It is no great revelation that keywords are essential in getting your website to rank higher in Google search results. That said, too often not enough attention is paid to keyword research. Knowing the queries people actually use, is integral in getting the visitors you want to your website

Now, the folks at Google are going to tell you to just write good copy that your potential visitors find compelling, and your rankings will take care of themselves. While that is true in a perfect world, it isn’t quite that simple.

Of course there are may factors (Google’s Matt Cutts says 200+ “signals”) that dictate where your listing shows up on Google’s search results pages, and the keywords on your web pages are only part of it. The fact is, they play a very big role.

Why is keyword research important? Well, your visitors won’t get to your website so they can read your “compelling copy” unless it contains the keywords your potential visitors use when they do a search on Google, or other search engine. Your web pages may have “compelling copy” as far as you are concerned, but are you thinking about the same keywords as your potential visitors? Keyword research can help you figure that out.

Where to start? Write your compelling copy, and then read it out loud. How does it sound? Did you or your audience hear keywords you believe potential visitors would use to find your products or services?

Make a list of keywords you believe identify your products or services. Ask for input from co-workers, customers, friends, your barber, or hair dresser.

Take a good look at the list. Are all or some of those keywords on your website? Remember, Google sells relevance. Your pages should be product or service-specific, as should your keywords. The wrong keywords may get visitors to your website, but those visitors may not stay, because they were looking for something you don’t offer. Your goal should be to attract self-qualified visitors (leads, prospects) that want or need what you offer.

Okay, let’s see if anyone actually searches for your keywords. Google has a good free tool (Google Keyword Tool) for you to use. It is geared toward those who are using, or may use, Google AdWords. You do not have to have an AdWords account to use the keyword tool. It will show how much competition there is for your keywords, global monthly searches, local monthly searches, and more. You may do a simple search, or they’ll give you more options than you will care to deal with. Keep it simple. You just want to see if people really are searching using your keywords.

If your keywords have a lot of search volume, you should use Google Trends, where you can search for two terms, e.g. lake property, lakefront property, and you’ll see charts showing the relative search volume (more people search for lake property). You can filter the results by date, regions, cities, etc.

There are non-Google tools out there as well. A very good one is the Free Keyword Suggestion Tool From Wordtracker. Another is WordStream’s Free Keyword Tool.

There is a great deal more to say about keywords, and we’ll discuss them again. Hopefully, this will give you an understanding of the importance of choosing the right keywords. One of America’s favorite authors knew something about choosing the right words when he said, “The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.” Oh, that author if you are wondering, was Mark Twain.

Go to work and make that keyword list today! Edit that compelling copy to contain your researched keywords, and get results!

Really good Search Engine Optimization is a complex process. That said, effective SEO can be as simple as one, two, three….and four. Do four reasonably simple things, and you can see your rankings in Google Search Page Results, aka SERPS, improve considerably.

So you want your web pages to get found well, and you don’t want to spend a lot of money or time to make that happen? Well, look no further.

If you have a webmaster, provide him or her with a title for each of your pages. The “title” should use keywords  describing the content on the page (that is, keywords that potential visitors would search for hoping to find what you offer). Also provide your webmaster with a good headline (that is similar to, and contains the same keywords as the title) for each page. And of course you need some text describing what you offer. Obviously, that text should contain the same keywords near the start of the first paragraph. Your webmaster should be able to take it from there.

If you maintain your own website, then you should pay attention to this list.

1. Title tag
2. <meta> description tag
3. Page header <h1> tag
4. Well-written text

For those of you who don’t know what those four items are, I’ll describe them.

1. The <title> tag defines the title of the document.

The title element does the following:
Defines a title in the browser toolbar (displayed at the very top of your browser)
Provides a title for the page when it is added to favorites
Displays a title for the page in search-engine result

2. The <meta> description tag provides a description of the HTML document (your web page). The <meta> description will not be displayed on the page, but Google will display (most of the time) the information in search results, and just as, if not more, importantly uses it as one of the “signals” in determining how highly your page will rank.

3. The header <h1> tag contains the “headline” for the page (also used as a Google “signal”)

4. The first sentence of the first paragraph should contain the same keywords. (also used as a Google “signal”)

As I said, basic SEO is as simple as one, two, three….and four. Do remember to do them for each of your pages. Of course there is much more you could, and should, do. If your webmaster isn’t doing those basic four things for you, tell him you would like to pay him or her for doing so, as it does take some time to do it right. In this case a little time and or money spent will reward you with higher search rankings.

How to start, and how a web design firm can help:

Sometimes many people (including me now and then) over complicate things when starting to create or redesign websites. Most of us think about what we want our website to do for us, and that is only natural. While that may be natural, what we should be thinking about, is what our visitors (read: prospects and customers) want.  I know it is hard for some to accept, but if you give your visitors what they want, they’ll turn into customers that will help you achieve your goals.

Let’s talk about what your website visitors want in very simple terms.

• Who are you?
• What do you offer?
• Why are you different?
• Can I easily find details about your products or services?
• Why should I trust you?
• How do I order or contact you?

Think about your answers to those simple questions, and you will soon realize the answers are not as simple as the questions. Don’t let that discourage you. It is not that difficult, and it will surely be worth your time.

Before you start answering the questions, think about who you want your visitors to be. Who are you trying to attract to your website? Write a small paragraph answer for each of the questions. Read it over and think about how your prospective visitor will search for a business or organization with products or services like yours.

So, now you have some paragraphs of text, that may or may not look good to you. Don’t be frightened away. You have made a great first step. This is a good time to talk with a professional web design firm. I have nothing against a one-person shop. I was one for a short time fifteen years ago. There are a few great developers who “do it all.” The keywords are “few” and “great” for most geographical areas. Graphic design (specifically for the web), coding/programming, Search Engine Optimization aka SEO, and web presence marketing are, for the most part, very different elements of website development. Not many individuals are great at all of those elements.

Okay, I’ll shamelessly suggest you talk to us at WebWise Design & Marketing. We’ll help you take what you written and develop a plan for your new website. Then, we’ll design your website with your potential visitors in mind. Our extremely talented graphics designers will create custom graphics. Our highly skilled coders and programmers, will create the pages, adding the functionality that your audience requires and deserves. We’ll keep you involved along they way. We’ll talk with you about using social media and tools that may be right for you and your audience. Your site may very well need a blog. You also might augment  your online presence with a Facebook page, and/or a Twitter account. Of course, your website needs to be structured and coded properly so your information gets found readily on Google and other search engines. We’ll also talk with you about Google AdWords and other pay-per-click (PPC ) options, that will help you jump start a new or redesigned website. Those are only some of the services you get from a web design company that offers a full complement of services.

Bottom line: Start thinking in simple terms, get some of those thoughts and questions on paper, and contact an experienced and talented web design company. Call us today at 1-800-281-9993 or 1-608-822-3750 or use our contact form.