Pimp My Keywords

The Dynamic Duo Debut at Purple Trout

Hey everyone! We're Kristin Bednarski and Sarah Groneck, the new SEO/SMO writers at Purple Trout, LLC. From here on out, we'll be blogging every Friday about all things social media, including things we've learned, tips we've come up with, and facts and information regarding your favorite social media venues.

Feel free to ask us any questions or make any suggestions, and we'll try to speedily respond on this blog.

Our first post will debut next Friday, and we're looking forward to exploring the wonderful world that is social media.

SEO Tactics, Tips & Helpful Advice - No. 121

Recently, Google's Eric Schmidt made note of Google's 200 ranking factors in determining search enging rankings.

Of course, Google's not going to reveal their business secrets by publishing their search engine algorithms. Instead, Google has revealed some factors that are important in determining page ranking position. They include:

• The presence of a search term in the HTML title tag. Yes, you need much more here than "Home" and "About Us" and/or the name of your business.
• The presence of a search term in the HTML body copy. If you're targeting the keyword "strawberries" on a specific page, then you need to be mentioning the keyword in your page content.
• Search terms in bold typeface.
• Search terms in header tags (H1, H2, etc.).
• The presence of a search term in anchor text links. Like this: SEO.
• The PageRank of a page.
• The PageRank of the entire domain.
• The speed (load time) of the website.

Remember, there are 200 factors. Doing the aforementioned points is a great start!

SEO Tactics, Tips & Helpful Advice - No. 120

When it comes to SEO, content is much more than text. In fact, content includes everything that can be optimized on your website, including graphics, photographs, videos, PDF files, etc.

Don't forget to:

• Use proper ALT tags for your graphics and photos.
• Use proper keywords in your image names. For example, "pool-cues.jpg" is much better than "pc123.jpg".
• For videos, make sure you're completing all file properties for the video using keywords where appropriate. For YouTube, you'll want to create a link back to your website.
• PDF files are often overlooked for optimization. They should also include a proper title, description, keywords in the PDF file properties.

If you're overlooking these elements, you're missing out on some potential SEO opportunities that may be making a difference in keyword rank.

Keywords and your Website's Content

As the saying goes, “Content is king”, so I guess that makes me – Erin, SEO writer at Purple Trout – a pretty special fishy!

The content on your website is the key to boosting your search engine rankings.  Whether you are starting a new website or helping people find your current one, your content will help your company achieve its goals!

The more content on your website, the better your rankings will be. 

Consider this, search engines need to believe your website is a good result for a searcher’s query.  If your website is full of Flash and flying graphics, that doesn’t tell the search engine what you are all about.

Every page that includes words – be it product descriptions, your company history or an explanation of the services you provide – offers a new opportunity to tell search engines why your site is the best result for your targeted keywords. 

Take a hard look at all of your web content, including Meta and ALT tags, and see where you can seamlessly work in keywords.

Making your current content keyword-rich is only the first step in the process.  Creating new content is also vital!  When you begin making changes to your website, search engine spiders will take notice and crawl the changed pages. 

The more often they crawl your website, the more your rankings will climb.

New content doesn’t need to mean a page with an in-depth, hard hitting article on the latest trends in your industry.  Make the process easy on yourself by publishing press releases, letters from the CEO and keyword rich articles.

Every piece of new content, every additional place a keyword appears on your website will help your rankings.

So, what should you take away from this?

Start by taking a critical look at your website. 

• Do you have content on every page – yes, every single page?
• Does that content include your keywords?
• Are you constantly adding new, keyword rich content to your website?

If you answered “no” to any of these questions, it’s time to get optimizing!

- Erin

SEO Tactics, Tips & Helpful Advice - No. 111

Often overlooked, one should never underestimate the power of the meta tag code.

Granted, meta tags don't carry as much weight with Google (and other search engines) as they used to, but when it comes to search engine optimization, always take full advantage of every ethical SEO opportunity.

While I wouldn't worry too much about the keyword meta tag, I would definitely give some consideration to the Page Title and Page Description tags.

Why?

1. Google and other search engines use your Page Titles as part of their search results. This gives you another strong opportunity to convince a potential customer to click your Title within search results.
2. Google and other search engines use your Page Descriptions as part of their search results. See those two-line descriptions in search results? Yep, they are coming from your Page Descriptions; again an opportunity to sell.
3. Titles and Descriptions carry keyword weight. OK, maybe not a lot of weight, but "Home" is not as strong as "Keyword 1, Keyword 2, Keyword 3"

Writing strong Page Titles should go hand-in-hand with writing strong content. Keywords should be utilized in both places and the earlier you mention the targeted keywords, the better.

For example, if a particular web page is focused on three types of crayons (Red Crayons, Blue Crayons, Yellow Crayons), then you should use the same three targeted keywords in the Page Title and Page Description and you should use them in the same order (Red Crayons, Blue Crayons, Yellow Crayons).

Therefore, if your Page Title is: Blue Crayons, Yellow Crayons, Red Crayons

...then consider re-ordering your keywords to: Red Crayons, Blue Crayons, Yellow Crayons

Don't stuff your Title with unnecessary and useless keywords. Write strong, relevant and keyword-rich Titles; approximately 60-100 characters.

Keep it simple.

The Underrated ALT Tag

Are you using ALT tags to identify your images, photos and graphics to search engines?

By golly, you should be!

When searching for anything in Google, you'll see more and more images are appearing high in search engine results. Do you think this happened by accident? Do you think Google knows the picture is a plate of chocolate chip cookies? No, it's the often-ignore ALT tag to the rescue!

When applying ALT tags to images, be honest and ethical. Use a keyword only when/where it applies. If the photograph is a picture of Bill Smith, don't create an ALT tag of "Super Duper Oil" when it's actually a picture of "Bill Smith, President, Super Duper Oil".

Get it?

Yes, there are many more important SEO elements, but don't ignore the ALT tag.

SEO Tactics, Tips & Helpful Advice - No. 104

Note: This post represents my two year anniversary of writing weekly "SEO Tactics, Tips & Helpful Advice." I hope you have found these posts helpful in your search engine optimization endeavors. Keep going!

* * *

Quit keyword stuffing your website.

It's old-school SEO.

It doesn't work.

It's black hat and unethical.

Too many search engine optimization "experts" continue the practice to try to trick search engines into ranking their clients' website high in Google search results. This practice is stupid and it "dumbs down" the audience by repeating the same set of keywords over and over.

Instead of writing website content for search engines, write your content for humans. Wow...what a unique idea!

Use your keywords in all the right places: Page Titles; Headers; Page Descriptions; Alt Tags. Yes, you want to utilize keywords effectively in content. Be smart. Quit stuffing.

SEO Tactics, Tips & Helpful Advice - No. 85

Now is the time to get your website and social media efforts in gear for 2010.

No more delays.

No more excuses.

Before the holidays arrive, let's plans some goals and some projects for the new year. Ready?

1. Evaluate your company's website. What's the message? What is the call to action? Does the content need to be updated? Do you have a page for articles and press releases? Does your site have social media badges (to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.)?
2. Evaluate your website's targeted keywords and content. Is the right audience finding your website in Google and other search engines? Are you promoting old articles and press releases from more than year old?
3. In reference to search engine optimization (SEO) and content, how are your keywords doing? Invest some time into keyword digging with the Google Keyword Research Tool, Wordtracker and Keyword Discovery. Once you have selected your targeted research, write some better content.
4. Write a blog. You need to get this going. Now.
5. Participate in a Pay Per Click campaign with Google, Bing or Facebook.
6. Keep your eye on Bing. It's a good place to start if you are trying out your first Pay Per Click campaign.
7. How are your local rankings? Are you targeting local customers? Regional customers? National customers? All of them?
8. Are you listed in Google Maps? You should be. It's free.

Don't let another year go by without taking advantage of your website's potential. Start today and get ready for 2010.

SEO Tactics, Tips & Helpful Advice - No. 84

A few search engine optimization considerations as we close out 2009 and prepare for 2010.

First, real-time search is upon us as social media posts - including our "Tweets" from Twitter - are being picked up by Google in search results.

This feature is good for those who conduct searches looking for up-to-the-minute results. However, early opinion is this feature is not going to be popular with businesses who are not generating content for their website or for social media.

Now, more than ever, content is truly king.

Second, remember to keep your Page Titles and Page Descriptions keyword-rich and strong.

Third, your website's download time is going to be an important factor. Slow sites frustrate users and you'll score lower with Google.

Fourth, keep your website's content updated and fresh.

Fifth, continue to seek quality inbound links; relevancy is important.

SEO Tactics, Tips & Helpful Advice - No. 72

Of all the things to stress about - and spend time on - in your search engine optimization campaigns, the least of your worries is the keyword meta tag.

You know what I'm talking about: stuffing all your keywords into the

code section in your website's html, php, content management system, etc., etc.

Don't fret my friend. Check out the Google webmaster tools article on Meta Tags.

Some will opt to continue to use the code, but at least you know you don't have to. Use the time saved to work on content and link building.