Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Blog

Wait… What exactly are keywords you ask? Keywords are the search “terms or words” that users enter in search engines to find web sites in search engines such as Google, Live, or Yahoo. These words or phrases must align to the theme of your web site in order to have a successful SEO campaign.

Keywords are vital to the success of your web site. It is a waste of time money and energy to optimize your web pages for keywords that no one uses in the search engines.

The purpose of SEO is to get targeted visitors to your web site. In order to get targeted traffic, your keywords and phrases must not be to general or too broad.

Remember to choose keywords and phrases that are generic enough so the surfer can find your product or service but at the same time selective enough to discount millions of others pages and competitors. The more specific a keyword is, the more targeted and qualified visitors come to your site which in turn increases your sales.

Here are some general guideline to consider when choosing your keywords:

• Try to use only two to four keywords at a time.
• Remember to be specific enough to bring in only target traffic
• Try to avoid over competitive keywords and phrases.
• Don’t use keywords that have nothing to do with your site.
• Single keywords usually will not work and usually are not effective.

Use Google’s Keyword tool to help generate new keyword ideas.

The very first question you need to ask yourself before you start any marketing campaign is, “Who’s going to buy my product or service?” or “Who is my target audience?” A target audience can be people of a certain age group, gender, marital status, etc. (for example: teenagers, females, single people, etc.) A certain combination, like men from twenty to thirty is often a target audience.

Okay. So I’ve picked my target audience. How does choosing the right target audience relate to Search Engine Optimization?

By choosing the right target audience, not only will you be able to choose a web design which appeals to that group, but you will also be able to pick the right keywords and write content which appeals to that demographic.

Let’s say I have a client with a new brand of beer called “Man Beer.” My target audience would be Men ages 21 and over. Would I have a pink web site with a flowered border? Would I write content that talks about how beer shortens the length of menstrual cycles? Would my keyword phrase be “fabulous fruity drink”? - Of course not. You may be able to get top rankings with the keywords and phrases you select, but bringing the wrong target audience to your web site won’t get you much business.

Well, I finally had time to set up my search engine optimization and general web help blog. It was time to jump aboard the train and contribute my personal array of knowledge and skills of web development, web design, and search engine optimization to the masses. I hope that you enjoy my contributions to the web community, and I encourage every reader to respond to my postings. If you think what I am saying is B.S., then by all means, reply and say, “Brian, that’s B.S. Here’s why…” There is nothing better than discussing multiple viewpoints on a topic.

First things first. Let me tell you a little bit about myself. My name is Brian Petti, and I am the Sr. Web Developer / SEO at ATXWEBMASTERS.com I have over 8 years of professional web design, database development, and search engine optimization experience. During the first 3 months of working at ATX, in Mentor, Ohio ( 20 minutes east of Cleveland ), I have personally increased their online sales by a ten fold, and have dramatically improved the traffic of the web site ( in the upwards of 1500% ) using all White Hat SEO techniques.

I know what your thinking… “What the heck is White Hat SEO, and how can I implement it to my site?” Well, you’re going to have to come back for that answer. It’s a very important topic that I will discuss in upcoming posts, and should be thought out before you go and call your neighbor’s-uncle’s-cousin’s-sister’s-friend, (follow me? LOL) who does search engine optimization while she is at college… It could cost you some serious money and down time due to improper, and unethical optimization.

I suggest that you bookmark this blog, and keep coming back each day to learn more about what you can do to your web site to improve it’s look and feel, overall functionality, and how to gain real targeted traffic, all leading into new business and higher profits for your web business.