Content Relevance

Keywords and their surrounding copy should be relevant to one another. Certain words
and combinations of words go together and the search engine algorithms know this. So
advertising goes with marketing. Food with drink. Photographs with film. Also derivative
words with different utilisation go well. So market and marketed with marketing etc.

Content Location

Where should content with keywords be located? High up on the first page is the general
rule. Certainly get keywords into the opening sentence or paragraph. The latest MSN
engine picks out and uses a selection of text from the opening paragraph in their site
description. This implies that the MSN algorithm is placing additional emphasis on this
text. Keywords should then be spread throughout the first page and the rest of the site.

Writing Content

Content is deemed to be increasingly important by many in the SEO field. This is
apparently because with all the spamming and other optimisation techniques becoming increasingly sophisticated, only content can give the search engines a true indication of a
site’s content. There are some general rules, amongst them is the more copy the better –
aim for 250 words. Secondly look to use the keywords in two or three word phrases.

Keywords Meta Tag

You would have read in the previous section on search history that the keywords meta tag
is, today, ignored by most of the search engines. So, if the spiders do not take them that
seriously, why do we still have them? In my opinion the main role they perform is one of
internal guidance and discipline for the web master. If you know what keywords you are
looking for it is easy to test your content to ensure there’s a match.

The Site Description Meta Tag

The site description is the second most important meta tag. It is read by the engines
Yahoo and MSN and still plays a significant role in their searches. The site description
should tell the engine about the nature of the web site. It is recommended that this is done
in no more than 200 characters including spaces. It should be presented using good
grammar and avoiding repetition. The site description should include relevant keywords.

Meta Tag Priorities:- The Site Title Meta Tag

Meta Tag Priorities
The Site Title Meta Tag
The site title tag is the most important meta tag. The site title meta tag is still read and
indexed by all the major engines. How do we know this? Because it appears at the top of
each organic search entry in the search engine results pages. However, some SEOs
dispute whether it is really a meta tag at all – because the information the tag contains is
clearly visible in the top left corner of the blue area surrounding the screen. The
recommendation of RFC 1866, the international standard for HTML, is that the tag
should contain no more than 64 characters, including spaces. There is nothing physically
stopping you exceeding this limit. I have seen some major sites with 150 characters in
this tag. However the typical, browser can only show 70 or so characters and secondly,
and with more characters, the impact of keywords within the tag is progressively diluted.
From my experience the keywords in the early part of the tag carry more weight. I
personally prefer a limit of 50 to 55 characters. Checking the quality of the title meta tag
is the quickest way of assessing whether a site has been optimised.
A key debate, given the character limitations, is whether you should include the
organisation’s name in the title meta tag. Much depends on the names length and whether
it includes desired keywords. My view is that with limited space, you are wasting a
valuable resource if you use your organisation name here.

SEO 2 - The On-Site Phase (Writing Meta Tags)

SEO 2 - The On-Site Phase
Writing Meta Tags
There is much debate about the current value of meta tags. I still find them very effective
– both as an end in themselves and also as a guide to producing better and more search
friendly content. Although Google apparently ignore their contents, MSN and Yahoo both still utilise the site title and description meta tags in their search algorithms. MSN’s newly launched web site still makes reference to the value of the key words meta tag. Meta tags are so called because they sit above the site – in the “Head” section – and are not visible to the casual site visitor. The meta tags can be found between the <Head> and </Head> lines of HTML code, as the description suggests, at the top of the page.

Making your keyword choice

In essence, you must synthesise all of the above five factors in selecting and refining your
keywords. Ignoring any one of the factors could create problems. Do not rush into this
process. Test out your keywords by making trial searches on the major engines and see
what company results you might keep. Getting it wrong may involve a large amount of
reworking.

Relevance

The keyword terms you select must be relevant, salient and part of the vocabulary used
by the audience you are seeking to attract. If that audience is a consumer one it is unlikely
to use jargon. The opposite may be true if you are seeking B2B prospects. My experience
suggests that consumers will often use entirely different vocabulary from marketing,
advertising and IT people. To avoid confusion use simpler but more specific terms.

Competition

You may have decided on your own keyword priorities but you must also check out the
competition for those keywords. Selecting a word or phrase already prioritised by a
multitude of competitive sites will see you struggle for visibility. Try to find words or
phrases that appear ignored or underutilised by your competitors. An alternative but
higher risk approach is to see what keywords are used by competitor sites and then
attempt to outmanoeuvre them by better use of links, content and meta tags.