Keywords ~ where to use them

There is a general misconception that keywords go in the "meta-tags" and that is all you need to do to get on the first page of Google!
This is totally wrong!

What are meta tags?

Meta tags are pieces of code and text placed in the head of a web page which are designed to provide information to search engines about the contents of that page and to help browsers display the page correctly.

What do you need to know?

Unless you are writing your own website, you only need to know what words to use in the meta tags and title tag. This is important for the success of your website.

Where to use keywords

There are four types of places where keywords need to be used to fully optimise each web page, both for your readers and the search engines:

1. On the web page
   1. headings and sub-headings
   2. web page content
2. Behind the web page, in the coding
   1. file name
   2. title tag or page title
   3. meta description tag
   4. meta keyword tags
   5. alt tags on images
3. Other web pages
   1. on your website
   2. on other websites
4. Domain name - if you don't have one yet

Use keywords on the web page

Headings and sub headings

• Headings help readers skim down the page to see what it is about and how relevant each section is to them
• When you write your page content, structure your page with one main page heading; several sub-headings etc.
• Make your main page heading the same as your page title (see below): this re-inforces what the page is about
• <h1>is the page heading
  • <h1> header tag - use your key words here
  • Don't pad the main heading out with superfluous words
  • Your headings need to be coded with the correct HTML heading codes - it is not sufficient that they simply look like headings
• <h2> is used for sub-headings
  • Add other keywords for the page in here
• <h3>is used for sub-sub-headings
  • These are of little importance for the search engines
  • But they are useful for visitors and screen readers to pick out the sub-sections on the page
• The appearance of the headings can be controlled within the CSS file.

• For example: part of the structure for this page is as follows:
• <h1> "Keywords - Where to use them"
  • <h2> Use keywords on the web page
    • <h3> Headings and sub headings
    • <h3> Web page content
  • <h2> Use keywords "behind" the web page
    • <h3> File names
    • <h3> Title tag or page titles
    • <h3> Title tag or page titles
  • <h2> etc. etc.....

If in doubt contact your web designer and ask him to code your headings this way and style them in the CSS file.

More information about web page headings

Web page content

• Once you've clarified your keywords for the page and your headings, you need to start writing the content for the page
• Use the main keywords near the beginning of the page
• Use keywords and phrases throughout the page
• Use them in meaningful phrases
• Make your writing natural - don't "stuff" the page with your chosen keywords - you are writing for people, not just search engines!
• Write unique, quality content

Writing for the web is not the same as writing for any other medium

Use keywords "behind" the web page

Whether you are writing the code for your website or not, you still need to write the tags and descriptions that are used in the HTLM code behind the scenes of the page.

Meta tags may sound beyond what you need to know, but you do need to consider the actual words used in them and then tell your web designer what to use.

Where do meta tags go?

A webpage is divided into 2 distinct parts:

• 1. Head - this contains instructions for the browser and search engines; details about the author; links to style sheets etc. All of it, except for the title tag (see below), is completely unseen by the reader, but is read by search engines
• 2. Body - this contains the web page that you see

Meta tags are placed in the "head" of the webpage and contain information about the web page.

Other than the title tag, information in the "head" area of your web pages is not visible to anyone unless they look at the coding. (Right click over the page and go to "View > View page source")

<head>
<title>This is the title of the page</title>
<meta name="description" content="Everything you ever wanted to know about this page in 150 characters!" />
<meta name="keywords" content="page title,title,meta,meta tags" />
</head>

In the example above there is a "title" tag, a "meta description" tag and a "meta keywords" tag.

Although this may sound beyond what you need to know, you do need to consider the actual words used - after all you know your business better than anyone else - and then tell your web designer what words to use.

File names

• Use your keywords in the file name
• The file name for this page is "keywords-where-to-use-them"
• Keep it short
• Use hyphens [-] to separate the keywords - not spaces or underscores [_]
• "Scrunched" words cannot be accurately read by search engines [eg. keywordswheretousethem]

Title tag or page titles

• The title tag is the most important tag on the page
• Writing good titles is essential for getting good results in search engines
• It is often the first words a potential reader sees about your web page
• Remember to keep the length of the title tag to no more than approximately 60 characters, including spaces
• Page titles appear in the title bar of browser windows and the title tag is also used as the words to describe your page when someone adds it to their "Favorites" or "Bookmarks" lists.
• More about the page titles or the title tag

If you do not have access to the page coding, write your page title and ask your webmaster to add it to the page.

Meta description tag

• The meta description tag is a meta tag used to give a brief description of the current web page.
• Include all the main keywords, but without making it too long winded, otherwise you may dilute its effect.
• Keep it under approximately 150 characters in length.
• If it's too long it will simply get cut off in the search engine results and look poor.
• It is often used directly by search engines in their results page, particularly if the search terms and your description closely match.
• It is also used by readers when they are using search engines to decide which page to click on. It helps them decide whether that page is relevant to their search.
• More about meta description tag

Again, if you don't have access to the page coding, write your meta description tag and ask your webmaster to add it to the page.

Keyword meta tags

• The "meta keywords" tag is a meta tag that that was designed to list the keywords and phrases from your web page in order to help search engines categorise web pages and websites. But it has been abused and now, they are virtually useless.
• More about the meta keywords tag

Images

• "Alt tags", or more correctly "alt attributes", are snippets of text which describe the purpose or content of the image
• They are used by screen readers to tell visually impaired visitors what the image contains
• They are used by those who switch off the display of images
• They appear when your mouse hovers over an image
• Include keywords in the <alt> image tags where appropriate
• Make the text meaningful when read out of context
• Do not stuff the "alt attribute" with keywords
• Avoid using the same "alt attribute" on several images on the same page
• They are not the same as captions which can been seen next to images on the web page
• Search engines cannot "read" images, but they do appear to read the "alt" text, so they can be used to help re-inforce the focus of the page, if used sensibly
• Search engine use the "alt" text to index the image so that it can be searched for
• Alt text replaces the image if it fails to load, so that the visitor can get an idea what it was about even though it's not there

If you do not have access to the page coding and you want to specify the text to include with an image, write it and ask your webmaster to add it to the "alt tag" for that image.

Other web pages

Link text

• Link text is the words in the clickable part of any link
• It is important because it tells the reader, as well as the search engine, what the page they're about to go to is all about
• Try and use the keywords or phrases of the page you are linking to
• Make the text meaningful when read out of context
• Search engines give link text a lot of weight for this reason
• Write useful, informative text links on links pointing to the page
• Avoid links that say "click here" - that phrase doesn't give the reader any idea of what the page may be about
• A link contains a description as well as the URL for the page it is pointing to. This description, or "title attribute", should contain your key words
• You can see this description by using your mouse to hover over a link:
  Keywords and keyword phrases

Backlinks

• Links coming into your website can also be of benefit in increasing the relevance of your pages, to search engines
• Get other sites to link back to your page using your keywords or phrases
• This shows search engines that your page is relevant for that topic

Domain name

If you are just starting to plan your website and you haven't bought a domain name yet, buy one that includes your main keywords for your site.

For example, if you have a candle shop called "Moon's", a domain name of "www.moons.co.uk" will be easy to remember, but will not help anyone, including the search engines, know what your business is about.

So you could buy "www.moons-candles.co.uk"or "www.moons-candle-light.co.uk" or both - which would use your principal keywords and be a better description of what you do.

More about domain names

Remember!

• Do:
  • write good quality content
  • write page titles and page descriptions that accurately reflect the content of your page
  • write a unique title and description for every page on your website
  • write a page description that makes sense
  • structure your page with headings and sub-headings
  • add "title attributes" for links
  • add "alt attributes" for images
  • and remember you are writing for your readers
• Do not:
  • "spam" the search engines
  • use the same words again and again and again
  • copy pages from other web pages or websites [duplicate content]
  • hide words behind coloured backgrounds
  • stuff keywords in "meta tags", "title attributes" or "alt attributes"
• What's good for your readers is good for search engines!

Keywords aren't a magical solution to getting to the top of the Search Engine Results Page [SERPs], but, "every little helps"!

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If you have more questions or you need more help or advice, please contact us and we will endeavour to help you ~ without any obligation.