On-Page Optimization - Step 3: Keyword Optimization

Search engine optimization can never succeed without the right choice of keywords. Keyword optimization should be considered from three angles: (1) It should be meaningful and representative of the content of your website. (2) It should be among the popular words a user would employ when he is looking for content relevant to your website. (3) Make sure the keywords have high search volume and comparatively low competition. And, (4) Strike a right balance in the placement and repetition of keywords to suit the requirements of the spider. Do not choose too many as the focus would be lost. The content is for the reader and the keywords are for the spider.

Points to remember in keyword optimization

• Decide on what the purpose of the website is and what its prime focus is on. Choose a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 20 keywords that are a direct hit on the content.
• Do a research on the keywords you propose to have on your website and find details of how many people have searched the net for these particular words, what are the other closely related set of words and what is their search statistics, what are the keywords of your competitor and what is their search statistics, etc. It is sure to take a lot of time, but it's worth it. A lot of tools are available on the net to do this analysis for you. Shortlist your keywords through this analysis.
• To ensure keyword optimization, do not choose too many as you will not be able to give them their due importance.
• Having decided on them, make sure that they appear in prominent places like the title tag, keyword tag, heading tags, and in the first page, especially the first paragraph of your website.
• It is essential to maintain a correct balance in keyword density. Keywords no doubt need to be repeated but at the same time never repeat without purpose as it will turn out to be keyword stuffing. If the density is moderate, the search engine will determine that your page is relevant to the keyword that you are targeting.
• To avoid high keyword density it would be better to replace them with synonyms. You can easily bring out the intended meaning with synonyms and the density will also be at the required level. The natural flow of content in the website will also not be hampered.
• The best keyword optimization strategy would be for your keywords to be a few words long as single words are generally not a good choice as millions of sites will show up for such a search. If the keywords are few words in length then it is easier to obtain a higher rank. But make sure that they are not too long. You can add words like best, cheap, top, etc. to avoid single words. The normal standard for the length of the keywords can be 2-3 words.

A lot of research is required in this area. If you have the time and the expertise, you can do it yourself. Or, get a SEO company to do it for you; they are more experienced with these criteria.

On-Page Optimization - Step 2: Meta Tag Optimization

On-page optimization enhances the content of your website. It is related directly to the content and structure of the website. Normally the web pages contain Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) or other document formats that are indexed by search engines like, Microsoft Word or PDF formats. The main idea behind on-page optimization is to remove redundant HTML codes and to restructure the site in such a way so as to produce better linked and focused page content. These are very simple steps that anybody can learn and implement. Step 1, title optimization, was discussed in my previous article. Here, the topic chosen for discussion is Meta tag optimization.

We all know that the web pages are created through tags. Meta tags are very important from the SEO stand point because the spiders cannot see the webpage but can read the content of the tags. So, optimization of the Meta tags content has an important role to play in search engine optimization.

Meta Tags Optimization
Meta description contains a summary of your website and focuses on the products and services that your business is specialized in. If this description is appealing to the reader, then he/she is sure to go through the website in more detail. The way the description is written is important because if it is too monotonous or generic the reader will simply ignore and move away from the website. So a lot of time is spent in creating keyword and description Meta tags. Yahoo uses the description tag to provide a summary of the site in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERP). It is not used for ranking pages.

Google, Yahoo! and Bing use the text they find on the page as a description. So, take care to ensure that your first header and the sentences that follow describe the contents. The importance given by search engines to Meta tags is not very clear. It is always better to write the first few paragraphs very well as search engines give more prominence to the content at the top of the page and some consider only the first few paragraphs.

Points to remember when writing a Meta Description
• Give a crisp description about your website. It places you at an advantageous position in SERP.
• Keywords can be included as they give you some advantage in Google's relevancy algorithm.
• If you have not included you contact number in the title tag you can include it in the description tag.

Other HTML Tag Optimization

Apart from the title and the description, the content of the website should be divided into sections with appropriate headings and subheadings. Set the important headings as level 1 heading and the sub-headings as level 2 or 3 headings by using appropriate HTML tags. The text to be emphasized should be made bold, italic, etc. The spiders give a lot of importance for the text within the header tags. So make sure they include the important keywords.

Meta tag optimization makes sure that the content of the website is clearly understood by the reader and also ensures that the spider can easily assess what the website contains. Be sure to make use of the added advantage in your search engine optimization.

On Page Optimization - Step 1: Title Optimization

If you wish to materialize your dreams of obtaining a good ranking in search engine results, you must learn to comply with the intelligent techniques search engines use and get good rankings. On page optimization helps you to understand the requirements of the search engines and convert your website into one that is not only user friendly but also search engine friendly and thereby obtain a good ranking. Given below are some valuable tips on how title optimization can effectively lead to search engine optimization.

Title Optimization

Title is the name you give your website and you see it on the title bar on the top left corner of your web browser. The title is enclosed within the title tag in the HTML code of the web page. If you look into the source code of your web page you will find the title tag in the head section of the HTML code. This is a very important element in website on page optimization. Make your title short, but informative about your website. It should give the visitor an idea of what he might expect to find in your website. The title should be attractive and kindle the interest of the user to visit your site. An effective title helps achieve on-page optimization and makes SEO endeavors a success.

Points to remember in Title Optimization

• Your advertisement strategy may aim at popularizing your name or business name or site name. In that case, make sure that these names appear in the title. Consider the words a user might use to search for your website or for other websites offering similar products and services and include them in the page title.
• If your service is region specific, you would want potential customers in and around that region to find you in the local business search. If that is the case, including the county and state where your business is based will help a lot!
• If your aim is to get a good ranking for certain keywords, then include them in the title. In your enthusiasm to include all the important words in the title do not stuff it with too many keywords. Make it short and sweet yet, descriptive of the content.
• You can also include your contact phone number on the title tag. It instigates your visitors to call you immediately. It also makes your site look more professional and authentic. In case you do not wish to do so, you can always include the contact number details in the Meta description provided in the HTML code.
• Search engines give more weight to title tag and heading tags. So place the title tag as the first tag in the head section of the page. Structure the content of the web page with proper heading of different levels: H1, H2, H3, etc. Keywords can also be placed in these headings. Do not choose several keywords as the focus might be lost.

Thus, title optimization plays a vital role in your website's SEO. Now that you know about it, make the changes in your website and see the difference!

Benefits of Off-Page Optimization

First and foremost, your website must be an effective advertisement in itself, to market your product or service. Secondly, it should provide your visitors with overall information about your company so that they feel convinced and confidently move to the next level. i.e., buying your products or engaging your services. Therefore, it is not an exaggeration if we say Search engine optimization is the backbone of online marketing.

Off-Page Optimization is a core technique in applying for Search engine optimization method, which is done outside of the website, the aim is to get the best positions for particular set of keywords and attract more visitors getting a permanent traffic out there. Off-Page Optimization targets at getting back links through various link building techniques for particular keywords.

On-Page Optimization factors like bolding text, adding a bulleted list, highlighting the keywords etc, they might not be as important as the off-page factors but they have a direct impact on your webpage making your website search engine friendly. Online optimization helps in identifying the requirements of your customer and thereby provides a customized service.

How Off-Page Optimization could help in SEO

Once you have completed optimizing the on page of your website, then you will be ready to move forward and begin the off-page stage of your Search engine optimization. Off-Page Optimization is the process by which you select and establish links with other web pages. There are a few key factors that you need to bear in mind when you undertake the linking process. They are as follows:

1. Firstly, you will need to identify suitable sites to which you want to establish links. In the process, due the availability of a large number of links your chances to be noticed by the search engine crawlers is high. The more this happens, the higher your search engine ranking will score.

2. Secondly, hyper linking from high ranking, high quality sites will further up your chances in the search rankings than links from poor quality, low ranked sites or sites with irrelevant information.

3. As you proceed with Off-Page Optimization, you may also wish to look at the number of outbound links existing on the web pages that are linking to you. These outbound links are nothing but as its name suggest, links from a web page or pages to other external, outbound sites.

4. Lastly, you should focus at the page titles of the sites that links are originating from. This is important as you may wish to contact the person running the site to negotiate reciprocal links. This is a much tried and tested method. Most people are open to this and they understand the benefit of good quality links.

Therefore, we understand that Off-Page Optimization is crucial to the success of your website and the optimization of your position in the search engine rankings. Developing quality links will play an important part in moving your site up the ranks in the search engines and will prove to be a rewarding experience.

Website Health Check: Keyword Blunders - Part 2

If you have read the first part of the article, you should by now be aware of the basics of keywords and the importance of Website Health Check. Keyword density is another important aspect of Search Engine Optimization and will be dealt with in this article. Some more blunders in keywords such as keyword stuffing, spelling errors, cloaking, etc. revealed by a Website Health Check report are mentioned here.

Blunder 1: Keyword that is not relevant to the content
Many people do this mistake in keyword research. The output of the keyword research should be that the final keywords should be 100 percent related to the website, with low competition and high search volume. But, most people on their attempt to balance competition and search volume lose sight of the relevancy of the keywords to the site. Irrelevant keywords will not help in Search Engine Optimization.

Blunder 2: Keyword density being too low
Another probable flaw found in websites through a Website Health Check is keyword density. Keyword density is the number of times a keyword repeats itself when compared to the rest of the content. If the keyword density is low, it won't create an impact for the search engines to register the word as an important element for the website. The standard should be around 4% - 7% of the entire webpage. But, if the keyword density is high, it results in "keyword stuffing" which we'll discuss next.

Blunder 3: Having a high keyword density (aka) keyword stuffing
Keyword stuffing can be defined as "the technique by which a keyword(s) is overly repeated in the webpage content to get a higher page rank." This is considered to be an unethical SEO technique which may easily result in the website being penalized by search engines. This process is also considered to be a part of Spamdexing (again unethical!). This will probably result with your site being banned by the search engine.

Blunder 4: What's the spelling again?
The keyword research might provide you with a good set of keywords to use in your website. But, due to silly mistakes and typographical errors, people make the word plural or commit a spelling mistake. Search engines do not have the capacity to check for the misspellings and change them as necessary. In keywords, there is a sea of difference between "box" and "boxes".

Blunder 5: Having hidden text or keywords (aka) cloaking
Cloaking will reduce your page rank to as low as zero or the search engine could easily ban the site. Cloaking is an unethical procedure of adding invisible content in the website containing the keywords to get a higher position for queries in search engines based on the specific keywords. This could be done by making the font color of the content same as the background. Another form is by replacing the respective description used to describe missing images with keywords. This may be unintentional due to a technical error. You know it. But does the search engine know that it is unintentional?

You can use a vast array of tools on the Internet to find these blunders. Or, you can get a Website Health Check report for your site from any site providing SEO services.

Once you find that your website needs change, contact your website administrator to make the necessary changes. More preferably you could approach your SEO vendor if you have one because they are more trained in keywords and other optimization criteria. Some of these blunders may cause more harm than others. Even then, why leave it to chance? Start your Website Health Check today!

Website Health Check: Keyword Blunders - Part 1

Website Health Check provides a report on the components of a website. Keyword is one of the most important components. Let's start with it. Keywords are the starting point of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). So, when you make a mistake with the keywords, your whole optimization process becomes a waste of time. So spend some time to do some keyword research. Here are some of the prominent blunders done in on-page optimization processes.

Blunder 1: Failing to do Keyword Research
People without Search Engine Optimization knowledge tend to do this mistake. Keyword research is the first lesson for a beginner in SEO. Keyword research, as the name suggests, is a research on probable words and helps you to weed out ones that wouldn't suit you in terms of high competition or low search volume (two factors to consider if you want a good position in the search results). If you have keywords without doing keyword research, it is possible that the words may not be useful in terms of SEO.

Blunder 2: Not Knowing if the Website has Keywords
The second blunder commonly found in many websites is that they do not add their keywords in the website. To find if a webpage in your website has any keywords, you can view the page source. To view the source, click on "View" button in the Menu bar and in the menu that pops up, click on "Page Source". In the new window, try to find the word "keywords" in the Meta tag. If you find it followed by a list of other words concerned with your website, then you have keywords in your website. If not, you should think about adding them. If your website does not have the keywords then it will not be properly listed by the search engines.

Blunder 3: Low Number of Keywords
OK, you have the keywords in the website. Is that it? The third most common blunder found is that the websites sometimes have low number of keywords for it to make any impact. For example, if you have a website based on shoes and you have a single keyword mentioned (shoes), then you will find thousands of competitors and millions of web pages that aim to get listed by search engines for the same keyword. The competition is simply too high. Hence, you have to have a minimum of four keywords that describe the website and its contents. So that even if you lose to your competition on one of the keywords, the other keywords might help you get a good position in the search pages. Do a keyword research and get more keywords.

Blunder 4: Too many keywords
If the search engines are fed many keywords, then the website will be listed under too many keywords and the focus will be thinned out. Hence, to focus your keyword research and related optimization processes, you'll have to have a maximum of 20. These will be taken by the search engines and the website indexed accordingly.

There are many sites that provide tools for finding these blunders in a website. Some sites even provide you with a whole Website Health Check where these and many other on-page elements are evaluated and suggestions are given.

If, in the Website Health Check, you come across any mistakes that you want to rectify, you can ask your website administrator to do the task. If you want a Search Engine Optimization approach to these criteria, get the assistance of an SEO company as they are more experienced in the optimization process.