|
|
newsletter
July ABCs of Web Design Newsletter (Issue 002)
In this month’s newsletter –
*Introductory comments
*Question of the month
*Wrap up
******Introductory comments******
At the June DigitalEve Columbus meeting entitled, "Rights Protection on the
Web," I ran into an attorney I worked with at CompuServe, Mark Pomeroy.
While giving his presentation, Mark commented on some court cases that were
fought over keywords. I was intrigued. In the old days of the Internet, no
one cared much for keywords or search engines. I know I was the first one at
CompuServe to add them to our corporate web site. I had to run them all by
Mark first. After his presentation, he remarked that he and I were one of
the pioneers doing Internet Law and we did not realize it at the time. And
as promised, he emailed me the court cases he mentioned and I wrote a sidebar to
my next SEO article. It amazes me that in the beginning of the Internet, no one
much cared about keywords or SEO and now they are filing lawsuits and suing over
trademarked keywords. I guess we have come a long way.
******Question of the month******
Question: After the first SEO article came out, called "Search Engine
Optimization: Keywords that Work" I received an email from Ceil Hall asking
advice for doing some SEO work on her site that promotes some books she has
written. She asked, "besides keywords and META tag info, is there any thing
else that I can do to help boost my rankings?
Answer: Great question and yes this is more you can do! The Title tag is
the
most important place for spiders to find your keywords (refer to my first
SEO article for more on this). But don't forget about home page text - it is
the second most important place that a search engine spider looks at in
determining your site's rankings is the home page text. So if you don't have
any text there, get some on their quick. Here are some ideas for writing
your home page text:
- When you're writing your home page, focus on two to four of your most
important keywords/phrases. For instance, if your client wants to rank high
for the phrases "automatic knives" and " police equipment," include these
phrases as much as possible.
- Emphasize your main keywords in the first paragraph and in your main and sub headlines.
This is the first thing the search engines "see," so keyword-dense text helps influence the
rankings.
- If you're afraid that your text will sound stilted with all those keywords and phrases,
read it out loud. Strong search engine optimization copywriting keeps a persuasive marketing flow - even
with
all those keywords and phrases! Also, beware of the urge to put all your keywords and phrases
in a big text block separated by commas. The search engines will read this as spam - and
your prospects will be utterly unimpressed by your nonsensical text.
- Remember that longer copy is better. This is one time where it pays to wax poetic -
just make sure your text is still tight and laser-focused. Not only is it easier to write
keyword-dense text when you keep your page length to at least 250 words, search engines
tend to adore copy with some "meat." If you are afraid that your 250+ word copy will look like an endless scrolling text block? Tricks like
writing
short paragraphs [this works great for 2-column layouts], including subheadlines and
integrating keyword-rich bullet points, will help enhance usability while satisfying the
search engines.
- If you can't determine where to put all those keywords, make it easy on yourself. Try
writing "normal" (non-optimized) copy first and add keywords and phrases where you
can. Also, you can search your text for words and phrases like "our product"
and "it," and transform them into keyword-filled phrases. This way, you know
your text and marketing flow are covered - and adding keywords is as simple
as "filling in the blanks."
******Wrap up******
I have yet another SEO article that I am wrapping up and starting a small
SEO project for a client (the next article be published in December 2002 and
you can see it shortly there after on my site). So back to the grindstone so
I can get this article out the door.
Please send all questions to theresaw@columbus.rr.com.
To see the articles from my print web column, go to
http://www.w-edge.com/articles.htm
Feel free to forward this email in its entirety to anyone you feel might be interested
in it.
Technical stuff:
Post message: abcsofwebdesign@yahoogroups.com
Subscribe: abcsofwebdesign-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Unsubscribe: abcsofwebdesign-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
References
Lloyd-Martin, Heather, "How to Write a Keyword-Rich Home Page the Search
Engines Will Love!", Rank Write Roundtable, (http://www.rankwrite.com).
Lloyd-Martin, Heather, "Six Secrets to Search Engine Writing Success", Rank
Write Roundtable, (http://www.rankwrite.com).
|
|
|
|
Email us
or call us at 614.850.9368 |
|
"Theresa - I just wanted to let you know how much my business has increased since you took over my website. What I am delighted about is that I am
receiving good, solid business leads from my target audience. How do you do that?" Sylvia Watson, President, Healing Environments with Feng Shui |
"I wanted to let you know that our rankings on Google are now in the top 3, on almost every search we've conducted (most of them are in 1st place)—without using quotes to call out specific phrases.
This is in searches that result in over 20,000 pages per search. We're backlogged with orders until late June, possibly July. You ROCK!” Diana Holycross, Tiles with Style."
more testimonials... |
|