Keywords, meta tags, search phrases: learn the lingo
Meta tags are one or more significant words we call “keywords” that are separated by commas into phrases and placed in your Web site code. Search engines use meta tags to index sites so that people can find what they are looking for.
You can place meta tags on each page on your Web site by clicking the Page properties button in Page Editor or the Properties text link under Options in Page Manager.
Click the Search engine optimization tab and read the directions before adding your meta tags.
Make meta tags specific to the page you are working on. If you choose “bike shoes,” you’ll be competing with a lot of Web sites that offer bike shoes of all kinds. If you write “clip-on high-performance cycling shoes” people who search for all or part of that phrase are more likely to find your site in a search engine. If you feature a branded product, use that name in the meta tags as well.
As you put together your list of keywords for a page, do some searching yourself. Type a word or phrase in a search engine, take a look at some of the sites that come up, and depending on the browser interface, click View on the menu, then click Source to take a look at the meta tags that page uses. Look for your competitors in the search results and check to see what meta tags they are using. Compare the meta tags the highest-ranking sites use with those of companies lower in the results.
Do a low-tech usability survey as well: Ask friends, family, or customers who know your business what terms they might expect to use to search and find your company and its products and services.
Page title tags are premium
Search engine optimization (SEO) experts argue that the text you place in your title tag for each page is the most important text for search engines. Don’t confuse your page title with the Site title text you’ll place on your header in Site Designer. The text in the title tag is the text you’ll see in the browser at the very top of every page —the blue bar or tab, if you are looking at Internet Explorer.
Be sure to include keywords in the page title tags. Writing “Bike components: frames, handlebars, wheels” says more to both visitors and search engines than “Bike parts,” even if the latter is the short page name you use in your navigation bar. The context for how the names are used and viewed is different.
Keep the page title shorter than 80 characters. Search engines vary in their requirements, but this number is a good rule of thumb. Use different titles for each page and tie them closely to that page’s content. Above all, make sure the title is meaningful, not just a list of keywords.
To add title tags when you create a new page:
In Page Manager, in the actions bar, click New page.
Select your page template and then click Next.
In the Choose page properties dialog box, type your page title in the Page title box.
Fill in the rest of the page information and then click Finish.
To add title tags to existing pages:
In Page Editor, on the page you want to edit, click Page properties and then change the title in the field provided. Click OK to save your changes.
Or
In Page Manager, next to the page you want to change, click Properties, and then change the title. Click OK to save your changes.
Click View to see how the title appears at the top of a browser window.
All your headings are important
We’re told that search engines also place a relatively high importance on words placed within heading tags. Both your site title and tagline are in heading tags in the code. While your company name is important and should be prominent on your site, people may not know and use your name when searching for your products and services.
Given that, it’s still OK to use your company name as the site title and any significant words about your business in the tagline. For example, if Northwind Traders is a sports shop that focuses primarily on cycling in the summer and skiing in the winter, it could use its name for the site title and a tagline like this: “The Northwest’s premier cycle and ski shop.” The tagline includes the store’s two major product lines as well as another word people might use in searches: Northwest.
Alternatively, we could write a site title with keywords such as: “Premier bicycles, skis, and outdoor gear” with a tagline that focuses on services or products.
Although you want search engines to notice your site and publish it in search results, remember that you are primarily writing heading items for your users. The phrase or sentence should say something significant about your company and make sense to people.
Put your writer’s hat on
Usability studies tell us that people don’t read Web pages nearly as much as we think or hope they will. Think about your own behavior as you look at Web sites —do you read your way through the pages or do you hop through headings and subheads until you find the information you want? Strangely, the programs, or “spiders,” search engines send out to crawl through your pages do read your pages. Every word. And they use all that text to index your site for searches.
So do write text —at least 200 words per page. Use the same keywords you’ve placed in the meta tag properties of that page in the text, in the title tags, and the headings. But remember, it’s a balancing act. You are writing for the people you want to visit your site and the keywords you use are useful to them. Repetition is mind numbing, and spiders can become suspicious that you are —imagine that —trying to influence them.
What should you write? What kind of information will your readers find valuable and other sites link to? Product or service lists and information, tutorials, tips, and how-to articles. All of these will include significant words, but more important, they will be valuable to your readers.
Here are a few ideas for Northwind Traders page content:
Do-it-yourself ski tuning tips (and knowing when to bring skis in for repair)
Cycling calendar of events
Tips: Roadside repair made easy
Class: Get greasy —learn basic maintenance for your bike
Include important words in your text links. Instead of writing click here, write “Here’s our list of bicycle parts.” Some search engines “believe” that the text in your links is closely related to your page content. It should be! If you are using a text link on a page, try to use one of your most important keywords for that page in that link.
Don’t forget to list your inventory of products or services. The shopping spiders will be looking for it. A good —and constantly updated —calendar of events will bring interested people to your site again and again to check information, and other sites will link to yours to make it easy for their users to find it —which brings us to another important SEO point.
Get linked up
Search engines give you points for popularity. How do they know if you’re popular? Other sites link to you. The more sites that link to you, the more popular your site will appear to search engines, and the higher you may appear in search rankings.
You may be running a list through your head of everyone you know who has a Web site that you could ask to link to you. But the most important links are those from Web sites that search engines already consider good. Of course it’s important to ask customers, suppliers, and vendors to link to you, and tell them you’ll be happy to reciprocate. Then do a little search research of your own to find Web sites that aren’t competitors that rank high in your industry. Those are the sites you should aim to develop “linking relationships” with.
What do you have to offer them? Before you make a pitch to others to link to your site, be sure you have something they want. Are you building an industry or community calendar of events? Place a link to every company or organization that hosts an event you include and ask those firms to add your link to their sites. Have you written a how-to article or tutorial for a product or service? Consider who might find that article valuable for visitors and suggest they link to it. The possibilities are myriad.
Want to find out who has linked to your site? You can go to Live Search and type your Web site URL like this example: link:northwindtraders.com and find out.
Last, but not least, the spiders also are interested to know if you link to other sites. We make this easy: In Page Editor, simply click Hyperlink, and use the Insert link dialog box to create your link.
Summary and checklist
In the past, search engines looked primarily at meta tags. When people began “spamming” search engines, or repetitiously placing keywords in meta tags and page text so they could pull poor sites ahead of good ones in search ratings, the search engines changed their formulas to push spamming sites down and bring worthier sites up. If, however, you are truthful with both the spiders and your customers, you can achieve decent ratings.
Search engine companies aren’t telling us all their secrets, but it appears that most of them look at a combination of all your word choices —whether meta tags, headings, or ordinary text —to make sure your content is genuinely written for people, not spiders. Here’s your warning: Do not try to fool the spiders into listing your site higher —they already know all the tricks and they will punish you!
Here’s a checklist summarizing what you can do:
Write a description and keyword meta tags for every page on your Web site.
Place your keywords in order of importance; only use keywords that actually appear in the text on that page.
Use plurals in your meta tags, for example, write both “cycle” and “cycles.”
Include common misspellings that people might mistakenly type in a search, such as “skies” for “skis.” (Misspell words in your meta tags, not your page copy!)
Try not to use the same word too many times in your meta tags lest spiders believe you are spamming. Three instances are good; make five your limit. For example: ski gear, ski boots, ski bindings, ski bags, ski tours.
If your company’s geographic location is significant, include it in both meta tags and page copy.
Make sure your company name is included in your meta tags.
Include keywords in your linking text: “Find out more about our performance bikes” instead of “Click here to see our performance bikes.”
If you use images, include a caption or paragraph of text that includes keywords.
Use keywords in your text headings and subheads.
Ask Web sites that you think your target audience visits for reciprocal links.
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