On Page Optimization
On Page Optimization
On Page Optimization is the housekeeping aspect of your website.
Let’s say you were having a party at your home.
You would want to provide a map. The search engines also needs a map and this is called a site map.
You would want to make sure that your address is posted on the house so people would know where to go. The search engines need this in the way of a title tag.
You would want to make sure that your home was free of clutter-that people had a place to park and a place to sit after they arrive. The search engines need this in the way of keyword density.
You would want to make sure that people were comfortable and you would want them to feel comfortable so that they would stay for a while. The search engines need this too in the way of a meta description.
Unfortunately, people have no idea how to throw a bot party
I’m picking on a fictitious company in my keyword analysis discussion and it’s called Daniel Lewis Web Development. Daniel was advertising on Craig’s List for an outside salesman to promote his services and in searching for clients, I ran across him. The incident is true, but I am using a fictitious name. Daniel is supposed to know what he is doing since he is offering services to other people. The truth is that he does not know what he is doing. We already discussed his keyword analysis in my previous page, now we need to show Daniel how to throw a proper bot party.
Get the title tag perfect
Like with your house address, the title tag is extremely important. Have you ever shown up at the wrong address because the numbers on your directions were either delivered or written down wrong? Most of us have and it’s no fun and can be embarrassing. Same with the search engines. if you sell VW Parts and because it is a more popular search term, your title tag refers to truck tires, you will be penalized. Not only does your title tag have to accurately describe your site, it should include your key word. It should also be 9 words. Daniel has 10 words, which is acceptable, but his keyword does not show up in the title tag.
The Meta Description is what the customer sees
The meta description is the information the searching public sees. The search engines use this to indicate what your site is all about. Too short of a description and it doesn’t provide enough details. Too much and you run the risk of stuffing or spamming. Your keyword should be included in the description. It should be there one time. Daniel only has 103 words when he should have 143. He never mentions his keyword so the search engines are not going to consider that he is an expert.
Keywords-they are important
Keywords are so important that it is suggested that they are highlighted once in bold and italicized fonts. There is also a density rule. used too many times, the search engines will think there is something phony going on, but not used enough and it may appear that the site has no relevance to the particular subject. Keyword density is a broad range between one and three percent of the total content on the page. Daniel’s density is exactly 1%, which will work.
Body text tells the story
Let’s face it, we are building websites not to promote sales and to make money, but to provide information. Don’t believe me? Sorry, this is in the Google handbook, if there was one. Google and the other search engines really do not care if you make any money online. They are concerned that they provide relevant and accurate information to those searching. In fact, if they could narrow down each subject to one page of ten providers, they would do so because this would be the cream of the crop. With this said, so you think a page with only 162 words on it will be considered worthy? Not hardly, but this is what Daniel is providing the search public (on his home page) and he will be severely penalized for this indiscretion. You must have a minimum of 350 words on a page in order to rank.
The URL is like the title of the book
If Daniel’s site is called Daniel Lewis Web Development, he will rank a whole lot higher in the eyes of search engines if his keyword phrase in included in the URL. It’s a cinch very few people will search for Daniel Lewis unless he is already branded as w red hot web developer. Assuming nobody knows about him,and remember this is a fictitious name, if people are searching for web development, they might find Daniel because his URL contains his keyword. Way to go Daniel because this is exactly one thing he got right. This is the reason you always do your keyword analysis research first. Discover the perfect keyword and then name your URL with that keyword phrase as part of the URL.
Watch as I let you peek over my shoulder as I teach you how to use the same tools I use-the same ones I use every day to keep my websites on page one.