Keywords & Metatags

If you thought that when you uploaded your web site it would immediately appear on every search engine in existence, sadly - it won’t.

In one way, search engines operate in a similar fashion to your telephone directory. They both list companies by category. When you got your business telephone number you were probably asked what category you wanted to be listed under. Search engines use much the same logic. Rather than categories, they use keywords.

You must consider which keywords your site visitors will use to find you, and then incorporate those words into your Web site tags, and - more importantly - your copy.

At Objective Marketing we use our expertise to find the correct keywords for your web site.

If your site deals with dog grooming, the key phrases could be: dog grooming, pet grooming, dog bathing, grooming and boarding.

Your keywords need to be those that most people would think of when searching the Internet for a site such as yours.

How do you figure out the most effective keywords?
We use powerful software that when we type in the keywords we think visitors will use, it will provide us with all the possibilities around those words. It will also tell us the exact number of times that keyword was searched for on the web.

Where do your Keywords go?
As Web copywriters, we’ve learned that the words we wrote had a direct bearing on our client’s search engine success. That meant we had to write a message that made an emotional connection with the target audience, promoted the product or service, and included the necessary keywords that would help get them good rankings.

The basics of Keyword Optimization is:

1. Most Importantly - We Include keywords in your copy. Of course, you’ll need to use your keywords within your copy. Excellent places for keywords include: the very top of the page (above your logo), the headline, sub headlines, the first paragraph, and the last paragraph.

Keep in mind that search engine spiders are not as intelligent as they seem! They are looking for the exact keywords, not something that’s close. If you really want to be listed under the key phrase of “dog groomer and border”, then that specific and exact phrase must appear repeatedly throughout the copy on all pages of your site. Be sure it is included in the first paragraph, in the first sentence if at all possible.

2. We put keywords in your META tags. (Albeit the train of thoughts is that these are no longer so important)

The site title is what shows up in the blue bar of the browser screen. Something like “dog groomer and border offers loving care” will do. Notice it doesn’t include the name of the grooming company. It includes a very short description of the business, including keywords.

Now, we’ll do something similar for the keyword and description tags.

For the keywords description we’ll type in: “dog groomer and border dog grooming, pet grooming, pet bathing, dog bathing”.

For the site description, we’ll type in a short, attention-getting sentence. This is what your visitors will see when they search for, your company and the listings appear on the screen. It can normally be 25 words or less. This also must include your keywords and phrases - something along the lines of “Dog groomer and border. Our dog groomers take exceptional care of the special pet in your life.” Notice it gives an advantage for using your service (you take care of the pet), as well as using three of your keywords.

We can include a different site title, description and keywords for each individual page if you choose to.

3. We put keywords in your ALT tags. If we added a photo of a dog wagging his tail, we could include an ALT tag that says, “Dog grooming for the special pet in your life” or another phrase that includes our keywords. Because ALT tags consist of words, the search engines can read them just like they read your META tags. When they read the keywords within the tag, it increases your keyword usage and your chances of getting higher positioning.

4. We include keywords in your domain name and page names. Perhaps we find that “groomer” is your most effective keyword. You might try to get a domain name such as dog-groomer.com or groomer- and-border.com. Including keywords in your domain name gets you extra brownie points! Likewise, include keywords in all your page names.

When we create page names that include keywords, you get an additional boost to your rankings. You might consider naming pages “special_pets” and “groomer_pricing” or “dog_services”. Your URL for the pricing page would be www.dog-groomer.com/groomer_pricing.html.

While keywords aren’t the sole factor to obtaining high search engine rankings, they are the predominant factor. By placing them in these strategic areas, you will increase your chances of being found on the web.

We hope you found this information useful. We would like to remind you that this subject is best served, and more effective as part of a complete marketing plan or strategy, rather than in isolation. For further expert advice please contact us to discuss your requirements or post a question in our blog.

Be Seen, Be Found, Be Accessible, Be Successful.