Archive for News
SEO: Optimisation or Repetition?
Posted by: | CommentsI was watching the news on TV the other day and I couldn’t help but notice the amount of times the newsreaders and reporters repeated the same things over and over again.
First of all there was the announcement of the main headline accompanied by dramatic music: “Today’s main headline: a dramatic event happened today”. This was followed by one of the newsreaders telling us again that ‘a dramatic event happened today’ and then his fellow newsreader telling us that they would be bringing us all the reaction from five different continents to the ‘dramatic event that happened today’ as well as trying to gauge the ‘mood on the street’ where the ‘actual’ dramatic event ‘actually’ took place.
Then one of the reporters joined in by saying things like: “Yes, that’s right, it was here, just behind me, where this dramatic event happened today” before switching to another reporter who told us that she didn’t actually witness the dramatic event that happened just behind where her colleague was standing, but she had been talking to witnesses who did see the dramatic event as it happened.
Five minutes into the programme I was still none the wiser and I was beginning to wonder why I was being treated like a goldfish.
It occurred to me that perhaps the makers of news programmes were actually retired SEO experts who had been in the job for too long. Let me explain.
When I set up my first website I said what I had to say in 50 words. I had a service to sell, I told people how much it was and how they could get in touch with me if they were interested. What else was there to say? But I soon realised from studying SEO that search engines much prefer you to use 250 words even if you can adequately explain what you want to say in 50.
If Content really is King as the search engines will have us believe then the Queen must be struggling to get a word in edgewise.
It’s all very well saying that a website should be informative and content-rich but there is a tendency for human beings to talk more and say less. The news I heard on the radio this morning told me more in two minutes than the TV news did in fifteen: purely and simply because it got straight to the point and told me the facts without any waffle.
A website that takes that approach however, is likely to be ranked by the search engine machines (or the ‘agents’ as I sometimes prefer to call them) as uninformative and content-poor.
People don’t have time to wade through page after page of someone babbling on about this, that and the other: they just want to know what is on offer, how much it costs and how they can get their hands on it. Ok, I’m simplifying things a little but you get the picture.
There are many websites on the World Wide Web that have lots of text and are also very informative. Sometimes you need to go into great detail to explain something thoroughly. I accept that. But often it is not necessary and what we have to say can be said in just a few words.
A website that uses only a few words to get it’s point across will struggle to gain a good search engine ranking, purely and simply because robots are unable to evaluate the quality and relevance of what is being said in the same way a human can.
Turning a site like this into one that has a good search engine ranking, but without sacrificing any of the aesthetic quality of the site, has become an art form in itself.
Unfortunately many people who don’t have much to say and seek that elusive top ten ranking in Google end up repeating themselves endlessly whilst being under the impression that they are in fact increasing the keyword density of their site.
By increasing the amount of times their keywords are repeated, have they really optimised their site? Maybe they have in one sense, but how much has been sacrificed in the process?
If a website reads like a script from the TV News you know that it has more repetition and less optimisation. I know we call it ‘search engine optimisation’ because we are optimising for the benefit of the search engines, but ultimately it is human beings who use search engines and human beings who will visit your site.
Your site may well be number one in Google but if it is not optimised for human experience then your success will prove to be rather hollow.
SEO: optimisation or repetition? There is a difference.
About the Author: Rob Butler is a web designer in Wiltshire (UK) who specialises in securing top ten search engine rankings for small to medium size companies.
Use Search Engine Modifiers to Boost Your Rankings
Posted by: | CommentsThis video tutorial demonstrates how to conduct your own keyword research for your own website SEO (Search Engine Optimization), explaining how to use one of the best free keyword research tools like Wordtracker, etc.
Searching is the second most popular online activity, right behind email. Because of this, search engine optimization should be at the top of every web owner’s marketing list.
To begin, you must start with the right keywords. Keyphrase selection is the single most important step in a search engine optimization campaign. You should choose your keywords before you write a single word of web copy.
Unfortunately, many people make the mistake of optimizing for very general keywords like “used cars” or “internet marketing”. Although these terms get lots of traffíc, it is very unlikely that you will be able to rank highly for them. Then, even if you do, this type of traffíc produces very low conversion rates because they are not targeted prospects.
It is much more effective to target the low-hanging fruit. Who do you think is more likely to buy; someone who goes to Google and searches for “ipod” or someone who searches for “4gb black ipod nano”? Obviously, the person who searches for a more specific phrase is much closer to making a buying decision. The additional keywords (4gb, black, and nano) are called modifiers.
By adding a few modifiers to competitive keywords, you can uncover a long list of powerful keyword phrases for which high rankings are attainable.
In order to find these types of lucrative keyword phrases, there are 4 search modifiers that you need to know about. They are geographic, descriptive, brands, and misspellings.
Geographic
If your products or services are targeted to a geographic area, you will need to optimize your pages for those specific locations. For example, if you are a real estate agent in Atlanta, you would want to optimize your listings for cities and towns surrounding Atlanta. Serious buyers would not just type “real estate” into the search engines.
However, they may search for “atlanta real estate agents”. In fact, according to WordTracker, that phrase is searched for 80 times per day. This phrase is extremely valuable because it attracts a much more targeted visitor.
If you are a consultant, broker, or agent, it is crucial that you optimize your web site for specific geographic areas.
Descriptive
You can also add descriptions to a keyword to attract targeted visitors. Let’s say you have a site that sells backpacks. Although the keyword “backpacks” get thousands of searches per day, this is not the type of visitor that you want to attract. It would be much more beneficial for you to optimize for the following keyword phrases:
leather laptop backpacks
digital camera backpack
one strap backpack
small dog backpack
Each of these keyword phrases use adjectives to narrow in on specific searches. You can do the same thing with your own web site in order to bring in quality traffíc. As web masters, we want the kind of traffíc that converts to buyers, not just visitors looking for information.
Brands
Brand names are another very powerful modifier. Using the previous example of backpacks, lets find some lucrative keyword phrases that target brands. To find some different backpack brands, I went to a popular backpack web site.
They listed the following brands:
camelbak
dana design
eastpak
jansport
kelty
I then took these brands and plugged them into my favorite keyword tool to find some quality keyword phrases. Here’s what I found:
camelbak commander
camelbak alterra
camelbak classic
dana design backpacks
dana design arcflex alpine pack
jansport rainier
jansport odyssey
kelty red cloud 5000
By plugging a number of backpack brands into WordTracker, I was able to find very targeted brand models. These keyword phrases are the kind that will produce a higher conversion to buyers.
Whenever you are optimizing for brands, keep in mind that keyword tools don’t always give you a full picture. New brands that have just been released will not show up in WordTracker or any other keyword tool. The ipod is a perfect example. When it was first released, the ipod wouldn’t even register in the keyword tools. However, it was one of the hottest product releases of the year. Sometimes, you simply have to keep up with the trends. Just take a look at a few industry magazines and you will quickly find some untapped opportunities.
Misspellings
The last modifier that you should consider are misspellings. Well, I guess it’s not really a modifier, per se, but they can definitely bring in an extra stream of traffíc to your web site. Google has estimated that 10% of all searches made on Google are mistyped or misspelled.
You can take advantage of these common mistakes by making a few simple changes to your web site.
Here is a step-by-step guide that you can use to start gaining extra traffíc from misspellings:
1. Put common misspellings into the meta keyword description tag.
2. Place common misspellings at the end of your title tag. This step is extremely important for ranking for misspellings. To see a web page that does this very effectively, go to http://www.lendingleaders.com/mortgage-calculator/mortgage.cfm. This page ranks highly for the very popular misspelling: “morgage”.
3. Create a box on the web page for common misspellings. Keep in mind that you can often still rank for misspellings without doing this step, but it may give you some extra push.
To find typos for your keywords, go to www.seochat.com/seo-tools/keyword-typo-generator.
Now that you know about the 4 main types of modifiers, I urge you to start optimizing your pages for high-quality traffíc. By targeting long keyword phrases, you can tap into some extremely profitable traffíc. Keep in mind that this is not just for organic seo. These methods are also very effective when used for pay-per-click campaigns.
Adding the right search modifiers will significantly increase your chances of success in the search engine wars.
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About The Author
Kim Roach is a staff writer and editor for the SiteProNews and SEO-News newsletters. You can contact Kim at: kim @ seo-news.com
This article may be freely distributed without modification and provided that the copyright notice and author information remain intact.
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