Website SEO Tips
Content is King!
 Many Websites are built with much technical
expertise and many pretty pictures, but little content. The belief is that attractive
Web pages are sufficient for the Website to be found by the Search Engines. The
results are invariably disappointing. The guiding principal should be – "Maximum
communication, minimal decoration".
The content of a Website will determine where a Search Engine will rank the Website
in its listings. Good, well directed content will give an advantage over competitors
that have little or no content. Compelling and useful content will improve the conversion
rate. Content that establishes trust and credibility will also improve the conversion
rate.
The content and targeted Keyword phrases
Content containing Keywords, Keyword phrases and synonyms of Keywords are an important
part of any Search Engine Optimisation campaign. But Keywords words are a two-edged
sword. Too few Keywords and the page will not be found, too many and the visitor
will turn away. The Search Engines will not be impressed either.
Keyword phrases should make up 2% to 4% of a Web page for optimal results. In order
to get these high Keyword phrase densities, every word must count. There should
be no superfluous words.
Having the content rich in well-optimised Keywords will increase the chances of
a successful Search Engine marketing campaign. Of course, the Website, as well as
being effectively optimised for the Search Engines, needs to be clear, concise and
attractive to the customer.
The most important Keywords and Keyword Phrases should be as close to the top of
the page as possible. For more details see
Website Keywords and Keyword Phrases.
The page content must have relevance
Wherever possible, make the focus of each Web page relate
to one particular service. Many Websites make the mistake of covering multiple services
on a single page. Not only can this be confusing for visitors to the Website, but
it also means that the overall Keyword density on each page is weak.
The content must be focused on the sales message
Ensure that the summary or sales message is in the initial
paragraphs, and the detail in the following paragraphs. Alternatively, provide summaries
on a main page, with links to pages dedicated to the detail.
If a visitor is overwhelmed with too much information, they will turn to a Website
with a simpler format.
For visitor readability, there should not be more than 600 Words on any Web Page.
Having lots of content may help Search Engine rankings, but the visitor will be
put off by long pages. Most of the Pages in this Website are nicely under the limit.
The content should contain fresh information, hints or tips
Create reasons for customers to return to the Website.
Fresh content is a great way to keep visitors coming back. The content should contain
information that complements the marketing message, or is helpful to the visitor.
Repeatedly adding fresh content will ensure that the Search Engines frequently index
the changes. But frequent spidering alone does not help Rankings.
The content should contain articles of interest
Use personally written articles, hints and tips. The
personal message will ensure credibility in the customer's eyes. More to the point,
Search Engines favour original content in Websites.
Articles can be downloaded from the Web to complement the message. Or, hire a professional
copywriter to write the content.
What to avoid
Do not:
- Create Content only for the Search Engines
- Insert unnecessary Keywords
- Hide text from users
- Have large amounts of text on any page
Duplicate Content
Adding new content is important, but it must be original. Google's Quality guidelines
state:
"Don't create multiple pages, sub domains or domains with
substantially duplicate content. … If a site doesn't meet our quality guidelines,
it may be blocked from the index".
Since the introduction of latent semantic indexing, many sites have been de-listed
by Google as being of little use to the visitor, and for using duplicate content.
Changing the odd phrase is also considered duplication, and the Search Engines will
treated the Web page as spam. This will affect the ranking of a Website. If there
is an interesting article that has been found and you wish to use the subject matter,
it must be completely paraphrased into your own wording.
Some other Website may have duplicated your content. To check for plagiarism, see
Copyscape.
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