1. Unique title tags – this tag is what displays in the top of your browser bar and in the search engine results pages; it’s in between the <title></title> tags in the top section of your website. Put your target keywords in the most intelligible way possible (you need to encourage clicks as well) in your titles. Do not spam these; a 5-7 word phrase incorporating your target keywords is all that’s necessary.
2. Unique header tags. Your site actually needs to have an <h1> title with keywords </h1> tag on every page and it needs to be unique to each page. If you’re using WordPress, one of the nasty habits of the default installs is to give you the same h1 on every single page and change the h2s to reflect the actual post names. There are plug-ins and themes which correct this. Make sure the keywords in the title and h1 tag match for each page; they don’t have to be identical, but they should target the same keywords. If possible, add other header sections to h2 or h3 tags.
1. Additionally it would be beneficial if each page contained a 4 word exact keyword phrase in the title tag and also on the page in the h1 tag. Use any keyword research tool to find exact phrases. A free one that also gives information on Google’s searches is located here: https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
3. Meta description tag – this tag is what actually appears in the search engine results pages (Google gives snippets from the page depending on what you searched for, e.g. <meta name=”description” content=”” />)
4. On every page put a link to your main index page that contains the EXACT keyword phrase you’re targeting (typically a footer link works well). It’s important to use the anchor text you want to associate a page within the internal links on the site.
5. Run your site through an html validator. Don’t worry, it probably won’t pass, and that’s not what we’re looking for anyway. We’re just looking to correct any major errors and, if possible, get it to validate or come as close as we can without spending too much time (remember from the step 1 SEM article – it’s all about ROI).
Additional considerations:
If possible (at least on the main page) put descriptions in the alt=”" tags on the images.
More and more, it is also important that the page actually has some unique in all the world prose that contains the targeted key words.
If you're still looking for a good team to take your project to the next level, the authors of the 2010 Rothman Guide to Building Successful Websites are available for free, no obligation, creative consultations that you will not forget! Call 1-866-945-1113 or e-mail your contact info to info@socialmediasystems.
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