Keywords are the user queries input at a search engine when people are looking for information. Keyword analysis is very important to Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and works on a number of levels. First, steps should be taken to list the top 25 to 50 keyword queries that users would be expected to use when searching for the information on a site. Once this list has been drawn up, it is necessary to go through a website page by page to see where and if those keywords are actually found. For SEO, domain level keywords are most important and most highly ranked, but in many ways limited. For this reason, the optimization aspect of SEO involves rewriting the site titles and page content for keyword density. If you do not have the main keywords for your site in the domain name itself, they can be placed in the page titles or used in the URL. The keywords should also naturally appear in the text of the pages at a density of 3.5 to 7%. Equally important to this is editing the keywords in the meta-tags of a site to include these main keyword lists. With regard to meta-tag keywords, it is recommended to keep the list to no more than 10 to 12 keywords per page, and to vary the keywords across the site pages to match the content specifically. Sites that use this method will produce better results in the search engines than sites that use a single set of keywords across all site pages, or lack keyword meta-tags completely.
Touch and Click provides this type of keyword analysis and optimization for websites as part of our SEO packages. In addition to making the changes to a site structure listed above, which involves basic recoding of html pages and rewriting of page content, we also do an analysis of a site with SEO software. We take the initial set of 25 to 50 keywords and chart where the site currently ranks for each keyword on the major search engines such as Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask, Altavista, and others. Site owners can see their current ranking against other sites with the same content, themes, and subject matter, and we can target a plan for improvement. Another aspect of this process involves analysis of the keyword meta-tags being used by competitor sites. If you understand how the sites ranking ahead of yours are using keyword lists to bring traffic from search results, it may give some insight into how to improve and customize your own site. The preparation of these reports provides a good way to get started with a SEO campaign, and can also be used to chart improvements and rank gains over time. We can also use PPC analysis to see what keywords are most popular in your site’s niche, by looking at the buy rates for each phrase. If PPC advertising is part of your SEO campaign, we can then proceed to the active phase of buying ad space for the main keywords to appear on the search engine results pages.
These keyword analysis methods can help your site perform better and their implementation is needed to optimize a site for placement on the search engine results pages. It cannot be overstated that if the keywords are not on your site’s pages or in the meta-tags, there is no way for them for them to appear in the search results at any level. But if you target the main keywords as well as similar, valid but less popular ones, you can find organic traffic increases from searches in addition to the main focus. Meta tag keywords and descriptions are extremely important. Touch and Click will go through every page in a site and custom code the meta-tags for SEO. On very large sites, this becomes impractical, so we prefer a method used in conjunction with a Content Management System that will automatically generate SEO-friendly URLs with keywords and meta-tag listings pulled from the page content. This is particularly effective for SEO on popular, dynamic content like that which is generated from forums and blog posts. You can save time and effort in the long run by including these SEO enhancements in your site design from the very beginning. Touch and Click offers these services as part of our basic web design package, and we can also be contracted to implement them on a live, established site.
For more information about keyword analysis and SEO at Touch and Click, please contact one of our customer service representatives directly for a free quote and estimate.
