OK, we all know that in the ideal world we would want to see our business at the top of page one in Google. The reality is anywhere on the first page is a success, unless of course you have an Ad words campaign going on. Search Engine ranking is vital to any SME’s looking to attract new customers, As we all know, if a business doesn’t appear on the first three pages of search results, the chances of customers actually finding you are remote.
You can have a well designed website, but if it is not optimized to show up on search engine results, it won’t really matter. SEO makes it so that the content on your site is constructed in such a way that search engines can easily discern what is relevant on it and thus index it properly and make it show up on relevant searches. Here is the first and most important step you get started on that climb up the first page. The dreaded…. keyword
So what’s a keyword? Well keywords and phrases strategically placed and crafted into your website can significantly boost your ratings in search engine results. Search engines look primarily at the first paragraph when conducting a search, so it’s a very good idea to include the main keyword in the first paragraph of an article or content page. Adding keywords to the site’s content is a must. By strategically placing and weaving keywords throughout your content, the search engine spidering process will recognise these words and index your site accordingly. Keyword density is that ratio of keywords to copy on the page; search engines are looking for keyword density of between 2% and 5%. It is just as important to understand that here should be no over-stuffing of keywords in a web page. Repeating of keywords too often in a page can artificially boost your search engine rankings as well as cause attempt to spamming
It is important to understand what keywords are being used in your industry sector and how it is relevant to you. Take some time to investigate the keywords that are already in use in your field. Next, put yourself in the mind of the end user. If users aren’t searching for your products and services in the way you describe them, it can be useful to take a step back and assess the situation. The easiest way to do this is to think like a customer and begin your SEO research from there.
Avoid excessive sector jargon. As we all think we are expert in our field (as we are!), this can sometimes be detrimental and too inwardly looking to the way you think and judge about your own web copy. Websites that use industry-specific terms (or jargon) run the risk of missing potential traffic because they don’t use the everyday search terms that key customers are using. Take a good look at your current web copy. Are you sure that it contains the user-friendly terms that are actually being used in the majority of searches? If not, then you need to do some basic research.
While the whole area of keywords may seem a daunting and complicated arena, in it’s simplest terms it is simply words or tags that your customer or audience would use to find you. Understanding your audience and target market are the simplest and most efficient building blocks to defining good keywords. Simply thinking about the words that they are likely to use when searching for your products or services is the surefire quickest way to climb upwards. These are probably going to be simple terms and phrases, and they may not be the ones you use in your normal daily business activities. Simplicity is always the key to keywords.
Berry Burgess is Managing Director of leading digital agency Armadillo Creative, and has over 35 years experience in regional and national advertising and marketing. For further information contact 0191 2578380 or visit www.armadillo-creative.com
