Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) for Dummies...

As mentioned elsewhere, keywords help in getting your website noticed and the trick is to include relevant words or phrases that people will use to search.  Of course it might be practical and economical to deal with this yourself, especially if your website is of local, personal or of limited interest.  However for a serious project, there is some help available in the form of software so if you choose this option remember the following:

1. Use a proper tool.   There is free software available but when it comes to keyword research, free tools are rare and far from powerful.  If you're considering investing either money or time into SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) for your web site, look at a solid keyword research tool as a necessity. WordTracker Keywords has been a leader in keyword research for years and is good value.

2. Identify *viable* targets. We'd all love to rank well for the most general and all-encompassing search phrase related to our topic, but only a handful ever will. Targeting some particularly competitive keywords is as good as shooting yourself in the foot unless you've got massive amounts of time and resources to throw at the problem.  Finding long (three words and more) and targeted search phrases that are actually getting traffic can mean the difference between SEO success and failure.  Be reasonable in your expectations, and fight the big boys by researching long search phrases that have been overlooked by them. You might also find that long search phrases bring better conversion rates for your topic.

3. Keep it relevant.  You may find keywords and phrases that offer inroads to high search rankings, but it's important to remember that the ultimate end is traffic and how you utilize it.  In other words, you need to be sure your keywords relate to your web site.  If you get a page to rank well enough to bring in some search traffic, but when users actually view that page they either can't make sense of the content or find the page unrelated to your topic (or worse) that search traffic will do you no good.  Not only will off-topic or content affect your brand and drive users from your site, but there's a chance Google could catch on to your irrelevant content or 'spam' techniques and penalize your domain for it.  Also make sure that the keywords you use appear in the page content itself - that way you know they're relevant.

4. Don't be too wordy.  A common mistake is to choose your keywords based on your own perspective rather than that of your target users.  Of course you know your topic inside and out. You know the buzz words, the technical details and a whole lot more, but do your users?  What if the user isn't sure what they're looking for?  Maybe they know the function but not the technical term.  Keep this in mind when researching keywords, and make sure you consider your choices from the perspective of someone very new to your topic.

5. Consider local searching.  One area small to mid-sized web sites can really find a competitive edge is in locally-specific search phrases.  These are inherently less competitive and therefore are easier to rank well for.  However, go back to item 3 and think it through - if your web site is locally specific or if users will want to know your location this is a good strategy, but optimizing pages for local keywords that will look out of place to distant users can be a mistake.

Don't be put off by any of this - you can still get a good rating if you work at it and if your market is local to where you live or work, you could easily come out top of the search engines, depending on how much competition is around.  If someone wants a car mechanic in Manchester, then that is likely to be one of the words they search for.  However Manchester is a huge city and Wythenshawe is a good 12 miles or so from Newton Heath so would they really drive that far to seek out a motor mechanic they don't know?  However Gatley, Cheadle, and Timperley are within easy reach so even better if they can find the right district too.  After all what's the point of looking for customers in Birmingham or Leeds?  So try this for a list of keywords for that elusive motor mechanic in Wythenshawe, Manchester...

"Motor Mechanic, Motor Engineer, MOT Tester, Wythenshawe, Cheadle, Gatley, Timperly, Manchester, Ford Specialist, Diesel, Tyres, Exhausts, Welding, Accident, Body Repairs, Car Repairs, Car Servicing, Gearbox Repairs, Brakes, Engine Repairs, Windscreen Replacement"

Just to get you thinking along the right track!  To see how much it costs click here

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Last Updated 06/08/2008