The "KEY" to Keywords

10 Tips to Maximize Your SEO Using Keywords

Our clients are always asking us for ways to improve traffic to their websites. “One of the 'KEYS' to improving their SEO” we tell them, "is to use keywords correctly.” Here are 10 tips to help you unlock the keyword puzzle:

1: When setting up your website, make sure you have descriptive content on your home page that will be recognized by search engines. This means using words and ALSO phrases that pertain to your particular service or product.

2: A little research could be the KEY! Make a list of words and phrases that describe your service or product. Now go to your competitor’s site or a comparable service present online and see how they are or aren't utilizing keywords. Looking at comparable sites (if designed wisely!) is a great way to see if you're missing an important phrase or keyword.

3: Do a bit of research about how your customers or users might describe your service or product. You might be surprised that your definition and theirs contain different descriptions AND different keywords or phrases you may want to incorporate.

4: DON'T use slang or "industry" terms unless you provide an industry service or product. Use keywords that the general public would likely be using to find you.

5: If your service or product is contained to a "location," make sure that location is stated somewhere on your home page. We all hate when we pull up a service thinking it's local and it's halfway across the country. If your service is national or international... well, you should state that too!

6: Is your copy live? Images of text are not going to help your SEO. Make sure your keywords are not images but live text, including your menus.

7: A good way to "ADD" keywords to your existing home page is to put an additional list of keyword links at the bottom of your page that are descriptive and bring users to subsequent areas of your site. This is also a useful tool for your SEO when designing a new site.

8: DON'T over do it! In this case, less is more. Cramming as many keywords or phrases that are not relevant to your service or product can actually lower your rankings. Choose wisely, and if you are unsure, you can get help from experts (like The Byne Group), to guide you.

9: Now, make sure your hierarchy of web pages in your site also follow these rules and contain keywords and relevant phrases for your service or product. Follow all the same general guidelines as for the home page.

10: And finally, if this all baffles you, just call us at The Byne Group and we’ll help you unlock the keyword puzzle!

–Amanda Holt, Creative Director, The Byne Group

Have you submitted your website to all the top search engines?

At my recent presentation at Pace University on Social Media I was asked, "Why can't people find my website when they search online?" My answer, a bit flippant, was that it would take another three hour class for a decent response about search engine optimization (SEO).

On reflection, my answer should have been another question. Have you submitted your website to all the top search engines? Seems obvious, right, but often this first very simple step is overlooked. Search engines are the most used sites out there, and there is a much greater possibility that people will find you if you are registered in their database. The good news, you don't need to be a programmer or a website whiz or pay somebody loads of money and it's simple to do!

How To Do It
First: Visit the search engine that you are interested in submitting to and at the bottom of the page; there is usually a link that says something like, "submit your site." If you cannot find this link, try the site map or the "about" page.

Second: Make sure that you completely fill out each section of the submission form and submit your site only ONCE to each engine.

Another interesting fact is that after a website is indexed in Google, Bing and Yahoo then new content will automatically be picked up by the crawler each time it visits the site. And don't forget social media sites. After you have submitted your site to the big search engines, you can submit it toask.com and stumble.