An effective SEO content strategy enables the search engines to identify the keywords your Web site is relevant to and should rank for. Therefore, it is extremely important to execute proven tactics to help the engines recognize and rank your site for your targeted keywords.  There are various steps, outlined below, that you should follow when optimizing content for the search engines.

Keyword research is the first step to identifying the most relevant, high traffic keywords with low competition. This process (further explained in a previous keyword research blog) will help to focus and optimize your overall content strategy.

Once the research is done you should have a “bucket” of relevant keywords that have passed the traffic & competition litmus test and are now ready to be mapped to specific pages on your site.  To do so, match one or two of your bucket keywords to each page on your site. Be sure the keywords assigned to pages discuss subject matter that is consistent with the results one should see after running the query.  It is important not to target more than two words to any one page as doing so will dilute the targeted keywords’ value in the search engine’s eyes.  Essentially, targeting too many keywords per page can confuse the search engine as to what the page is relevant to.

Now that each page has one or two keywords assigned to it, you are ready to strategically place the content.  The title tag, seen in the upper left corner of your browser when on any Web page, is one of the most valuable pieces of real estate from an SEO perspective.  When writing your title tag, place the targeted keywords first – followed by your brand name.  Please see an example from the Rise Web site below:

Note that the title tag is “Chicago Internet Marketing Company/Firm | Rise Interactive, Inc.”  We do not need to prove to the search engines that we should be number one for “Rise Interactive,” however, proving our relevancy to “Chicago Internet Marketing Company” is a much more uphill battle.  For that reason, targeted keywords should always go before a brand name when optimizing title tags.  Good title tags are short, limited to 65 characters or less in length, as they often appear on the search engine results page (SERP) as the blue hyperlinked text as seen below.

If you exceed the title tag character limit, you risk it not being fully published on the SERP.  In the above example, you’ll notice that the “Interactive” was cut off of the Rise brand name for this reason.  Please note that the search engines tend to pull the black text seen below the title tag on the SERP directly from the page’s Meta description tag.

Unlike the title tag, which impacts search engine rankings, the Meta description tag’s value lies in providing you a voice to communicate with a potential visitor.  The search engines generally do not use Meta description data as a ranking factor.  Instead, it is used to entice Web browsers to click the link to your site.  Any words in the search query that appear in your Meta description will be bolded to catch the searchers eye and hopefully draw them into your message. Best practice for writing your Meta description tag is to keep it to 155 characters or less and include features, benefits, differentiators and a strong call-to-action.

Optimized title and Meta description tags should be complemented with body (on-page) content that completes the argument to the search engines that you should be ranked for the targeted keywords.  Body content is a valuable factor that will be considered by the search engines in regards to rankings.  The one or two targeted words or phrases should appear in the body text two or three times each.  Do not write them into the copy more than three times though as this could be perceived as keyword stuffing, overflowing your copy with keywords, which the search engines consider spammy. This is a common mistake, so watch out!

Creating content for your Web site using these best practice tactics is the first task in establishing an effective SEO strategy. Writing and correctly positioning high-quality content, title and Meta description tags should lead to an increase in rankings (assuming the site was not previously optimized).  If you complete this step and complement it with an effective link building strategy you will be well on your way to reaching your SEO goals.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 8th, 2009 at 12:55 pm and is filed under Rise Interactive, SEM Tutorial, Search Engine Optimization (SEO). You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.