Free Search Engine Optimization, Marketing & Website Design Guides and Training Tutorials for Do It Yourself Businesses

Targeting Multiple Keywords vs. Singular Keyword Focus Monday, 8 March 2010, 11:23 pm

Posted by randfish

Despite being a seemingly simple topic, this one seems to stymie even experienced SEOs. There's a natural conflict that creates the issue - the more keywords you target on a single page, the less you need to link build and optimize (for both search engines and user experience/conversion rate) on many pages.

To answer this question in a logical and truly optimal fashion, you need to start with the answer to two other important questions:

1. How many of these keywords carry the same visitor intent?
2. How competitive are the targeted terms/phrases?

When you answer the first question, you'll be able to break up lists of keyword terms into buckets of "intent." Searches are almost always intended to discover information or take action. If there are too many pieces of information/actions you need to provide on a single page, your conversion will drop. Remember that a 10% conversion rate for position #10 is better than a 0.5% conversion rate for position #1 (assuming the avgs. from the leaked AOL data cited below).

NOTE: This data is from averages via AOL's data release in 2007. New numbers have not been forthcoming from any of the engines or third-party studies.

For the second question, you need to know something about the competition levels. In a scenario where every shred of keyword usage matters a great deal, from the anchor text focus to the keyword being employed at the very start of the title tag, breaking up keyword targeting to multiple pages can make a great deal of sense. If you're deep into research on this topic, you can do something like the image below, where I've taken stats and metrics for all of the top 25 ranking pages for the query "broadway tickets" on Google.com and run analysis:

NOTE: data in this graph via Open Site Explorer's Backlink Analysis

If a keyword is highly competitive, I suggest single page targeting. This is not only because you can maximize on-page optimization, but also because it means that internal and external links that point to the page can focus more directly on the target term/phrase. It's also likely that you'll be competing against pages that are more highly targeted on that keyword phrase and could lose out if you don't have that singular, pinpoint focus.

I wrote another post on a similar topic highlighting how to format titles, meta descriptions and keyword usage on pages that aim for multi-keyword targeting that may also be of help.

Look forward to your thoughts on the topic.

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Source: SEOmoz Daily SEO Blog | randfish

Search Marketing Success Stories Sunday, 7 March 2010, 9:10 pm

Posted by RobOusbey

Search Engine Optimization covers a huge range of tactics - all of which can bring direct benefit to a website. In this post, I've shared examples of different tactics used at different websites, and the effects that have been seen. If you're considering an SEO campaign for your site, or are trying to persuade someone else to invest in internet marketing, I hope this post will help demonstrate the potential of internet marketing.

The post includes real screen shots from Google Analytics (click any of them to enlarge) but the sites and data have been anonymized.

Target Your Target Terms

Remember that post about building a page with perfect keyword targeting? SEOmoz wasn't kidding around.

A website that sells homewares had issues with site structure and on-page targeting. Their category level pages were at subdomains such as

• http://kitchenequipment.sitename.com

• http://livingrooms.sitename.com

• www.sitename.com/find_product2.asp?url1=living+room&url2=rugs+and+carpets

Getting appropriate H1 tags onto each page was a quick job, improving title tag structure took a bit longer, clean & friendly URLs and internal links with appropriate anchor text were also added.

The site saw ranking improvements across the board, which brought new traffic through head, mid and long tail terms. Can you guess when the changes were made? ;-)

Getting sorted in Google Local

Before getting into the nitty-gritty of ranking factors for Local Search, dead simple tactics, etc, it's important to get the basics right. A large chain of restaurants created a 'bulk upload' file with the correct data for each one of their locations. After uploading the file, they applied for it to be reviewed and 'whitelisted'. Local data that's been uploaded by the business owner and whitelisted is treated as authoritatively as locations that have been manually verified by postcard.

Despite various issues (Google's best practice guidelines still aren't quite the best solution in some cases) the traffic generated by visibility in Local Search has been significant and valuable. (The uploads were verified in late November when the traffic begins its steady rise.)

Architecture of Change

A current affairs magazine wanted to get more from their website. Because of falling advertising revenue, the publication was at risk of being closed down. They'd seen some growth from SEO already, but wanted to prove that the website had greater value.

Although the site had a good brand and some great content, it suffered from similar problems to many news-type websites, including badly archived content, duplicate issues and a CMS that hampered keyword targeting or promoting individual articles. Recommendations were made to improve the site's architecture and migrate to the new structure.

The effect of the changes was immediate growth which took the organic traffic to 257% in three months. A month later, the magazine's owner explained that the falling revenue from print advertising meant that they couldn't continue to lose money publishing the mag, and closed it down.

Hook, Line, Sinker

An office cleaning company wanted to improve the profile of their site through SEO. Amongst other tactics, a member of staff spent a day writing a 'linkbait' post to publish on their blog. This generated huge amounts of traffic from social media sites (dwarfing their regular daily visitors) and was subsequently linked to from dozens of sites. This post, along with other content published on the site to attract links, helped the site grow in strength and authority, and it now ranks position 3 for 'office cleaning' in their country.

Paid In Full

This is SEOmoz, but I'd like to share a graph from a PPC colleague working on a site that sells scooters. They were initially bidding on very broad terms (scooter, scooters, buy a scooter, etc) but the campaign was adjusted to target more long tail terms, including descriptions, specifications, etc.

Over a period of around six weeks, the cost per click was reduced by 30% and the more targeted traffic converted increasingly well - this allowed the site owners to increase their ad budget and generated more sales than their paid search campaign ever had before.

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Source: SEOmoz Daily SEO Blog | RobOusbey

Learning SEO: It Can Get Noisy Friday, 5 March 2010, 3:14 am

There is obviously no shortage of information on SEO.

But thanks for turning up here :)

The sheer avalanche of SEO information can be overwhelming, for beginners and experts alike. Who do you know who to listen to? What information do you need to know, and what information is filler?

Why should you even listen to SEOBook?

1. Most Information Published On SEO Is Filler

You can learn 80% of what you need to know about SEO pretty quickly. You don't need the additional 20% in order to achieve, unless you're a masochist - otherwise known as an SEO professional :)

Most of the information you'll come across on the topic of SEO is written by, and for, a professional/enthusiast crowd. There is a massive echo chamber of opinion, constantly replenished, produced using publishing tools based on the notion of communicating something, often.

It can result in a lot of noise, and not much in the way of signal, especially when you're learning. If you're starting out, and want to focus on learning SEO, it's a good idea to tune the industry chatter out. It's more likely to confuse than help in the early stages.

2. Understand The Business Of Search

Search engines aren't your friend. At best, they tolerate SEO, but only when it aligns with company goals.

The search engines have a business to run, and their goals aren't the same as yours. Whilst search engine reps often come across as helpful and friendly, because they typically are helpful and friendly people, keep in mind that what they are saying serves their company first and foremost. Any advice they give you is, quite rightly, designed to further company goals.

That's their job.

Chances are, your goals and the search engines goals will be aligned in many areas, but take their advice with a grain of salt. They don't care if your site succeeds or not, as there are plenty of other sites to index.

3. Define Goals

Before you undertake SEO, define your website goals. Do you want to make more money? Get more attention? Get more leads?

The purpose of SEO is to get your site seen in the search engines. Your aim is to attract the visitors that help you achieve your goals. A high ranking for a certain keyword won't necessarily help you achieve your goals unless your site matches visitor intent.

Think about the web from a visitors point of view. What do they want to find? What content will they engage with? What will they spend their money on?

There's little point ranking well if the content you provide doesn't make you money and/or gain audience. It's getting increasingly difficult to rank pages that aren't closely aligned with the searchers intent. So, the more you understand your audience, and the more content that matches their intent, the more you'll get out of SEO.

4. Get A Credible, Well Organized Course

Like SEOBook's course for example ;)

This isn't a sales pitch. There are a number of great courses out there. Choose one or two that suit your budget and objectives, and dive in. Chances are, you will need to shell out some money, but the cost of a decent, well structured course is nothing compared to the wasted effort spent heading in the wrong direction.

In a nutshell, SEO is about about publishing content people want to engage with, and linking. You need to create content that matches visitor intent, you need to be crawlable, and you need to have inbound links. Good SEO courses will have this message at their core.

Did I mention links enough?

5. Connect With People

It's natural to want the secret sauce - those secret dark techniques that result in number one rankings.

Whilst this was characteristic of SEO years ago, it's less true now. These days, SEO is more a holistic, strategic process aimed at connecting with people, as opposed to a dark, technical art aimed at tricking machines.

Focus on making connections with people. That means understanding what people want. You can do this by undertaking basic market research, using the search engines themselves!

6. Test

Don't listen to me. Well, maybe just a bit. Don't listen to the repeaters in forums.

Test and measure for yourself. It's one of the best SEO courses you can do. It's ongoing, and it's free.

Start with a simple, focused well constructed site. What is a well constructed site in terms of SEO?

With every change you make, every new SEO strategy you adopt, test the results. Did the change help you achieve your website goals? Did you get more traffic? Better quality traffic? If your rankings improved, did this result in more/better traffic? It can be difficult to isolate variables at the best of times, but there is no chance of doing so if you try too many techniques all at once.

Make changes one step at a time. Test and measure repeat. Become at expert at measuring SEO against your goals.

Build up your own private knowledge base of SEO in your niche. Your niche may require different strategies to other niches, which is why well-meaning advice in forums and on blogs can hinder you. You'll also become a better judge of who is offering you good advice, and who is just repeating something they heard.

Source: SEO Book.com - Learn. Rank. Dominate. | PeterD

Basic On Page SEO For Wordpress Articles Monday, 1 March 2010, 4:02 pm

Articles need a main keyword in the title, introductory paragraph, two or three supporting paragraphs and a conclusion paragraph. This is basic writing but there are specifics to know for each in order to make sure your article is compliant with the latest in search engine optimization techniques. Start your articles with a summary just like this one.

Formula for Keyword Placement in SEO titles

The formula is pretty simple. The page should start with a headline, usually an <h1> which is the title of the article, content section starts with an <h2> and sub headings are usually an <h3> heading code tag. You should have 3 – 5 sections for every article. Each paragraph should have 3-5 supporting sentences. Paragraphs or groups of paragraphs should be grouped by adding sub headings.

How long should an article be?

Articles should have more than 300 words excluding titles, headings, and sub headings. Quotes from other websites should never be included in word count. It is very difficult to include enough keyword phrases in the article to get good ranking if you try to cram them together in articles that are too short. You should be covering at least 1 main exact match keyword phrase, 2-3 variations of that phrase, and 2-3 exact match keyword phrases related to the main phrase with their own 2-3 variations.

Start titles with your exact match keyword

If you can’t start the title with the keyword it is okay but keep in mind, that is your goal. Sometimes it won’t sound right and in those cases, don’t do it. It is very important this you do not alter the keyword phrase in the title. Some might add an “s” to make it plural or maybe add an “ed” to make it past tense. You have to use your imagination to make sure that the whole keyword phrase is used exactly as given.

First paragraph or summary keyword placement

Begin the first sentence of your first paragraph with the keyword phrase or at least a slight variation of it. At minimum include it in the first one or two sentences. It is also wise to include a related keyword or two here. If you don’t give the reader what they searched for in this paragraph you are going to lose their attention. This first paragraph should be a well written summary of what the reader will learn if they continue reading the entire article. It is a good thing to use the related keywords you chose for this paragraph to be in the sub headings as explained below.

Start page sections with your keywords

Every page should have a heading tag or an H2 tag headline that begins the content after the summary. Start the heading tag in your content with the keyword unless it reads awkward. Because this is the first sentence in your content it is important that this have the keyword in it but not sound like the title. Make it different and spicy. This is likely the deciding text on the page for readers as to whether or not the article contains the information they are looking for. Many people start reading from the title but some do not and we want to catch both group type’s attention.

Additional sub heading keyword placement

Separate sections of the article with h3 heading tags. In these sub headings place variations of the keyword phrase you are targeting. If not already accomplished make sure the related keywords that you placed in your first paragraph are contained in these sub heading sections as well. These are basically a mini-title for the paragraph(s) under neath it. If a user likes your title, your leading heading, or the first paragraph they still may skim the article looking for the specific section of the article that may contain the information they are looking for. Chunk-a-fying your content in this manner accommodates the skimmer type of reader.

Content paragraphs and keywords

Make sure there are at least 1 or 2 related keyword phrases that are on the same topic as your main keyword phrase. These paragraphs that are inbetween your sub headings are designed to provide greater details to the reader on the subjects listed in the sub headings. This is where the real meat of the article is. the rest of the items we have discussed are more navigation related. The purpose of titles, sub headings, etc. is to lead the reader to the information they are seeking with as little effort as possible.

All-In-One SEO Pack and Meta Data

Meta title and keywords

Start your meta title with your targeted keyword if possible. The same rules for the main title apply here with the exception of the purpose. The purpose of the meta title is to convince a searcher that the meta description below may lead to information that they are looking for. Keep your character count below 65 and closer to 60 if possible.

Meta description and keyword phrases

Start your meta description with your keywords as well but it does not have to be exact match. A slight variation of the target phrase is okay. The purpose of this part is to convince the search reading this listing that yes indeed their hunch is correct that this listing will lead them to an article or page that contains the full details of the answer they are searching for. Keep your character count below 160 and closer to 150 if possible.

Make sure you put a call to action at the end. The power of suggestion is strong so ending your meta descriptions with phrases like READ MORE… CLICK HERE… CONTINUE… increase the chances the searcher will follow the suggestion and click. Make sure these are in ALL CAPS similar to how I have shown you here.

Formatting for Optimization

How to use Bold

Bolding is something very easy to get wrong. Many people bold their keyword phrases excessively. The goal of bolding is to give readers who scan the content a specific message. If all a person does is scan your article they should get the sense of what it is about from looking at the title, headings and your bolds. Use bold to tell a story and highlight what the article or paragraph is about. Make it easy for scanners to skip reading your entire article if possible.

Italics

Italics can play a role in allowing your content to be scanned. The goal however is a little different. Use italics when you really want to get the reader to pay attention to something specific. Typically italicizing a word or phrase only helps those who have already committed to thoroughly reading the article or at least the paragraph the person is looking at.

Underline

Try to stay away from using underlined keywords. Most users on the web associate an underline with a click-able link. Even if you use an underline for in your subheadings you may still confuse someone into thinking they should click it to get more information.

Quotes

Do your best to use the quotation tag when you are quoting another website. Not only does it help readers know that it is not you saying it, but it gives a signal to search engines that you are not trying to claim this content as original. This can go a long way from keeping your article from getting penalized for containing duplicate content.

Optimizing Images For SEO

Title

A great source of traffic is Google Images. The other search engines index image as well. Making sure that you give your images a keyword descriptive title is important. Don’t stuff keywords and don’t use the same variations of keyword phrases as the rest of your content if possible. Keep it natural sounding.

Description

The description of your image is similar to the meta description. When someone is searching often times they may see an image in the search results or they might be specifically looking for images. Either way this is your chance to describe the content of your page and convince them to click through to your site. Describing your content is another way of saying that you should use your targeted keyword phrases in the description.

Alternative Text

Every screen reader program for the disabled relies on words to describe the image. Use a variation of your keywords in a way to actually describe what the image is and what it is for in a practical way.

Source: Adworkz | David