Content focused SEO

The goal of Search Engine Optimization is to improve your web site’s organic listing for a specific set of targeted keywords so that your site is listed at the top of the results page when a prospect searches for specific keywords. Each search engine has a ranking system of algorithms, methods of determining relevancy, and how often it will index pages. Unfortunately this information is not made public but there are what I call “Best Practices” to use to give your webpage a better shot at being recognized by the search engines and have them find it relevant and credible for those keywords or search terms. Best practices change as Search Engines change their ranking parameters and most best practices are found by testing and measuring. There are many “best practices” to use but I'm going to focus on one that seems to have remained in the list for the longest amount of time: Focused and Unique Content.

Content is the single most important need for search engine optimization. They rely on the content of a web page to assess pertinent and credibility to a specific search. The more strategically and unfailing a phrase is used within the content of a web page, the more pertinent and credible the search engines may consider that page to be for that phrase. We call this keyword density but there is a point where too much of this will raise a red flag in the search engines eyes and hurt your credibility. Writing content that is made for search engines requires a lot of work, making sure it isn’t copy and pasted, formatting in a way that it is easy to read and understand for any consumer that will come to your website. I suggest writing at no higher than a 10th grade level. I also suggest having your content copy written just for you website. With that being said when I am working with a client I need them to be devoted to the content and review it and give their input, after all this website is a reflection of you. After you have developed and written all the content to get your webpage up and live, there is an ongoing maintenance that needs to be preformed to keep your content up to date and fresh. This way when the search engine comes around and indexes your pages it will always see fresh new content, search engines love to see that and they will index your pages more frequently. There are a couple of ways of doing this adding new pages every month like a FAQ page but the easiest way to add pages and keep fresh content is a blog. Blogging is so easy. You can write about a client or customer that just came through your door and was ecstatic with the way you treated them, put testimonials in your blog (also have a testimonials page), Develop links with in your blog to direct the consumer to that page i.e. If you are blogging about your team have a link to the “about us” page so they can get more information.

I would also recommend using tools to check your content just in case it was copied from another site or if someone else copied your content. The search engines frown upon duplicate content and if someone else liked your content so much that they copied it, you may just want to make some tweaks to yours vs. chasing them down. Either way, the goal is to stay on top of the ball and know what the search engines are looking for.