We’ve said it before here on the blog—and it is certainly safe to say it again…there is no magic formula or secret science to ranking high in the search engines. Many search engine optimizers (SEOs) out there will insist that there is, and naturally, only they know how to do it. Nah, not so.
Yes, there is a learning curve to SEO.
Let’s be clear on that right up front. Learning what works and what doesn’t is a matter of practice and experience. But with a little help from the webmaster and SEO guidelines published openly by the major search engine firms, it’s pretty easy to “crack the code” of what they’re looking for.
Want a jumpstart on how to set your website up for the best possible rankings?
We’ll here in today’s blog post, let’s consider one of the most blatantly obvious components to ranking well in the search engines: you’ve got to target specific keyword phrases that you want to rank for in your website’s content.
There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. You can do all of the technical SEO stuff and build a link profile for your site that’s second to none. But without targeting the keyword phrases you want to rank for within your content, the search engines simply cannot know that your site should be listed for those terms. Simple enough, right?
The way search engines work is that they “spider,” or in other words, look at your website’s pages and analyze what they contain as far as content goes. As part of the process, they take a snapshot of which particular words and phrases seem to be dominant on each page—and they use these keywords and keyword phrases to categorize (a.k.a. index) your site in their listings.
Now back to the “no magic science” part…
Some SEOs insist that you’ve got to achieve a very specific keyword relevance on each page. This means that your keyword or keyword phrase makes up some pre-defined percentage, i.e. 2.8%, or some other very tight percentage of the overall written content on that page. There are different theories on this, but for the average Joe, it’s probably not very wise to try and write for that percentage—the content will most likely turn out to be less than visitor-friendly, and this is in direct conflict to what the search engines do want to promote—great content for their visitors.
Repeat…unless you’re a seasoned pro at writing this way, and have a really well-developed reason for doing so, it’s just not a good idea to write to a formula.
A few pointers to follow.
Now there are a few simple pointers that will benefit everyone trying to include their targeted keyword phrases in their site’s content. These are well-accepted and you’ll find them as well right in the guidelines provided by search engines:
- Use your keyword phrase in the title of your page. This is actually Meta-data, but it’s of vital importance so we had to mention it here.
- Use your targeted keyword phrase at least once as close to the beginning of your page’s written content as possible. While some SEO gurus insist that there’s a specific keyword percentage that should be achieved, technically, you only have to use the keyword phrase just once for the search engines to pick up on it—and at the beginning is the best bet.
- Consider using your keyword phrase in a headline or sub-headline. This can help make it more clear for both visitors and search engines alike.
- Try using your target keyword phrase somewhere on the page as the anchor text for a link.
And most importantly, the “what not to do…”
Whatever you do, be sure not to overdo it with your keyword phrase. Don’t use it too many times on the page or in an unnatural way at all. Doing so will likely cause exactly the opposite effect you’re aiming for—the search engines dismiss unnatural use of keywords as spam and will ignore it or even penalize it.
0The post You Will Not Come Up High In Search Engines If You Never List The Phrases You Are Targeting In Your Website’s Content! appeared first on Sleepless Media.