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Google Adwords PPC Keyword Article
Archived Article
January 2007
Understanding
Keyword Density & Designing A Better Website
By Paul
Goodwyn
- Copyright © 2004-2009
Keyword Concepts
To create web pages that the search engines will love is the basic premise
of search engine optimization. Your goal is to place your most significant
keywords into your web pages in the most appropriate way, so that any search
bots sent by the search engines can access them, take note of them and see them
as important.
The keywords that you use to optimize your web pages should be:
-
Keywords that generate and convert the most traffic.
- Are the
keywords near the top of your master keyword list.
- Can be
less ranked keywords so long as you have very few competitors for them. Such
as, exact match option keywords.
You will find
it very easy to create highly ranked web pages for keywords that are at the
lower end of your list because they are less frequently used for searches.
Decide whether you want to search well for a less important term that gets
searched on a hand full of times a month.
How To
Optimize A Web Page
To get any one web page to rank highly you need to focus on one or two keywords
or key phrases within that web page. The more popular the phrase is to you the
more traffic it will bring, so concentrate on your most important terms.
Your first
goal is to acquire a keyword list for the most relevant search terms for your
each of your web pages. Then select your primary and secondary keyword or key
phrase that you are going to use for the first page to optimize.
For example,
if you are selling an e-Book about doing fix-it jobs around the house your first
principle keyword may be home maintenance guide and your secondary keyword could
be home fix-it guide.
The next step
is to write the content for the home page. If the content contains 1000 words
then you will write the sales copy in a way that will mention your primary
keyword search term at least 2%-8% of the time. That means you want to mention
the key phrase "home maintenance guide", at least twenty times (1000 x 2% = 20)
within the text to attain a 2% saturation level.
This does not mean you cannot mention other keywords from your master list, but
it means that your primary keyword should be mentioned more frequently, where
appropriate.
Your title tag
is also an important constituent of a web page and to use it properly ensure you
place your most prominent keyword at the start (or close to the start) of the
title tag. If this keyword is a high traffic generator for your product or
service then you can incorporate it with other keywords at other places in the
title tag and sales copy.
A necessary component to have when composing any copy for your website is a
keyword list, so you can reminded yourself of the keyword/keywords you are going
to use for any particular page of your website.
Keyword Density
Copy writing is one of the most frequently mentioned subjects when discussing
web page design or search engine optimization. The reason for this is simply
because correct use of keywords is the essence of web page construction. It is
the foundation of search engine optimization.
Keywords are the backbone of how search engines operate, so there should be no
surprise that their are many rules that govern their use in copy writing, title
tags, meta tags, and so on... There are certain formula's that when followed
will help your site achieve a better result.
The concepts
mentioned above are considered by search engines, and do apply, but the degree
to which they apply is constantly changing as new methods are devised and used
by search engines to rank pages.
Also, other factors come into play. For example, the 2%-8% formula presented
above is a good guideline to follow, but the optimized keyword saturation level
you want to attain will vary from website to website and web page to web page.
Let's look at a website that has no competition for the product it sells. Would
it need have any keyword saturation level, No! It's product is unique and would
be the only one listed. For it's unique keywords.
The bottom line is that, copy in a website, title tag, and links are very
important and play a huge part in optimizing your website for search engines,
but the value of other methods has diminish over time. This is not to say they
don't have value or should not be applied. Every little bit helps when it comes
to developing search friendly websites.
Don't under
estimate the value of good copy and keyword placement within that copy. Your
readers need it to know that they have found the right place, search engines
need it to know what your website is about, in fact some respected people within
the industry believe you can place a one third value on copy writing in the
total picture of optimization.
The truth of the above statement would be hard to prove, but logic suggests, and
gives value to it. And having some truth to this means keyword density formula's
have some value also. Confused, well don't be! The fact is you cannot discount
the value of the above methods only the extent of there value.
Controlling Keyword Density
As we already know search engines peruse all the pages in their that contain
the same keywords that were searched for by a user. Then they analyze the
density, that is, the ratio of the searched for phrase to the total number of
words on any page.
For example, let's assume someone is searching for the key phrase
alcoholics anonymous, and the search engine finds the word appearing 25 times,
which equals 50 words on a page with 1000 words. The keyword density using the
formula above would equal 5% for that phrase on that page.
If you make
any attempts to keyword stuff your content it will have a negative affect on
your ranking. If a search engine finds a search phrase makes up 40% of the total
word content of the webpage it can assume you have created that web page simply
to get a high ranking, and that page can be removed by the search engine.
On the other hand if your keyword density is too low it may not register with
the search engine and not be seen as relevant for the search enquiry.
The best way to optimize a phrase for search engine recognition is to read
through your text and if you find the key terms don't appear enough, then add
more in the form of headings or where you refer to the keyword search term with
words like "they", "it", etc... If the meaning of your copy has been lost by
over use of keywords then you probably have to many and should remove some.
The number of keywords needed to improve your ranking will vary from competitor
to competitor and on many factors from the number of words on a page and the
specific keywords being optimized.
This is proven by searching on any phrase and then analyzing the keyword density
in the web pages displayed in the top few results. You will find the keyword
density varies from one site to the other and there is no firm rule. Here's
where you could ask, what is the keyword density rule all about? Well it's a
guide! It's a place to start and over time you add more keywords or reduce them
while observing the ranking results you achieve. Slowly refining your ranking.
When optimizing your copy for search engine competitiveness remember that not
all keywords and key phrases are equal in value. Some are much more in demand
than others resulting in more competition for you. Consider, the phrases "Online
Business" and "Uncle Tom's Holiday Rest Cabins". "Online Business" has much more
competition and therefore requires more finesse when writing copy, titles, and
descriptions etc... if you want to compete with others using "Online Business"
compared with using "Uncle Tom's Holiday Rest Cabins".
Position Of Key Phrases
We have looked at the value of keyword density, that is, the number of times a
search term is used, so and we will now quickly touch upon the value in where
keywords and key phrases are positioned.
It is generally accepted that keywords with special
formatting carry considerably more additional weight by the search engines when
placing a value upon them. Special formatting of text refers to the use of bold, italics,
bulleted lists, <H> tags, etc.
If possible place your best keywords in the headings of the body of text, use
them several times in a paragraph, make them bold, use them in italic type text,
in bulleted number lists, place them near or at the beginning of sentences, when
possible.
Optimizing One Page Or Many
Have you ever wondered why, when you run a search on a keyword you will often
find that two search results occur for a website, the second result slightly
indented beneath the first result?
This occurs when a website has more than web page optimized for the same
keyword. The search engine sees both pages as being relevant for the keyword
search. If you only have one page optimized for a keyword then only one will be
displayed.
There is definitely value to having more than one page optimized in this way as
your standing within the search engine is high and visitors are more attracted
to a double page display, improving your credibility.
If a website has a single page optimized for a search term and a competitors
website has twenty pages optimized with the term which website do you believe
the search engines will rank higher and believe is more relevant. Yes, well
done! Well... that is, so long as you chose the second option!
The search engines will consider the website with the greater number of pages as
being more important.
Nine times out of ten you will not be able to climb to a high position just by
optimizing one webpage for a specific key phrase, generally, you will need many
web page optimized to capture the attention of the search engines. The above
points are valid as long as all other considerations are equal, such as links
etc.
Final Thoughts
For beginners attempting to optimize their websites having rules, guidelines and
formulas for guidance is an essential part of the learning process.
Unfortunately, there are no formulas set in cement that can be offered. The
guidelines are to get you started then it requires monitoring and refining to
improve your results.
So, use the information above as a guide only as there is no correct method for
you. There is no one system or technique that you can apply to create a top
class search engine friendly website. There are many factors and elements that
require refinement over time to achieve a higher ranking.
Finally, keep in mind we have restricted the discussion to the items above and
are not discussing link methods, directory listing and so on. Creating first
class sales copy and refining keyword usage on your website is a very important
aspect of the overall process and should be executed correctly when putting your
website together from the beginning.
Keyword Optimization You Can Try
The few techniques below are not necessarily given for you to use at every
opportunity or to use them all, but can be utilized if you feel they will assist
your optimization endeavors.
-
Firstly, when possible, try to include key words and key phrases in your headlines and sub
titles.
It is always good to get your keywords as close to the top or beginning a
page of text as possible. If your copy sounds weird or strange with keywords
in it then don't do this.
-
The next place to optimize is your paragraphs. Every paragraph when
feasible, should have your main keywords included in the text. Don't just
put it in, make sure the copy message is not lost. Try to squeeze them in
twice otherwise once is fine.
- As
mentioned earlier run keyword density scans and records the finding, if you
want to be a little more scientific about your analysis, other just read
through the copy and see if you can inject more keywords without going
overboard.
-
Make a point of using as many of your key phrases with bold, italic, bulleted lists
or numbers,
or in any way possible where the copy text is formatted in a individual way.
Once again only apply this technique as long as it does not interfere with
the message to your readers.
-
There are many sales copy techniques that could be mentioned but ideally
keep your language usage clear and simple. Unless you are using nomenclature
specific to a technical subject or specific branch of science don't try to
be to formal.
Always read your copy several times and run a spell checker over the content
before thinking you are finished.
-
Lastly, don't concede the flow of your meaning
for search engine satisfaction, you may receive traffic from a slightly higher
listing, but your conversion rate may suffer.
Along with the suggestions in the article you can be well on your way to
creating a website that will achieve a high ranking.
For more detailed information on learning how to cultivate visitors to buy your product/service or affiliate products, reduce costs, increase the volume of
highly targeted traffic to your website, and make money marketing the way professionals do,
click this link for more
information
http://www.adwordsnavigator.com/
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for educational purposes in order to introduce to the
reader key ideas, concepts, or product reviews. As such it is incumbent upon
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practices. We are not liable for any negative consequences that may result from
implementing any information covered in this articles.
Paul Goodwyn's Google Adwords Marketing System
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