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Strategic keyword placement for optimum results

May 14, 2008

Stuffing every keyword phrase into every nook and cranny on the home page is definitely a bad idea. The phrases should be strategically allocated to specific pages and placed (but not excessively) in the page elements that are most important to the search engine spiders.

Site placement

Careful consideration should be given to the appropriateness of search terms in relation to landing pages.

Home page – general terms.
Category pages – slightly more specific terms.
Products and services pages (the ‘selling’ pages) – most descriptive terms.
Information pages – probably already keyword-rich.
Support pages – terms appropriate to the type of page.

In short, its not all about guiding everyone to the home page, its about guiding particular searchers to particular pages where it’s easier for them to make a decision, commitment or purchase.

Page placement

Page title tag

The most important place for keyword placement. This is the wording that appears in the very top line of the browser. Very often the page title will show as the primary link on the search results. So it should be sufficiently meaningful and compelling to encourage searchers to click on it, as well as being keyword rich. Generally about 10 to 12 words are sufficient as different browsers display different numbers of characters. Also perceived wisdom has it that some spiders only read a certain number of characters in the title, so the most important words should be at the beginning.

Heading tags

Page headlines should contain keywords but not to the extent that they detract from or weaken the message on the page. Use the heading tags only for headlines (not as a means of giving more value to paragraphs or other content) and use them hierarchically as intended.

Body

Use keyword phrases in body copy as appropriate without disrupting the flow of the text or making it appear unnatural. Write for people first and search engines second. Some additional weight may be given to keywords that appear in the first paragraph.

Links

Using keywords in link anchor text gives value to both the page that contains the link and the page that receives the link. There is an added accessibility bonus here in that links with meaningful text are more easily understood by people using screen readers. For example, a link with the words “Find out more about the benefits of search engine optimisation” is more helpful to the listener than “Click here”.

Navigation

Pure (X)HTML navigation is essentially a list of links, so it makes sense to include keywords if possible. But it makes even more sense to ensure that the navigation is clear and obvious. So only use keywords where they are an aid to navigation. If the navigation is written in a less search engine friendly script such as Javascript or Flash, try and include a discrete (X)HTML version as well, perhaps at the bottom of the page. No only is this an opportunity for keyword placement, it will also help search engine robots and screen readers to find their way round your site.

Breadcrumbs

‘Breadcrumbs’ is the name given to a list of pages that shows the visitor how this page is reached from the Home page. Each page in the list contains a link to that page. This sort of list is most useful in larger sites that have more than two levels; the primary purpose being to help the visitor with orientation within your site. But it’s an added bonus when page names can include keywords.

Image alt tags

The main purpose of adding alternative text to images is so that screen readers can describe the image. For accessibility compliance this is mandatory. There might be small search engine benefit in using keywords in the alt text, but the words must genuinely describe the image (no keyword stuffing!).

Myths

Words in the ‘meta description’ and ‘meta keywords’ tags have no search engine value. But the meta description may be displayed on some results pages below the primary link, so it’s worth having a few brief descriptive sentences. The meta keywords tag is now largely redundant due to misuse and abuse by spammers.

Filed in: Search Engine Optimisation