Search engines want relevancy in their results… period.  Keep in mind that a search engine’s number one customer is its users.  If a user has to sort through irrelevant and spammy results, they most likely won’t come back. Therefore search engines are constantly changing their algorithm in an effort to eliminate spam and give their users results that make sense. In fact, Google just did an algorithm update at the end of January. So, what does this mean for your optimization efforts? You have to keep it relevant and you have to keep it real. There are a lot of misconceptions about how to optimize a website and specifically key term optimization.
Below are five common things I hear from customers regarding key term optimization and my general response to those comments.

1.) “My site launched two weeks ago, why am I not yet ranking for key term xxxxx?”
Sorry, key term optimization is not magical.
Contrary to popular belief, key term optimization requires work! Though many believe that optimizing for a key term or key phrase is as easy as placing that term(s) once in the meta title or meta description/key terms, it is not as simple as that. Key term optimization also takes time.  Optimization is a combination of having that key word or phrase not only in the titles or meta description, but most importantly within the content of the site. If a key term or phrase is within the content of the site, the search engine can begin to determine that your site might be relevant on that term and begin to rank. Bottom line – you should be developing content for your customers and the use of key terms and optimization will come naturally.

2.) “I was told I just need to put the key term in those meta tag things and I would be all set.”
Titles and meta tags are NOT the holy grail… not anymore.
This would be true… if it was still 1995. Including key terms in your meta tags (meta description and meta key words) was a popular practice that was effective in gaining rank in the early days of search. However, search engines quickly wised up and realized that people were stuffing their meta tags with completely irrelevant key terms, gaining rank on those terms, and producing spammy search results. Remember, search engines want relevancy. Therefore they quickly adjusted their algorithms to not focus so much on the meta in order to clean up results. This decrease in the use of meta by the search engines has only increased over the years and in fact, most search engines no longer even look at the meta key terms. Titles are still an important part of optimization as visitors to the site can see that information, and meta descriptions can still be used as part of search engine result listings. Check out 5 Common SEO Misconceptions for more on meta tags.

3.) “I really want my site to rank for xxxxx because I carry this small product line that I would also like to promote on the site.”
Don’t spread yourself too thin; be relevant.
Not all key words or phrases are equal. Often times people get stuck on one key word or phrase that they believe is absolutely necessary for optimization because they are trying to be all things to all people. However, if no one, or generally few people are searching on a term, it does not make sense to try to optimize for that term. On the other hand, if a key term is too broad, it can be almost impossible to get natural optimization on that term. Choose a focus for your website and work on developing content on that focus. You also want to make sure that your website can compete with the others coming up within the search engine results in terms of price, shipping, and selection.

4.) “I want to optimize for ‘gift basket’ because I know it gets a lot of search.”
Going broad doesn’t pay… go for the long tail.
Sure, the term ‘gift basket’ gets a lot of search… it also currently has over 13 million competing sites.  The chances of a site – especially a newer site – being able to climb to the top of those other 13 million sites are slim at best. A site cannot be all things to all people; choose your focus and narrow the related terms to a manageable list of terms that make sense for your site.  Use long tail key terms. While long tail key terms may not get as much search as a broader key term like ‘gift basket’, your site is much more likely to rank for a long tail key term as long as it is relevant, and you have the content to support it. More importantly, visitors that come from long tail key terms are more likely to convert to a sale because of the relevancy of the search – the customer knows what they are looking for and is ready to buy.

5.) “That list of key terms is great, but I would also like to optimize for these other 30 terms.”
Don’t water it down.
Your site has only so much real estate for optimization, select a list of 15-20 key terms that you feel make the most sense for you site based on what you are selling, research those terms to make sure they are getting search and look at the search engine results pages (SERPs) to determine if you can compete. Then focus on using those terms within your content. Those key terms should be used within the content and titles of the site where it makes sense, not because you are trying to stuff them into as many places as possible. Titles should be relevant to the content on that page. Keep in mind that your website will also begin to naturally rank for many other long tail key terms based on the other content on your site.

Bottom line… don’t get stuck on one key term or phrase that you feel your site has to be found on. Do the research, look at your competition, and make informed decisions on how to best use key terms for optimizing your website. And, first and foremost, develop and write content for your customers – most likely, once you do that, everything else will fall into place. If you have any questions or comments about keywords leave a reply we’d be happy to discuss it with you.

One of the things I hear most often from clients when we discuss further developing content for their website is something along the lines of, “I’m not really sure what to write” or “there is not much to say about X, Y, or Z”. Many of our customers, already busy with the other responsibilities of running a small business are not sure where to begin in developing additional content for their website. Bottom line is that quality content is important for your website because it helps to sell your product or service. Here are five questions to get the ideas flowing:

1.) Do your product descriptions provide enough information?
Often times, business owners are too close to their products to realize that they may not be giving website visitors enough information to make an informed buying decision. Product descriptions need to be detailed and descriptive. Take a step back, put yourself in your customers’ shoes and take a look at your product descriptions to see if they offer enough detail to encourage a visitor to take the next step and purchase the product. Even if you do not sell your products online or instead offer a service, visitors need enough information to take the next step to contact you, whether by phone, email, or request form.

Also, if possible, make sure your product has a (good) picture! No matter what the item for sale, a good picture of your product will only increase your chances of making the sale – people want to see what they’re buying.

2.) Are there other ways to shop your products?
Websites often present their products in one, singular way, with a list of major product categories available for sale. Ask yourself if there is another way that visitors might want to shop your products. For example, if you sell Widgets, you might display the categories on your site as: Red Widgets, Blue Widgets, and Green Widgets. Well, what if someone did not want to shop by the type of Widget, but rather what the Widget can do. You may then want to develop a page for your website that outlines some of the more common uses for your product and then list the various product options you have available that would fulfill those needs. A simple place to start would be to look at the markets you serve and determine which of your products meet the needs of that market.