Understanding SEO

Keywords

What are Keywords?

Keywords are a specific word or phrase that someone would use to search for your website. The proper use of the right keywords in your website is one of the most important aspects of a well optimized page.

 

How do I choose the right Keywords?

Think of your business, the products or service you offer and make a list of keywords customers would potentially use to find you online. From that list, arrange the terms from very specific to more broad terms of your industry. Focus on ranking for the specific terms and work your way down to the more broad terms.

 

Keywords can include:

Generic: Garden Flowers

Category: Annuals

Industry-specific terms: Basil, Cosmos, Petunias, Marigold

Product brands: Miracle-Gro® LiquaFeed® Advance™ Feeder

Multi-word (long-tail keywords): Where to buy yellow Marigolds Dallas Texas

 

Best Practices:

Identify 3 to 4 relevant keywords per page then within the on-page content use the keywords naturally about 3 to 4 times for every 100 words of copy.

 

Finding the right keywords to target for your website is a constant trial and error process. Rarely will you hit a homerun with your first selection of keywords. Keep track of which keywords are driving the most traffic and focus your attention there.

Page Title

The page title is very important in how search engines determine the ranking and placement of your web page. Search engines look to match keywords from your page title to the same keywords found in your page content. Once the search engine determines a correlation between the two, it includes your page in the search results for that keyword. The more relevant your page title and content is to that keyword, the greater the chance of you ranking higher in the search results.

 

A well written page title also helps in attracting potential customers to visit your website. On a search engines results page, the page title is the first thing a user reads before making a selection. The more relevant and descriptive the page title, the greater the chance of the user clicking on your link.

 

Example Title:

Good Example:

"Marigolds, Garden Flowers, Seeds | Robby's Garden Shop"

 

Bad Examples:

"Home Page", "Buy Flowers", "Untitled"

 

Title Tips:

Keep your Title under 65 characters to make sure it does not get truncated
Example of too many characters:
"Robby's Garden Shop - Dallas’ Best Selection of Garden Flowe..."

Make sure your title contains the keyword(s) you are targeting for that page
Example: If your page focuses on garden tools:
"Garden tools & accessories - Garden gloves, shovels, spades "

 

Page Description

The Page Description (aka meta descriptions) is displayed immediately after the page title on the search engine results page. The descriptions should be relatively short – 12 to 20 words (approx. 155 characters) – and contain the main keywords you are targeting for that page. The purpose of the description is not to improve search rankings but to entice people to click on your link when it is displayed on the search engine results page.

 

IMPORTANT: Be accurate in the description of your page as well as your page title. If a visitor clicks on your link and believes they were mislead or tricked, you have lost a potential paying customer forever.

 

Example:

Dallas, Texas' largest supply of Garden Flowers, Fertilizers, Gardening Tools and Equipment. Best prices guaranteed! Call 800-555-1234

 

TIP:

If applicable, include your phone number in your page description. It gives your website a human touch and gives validity to your business. Also, if you are targeting local customers, include your general location.