords (or keyword phrases) use them often in your site (especially in heading tags). This helps to get your site noticed. Even though people may be looking for information about these subjects, they may land on a page in a hotel site which provides helpful information. The site visitor may well be tempted to visit the country and use that particualr hotel.

Its all about "Information". Self promotion sites often provide little information other than what they are promoting. Make your site more informative, and all sorts of visitors will find you. Some you will convert to customers, others wiill just leave, thankfull for the helpful information you've provided. But, whatever else happens, visitors help your rankings. They give your site importance.

No matter what business you may be in, there is always scope for finding subjects of interest to potential clients. For example, a Garden centre can offer pages dedicated to seasonal planting, a pool company can give advice about swimming safety, and a restuarant can offer pages of recipies.. All these articles provide information that people search for. Get the information right, and the keywords, and you've won half the battle in getting rankings.

Hope this helps

Kind regards

Frank

 

 

Serif forum link - Spiders and robots and meta tags