SEVEN
TIPS WHEN WORKING WITH
KEYWORDS TO GET A LOCAL LISTING
By David Dimas @webpositionadvisor.com
Want to get a top listing for your local Internet
webpage? Here are seven changes that you can implement
today that can make a big difference on your search
engine rankings. Some of you may have the working
knowledge to make these HTML changes, others of
you may need a little help. These tips will help
make your website search engine friendly.
I live in Ventura County in Southern California.
I've spent many hours looking at hundreds of local
websites for Real Estate, Chiropractic, and Dentist
clients. It is very important for them to show
up on search engines for local search terms. I'm
going to use my local Chiropractor listings as
examples in this HTML tutorial. I looked up websites
using Keywords like, "Chiropractor in Ventura
County," "Chiropractor in Thousand Oaks," and
"Chiropractor offices in Ventura County." I want
you to know that with a few minor adjustments
to your HTML you can gain a distinctive advantage
over other local websites that could mean more
business to you in the coming months. Who isn't
interested in some new business in today's economy?
Let's examine what top ranked Chiropractor sites
are doing to gain Keyword relevancy on search
engines. You can look at your competition's HTML
tags by going to your browser of choice, clicking
"View" in the upper left hand corner of your browser
(Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator), and
then scrolling down to the word "Source". It will
open another browser window with the HTML language
for you to look at.
1.
USE YOUR KEYWORDS IN YOUR TITLE TAG
Several search engines use Keywords in the Title
tag as part of the their algorithms. Algorithms
are rules that search engines use to calculate
a ranking of a website. Each engine uses different
algorithms. Using a Title tag like;
<TITLE>John
Q. Smith Chiropractor </TITLE>
is wasted text unless you think that people are
going to be using the name (John Q. Smith) as
search term. If you want to attract visitors who
are looking for Chiropractor in Ventura County"
you may want to use the Keyword phrase, "Chiropractor
in Ventura County" in your Title tag.
Here
is how you may want to put Keywords in your Title
tag.
<HEAD>
<TITLE>
Chiropractor in Ventura County, Thousand Oaks, and
Westlake California, Chiropractor office in Ventura
County.</TITLE> </HEAD>
It doesn't matter what order you place the tags
in the HEAD area, although some experts recommended
that you include the TITLE tag first on the page,
before listing any other tags.
2.
USE KEYWORDS IN YOUR META TAGS
There's a continuing debate about whether to separate
each Keyword in the Meta tag by a comma, or to
group related words (i.e, phrases) by commas,
or to list all the words in one long string separating
each word only by a spaces.
Which method is better? The most common method
is separating each word or phrase by a comma.
However, many experts contend that the search
engines ignore the commas. Their thought is that
by eliminating them, you can include more words
in the tag. My position is that it won't likely
affect your rankings either way.
Caution:
Be careful not to repeat the same Keyword more
than two or three times in the Meta tag. NEVER
repeat the same word twice in a row or you may
trigger a search engine's "spam filter." Never
include Keywords that do not apply to the content
of your page.
Here's what your Meta tag may look like for "Chiropractor
in Ventura County".
<Meta
Name="keywords" content=" Chiropractor, Family
Chiropractor, Chiropractors,Chiropracitic, Chiropractic
care, Ventura County, Thousand Oaks, Westlake
Village, California, John Q. Smith Chiropractor."
>
3.
USE KEYWORDS IN YOUR META DESCRIPTION TAGS
Each engine that supports the Meta description
tag will shrink it down to 150 to 350 characters
depending on the engine. Therefore, include the
best portion of your description in the first
150 characters, but go ahead and add additional
text to fill it out to about 350 characters.
Here's what your Meta Description tag may look
like for "Chiropractor in Ventura County".
<Meta
Name="description" content="Looking for a Chiropractor
in Ventura County? Find expert advice from a proven
Ventura County Chiropractor, Thousand Oaks, Westlake
Village Chiropractor expert, John Q Smith, dedicated
to providing the best service in Ventura County.">
4.
USE KEYWORDS IN THE BODY OF YOUR TEXT
Many engines look at your first paragraph for
Keyword relevance. By carefully wording the text
in your first paragraph, you can add to your Keyword
relevancy. My suggestion is not to use your Keywords
more than five times on any page in the body of
your text.
Here is an example of using Keywords in the body
of your text. Keywords = " Chiropractor in
Ventura County."
When you're looking to purchase Chiropractor
in Ventura County you want someone who is
an expert in buying and selling Chiropractor
in Ventura County. We are here to help. Located
in the Thousand Oaks/ Westlake Village area in
Ventura County. Our Chiropractor office
is here to focus on you and your personal needs.
Some engines will also check the last paragraph
of the body of your text. One local Chiropractor
uses this text at the bottom of his homepage to
gain added Keyword relevancy for his website.
"ABC
Chiropractic proudly serves the following areas
of Ventura County: Conejo Valley, Agoura Hills,
Calabasas, Camarillo, Lake Sherwood, Moorpark,
Newbury Park, North Ranch, Simi Valley, Thousand
Oaks, and Westlake Village."
TIP:
Pages heavy with text in a small font size may
not get listed. Avoid using font size lower than
2 as the dominant size for your body copy.
5. USE KEYWORDS IN YOUR IMAGE/ALT TAGS
Some engines will actually look at your Image
and Alta tags as part of their Algorithms. On
way to take advantage of this is by renaming your
Image and Alt tags with your Keywords.
Here
is an example.
You have an image named, "image1.jpg"
Change the name to "chiropractor1.jpg" or "venturacounty.jpg"
Here
is an example of how your Image tag may look in
HTML.
<A
HREF="welcome-ventura-county-thousand-oaks.asp">
<IMG SRC="images/venturacounty.jpg" >
An
Alt tag is the text that pops up when you move your
mouse over a Hyperlink and some text is displayed
in your browser as the mouse rolls over the link.
Example:
"Find more information about Chiropractors in
Ventura County, Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village
California."
Here
is an example of how your Alt tag may look in
HTML.
<ALT="
Find more information about Chiropractors listing
in Ventura County, Thousand Oaks and Westlake
Village California.">
6.
USE KEYWORDS IN YOUR HYPERLINKS
Some engines will actually look at the words in
your Hyperlinks for added relevancy. If you have
several pages on your website, consider renaming
them with your Keywords. One local top ranking
Realtor uses this technique to gain a top ranking
on Google.
Each of the Hyperlinks on the home page are packed
with Keywords and Keyword phrases. Here are several
examples for John Q. Smith of ABC Realty:
TESTIMONIALS:
For John Q. Smith of ABC Realty from satisfied
home buyers and home sellers in Ventura County,
Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village.
WELCOME:
From John Q. Smith of ABC Realty in Ventura County,
Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village.
Featured
homes in Ventura County, Thousand Oaks and Westlake
Village. Take a look at Thousand Oaks, Westlake
Village and Moorpark, California homes for sale.
ABOUT:
John Q. Smith from ABC Realty serving Thousand
Oaks, Westlake Village and Ventura County. Get
to know all about your real estate and relocation
professional in Ventura County California.
These are just a few examples of clever ways that
you can add Keywords to your Hyperlinks to gain
extra Keyword relevancy for your website. Consider
adding some links about your local city with hyperlinks
that use your Keywords, such as;
Learn all about Ventura County, Thousand Oaks
and Westlake Village.
Information and hot links about Ventura County.
My favorite places to visit in Ventura County.
School information for Ventura County, Thousand
Oaks, Westlake Village.
Suggestions_ feature local businesses, landmarks,
points of interest.
Be creative. Make your links stand out so people
will want to click them. The more time they spend
on your site, the better chance at gaining a new
client.
7.
USE H1 TAGS TO BOOST RELEVANCY.
Some search engines will give words found in your
"H1" tag a boost in relevancy. The H1 tag is used
to specify page or topic headings. In most browsers
H1 is an oversized font that looks out of place
on a page.
Here is a smart way that you can gain keyword
relevancy both ways by using Cascading Style Sheets
(CSS). With CSS, you can specify that the browser
display the H1 tag or other tags on your page
anyway you please. By using CSS you can get both
a boost in relevancy and get better control of
your webpage's appearance with this easy step.
In
the <HEAD> area of the page, put the following
STYLE lines:
<STYLE
TYPE="text/css">
H1
{font-family: arial,helvetica; font-size: 12pt;
color: black}
</STYLE>
This
will force all H1 tags on the page to use a 12 pt
Arial or Helvetica font in black text. This will
also allow you to adjust the point size or font
to whatever size may look best on your webpage.
Using this CSS tag, you can now use the H1 tag
on all your pages to gain extra relevancy Keyword
relevancy without sacrificing the look of your
pages. Many experts agree that a majority of the
engines give more weight to Keywords that appear
within H1 heading tags. Try it, you'll be amazed
at the results.
A
QUICK CLOSING COMMENT.
This past summer I spent some time with my family
at the Palm Desert Marriot Resort. While playing
in the pool with my kids, I noticed that several
people kept asking me what I do for a living.
After some conversation, I realized that the Hotel
was host to Mike Ferry Real Estate Trainer. The
number one question I was asked that day was,
"How can I get my site to show up on search
engines for my local area?" By following the
above advice you can help your website's ranking
on many search engines.
All of this information will make a difference
in the way your website is indexed on search engines
that are Keyword driven. I would love to get you
started with making these changes. If you need
any help, you can e-mail me at david@webpositionadvisor.com
A couple of hours with me may mean a couple of
new patients to you. You will need a slightly
different strategy on some of the other Search
Directories.
---------
David Dimas is an off-site Internet manager in
Ventura County, California. He is a widely read
author of Internet Tutorials. His website contains
30 tutorials on Search Engines, Internet Advertising,
E-zines, Press Releases, and other "How To," tutorials
on Internet marketing. He is also an approved
instructor at USCB Extension in Santa Barbara,
California for Internet Advertising 101 and Search
Engine 101.
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