First Off Choose Keywords That Are Focused and Specific

As an exercise in your SEO this is critical.

What do you need to emphasize and include? How do you choose the most relevant keywords that will be used by your target audience?

Not what you would use – but, what a searcher would use when they type in an enquiry or search on Google, Yahoo and other search engines

So imagine you are them – don’t think about your product – that isn’t your target. The people who are looking for solutions and information are your target – and they may need your product – so what would they type – that will lead them to your page?

Make a list of these queries – and then try to formulate keywords from them.

You basically are telling your visitor that your site is offering the best information or outcome that he is looking for.

Select phrases (minimum two words – better if 3 or more)

Where To Place The Keywords

Placement of keywords into your text (content) is vital. The search engine spider will see them and, all things being equal, will direct searchers to that page.

First though: do NOT stuff your text with keywords – it will be obvious to Google et al and they will penalize you. That includes the actual keyword and its synonyms.

1. Title of the page: use a h1 meta tag and include your keyword in it.
e.g. KW is “herding cats” Title could be “Effective Ways of Herding Cats”
2. Place your keyword in the first sentence or paragraph – and bold it.
3. Place it towards the end – and italicize it.

Depending on the length of the text, add it once or twice more only.

If you are using a picture or a graph or a table – do not place them at the top as this pushes your KW down further into the page. Do not over use images and use the ‘alt’ tag.

Important Meta Tags
The TITLE tag is the most important as this is the first one that Google sees. It should include the same KW as your domain name – or vice versa. Keep it short.

Where do you see these tags – you don’t – except for the one that is the title on the page. But the spiders do! You can see them if you right click on a web page and then click source – it will show you the html of the page.

If a site has good SEO you will see at the top
Title
Keywords
Description (this is what is shown on the Google page where you are listed)

Note: if they aren’t there on a competitor’s site – that’s good for you, as it means when you use them, you have a better chance of being seen before them.

This all has bearing on relevance – if you have your KWs there, then the page is seen as being relevant, and more relevant than one without them. Google likes relevance.

Then when you use the KW in the page’s text, it gives the impression that this is also a relevant page.

Mind you – this is not the be and end all of SEO – it is a part of it.

Your Name
Your domain name: will people be looking for your company by name – are you that well branded? For example like McDonalds or Nike or Coke?

Yes, it would be nice that you were that well-known that people searched for you by name – but the reality is they will be looking for a service that your company (or site) offers.
So, instead of using your company name, use a domain name about your service.

For example: if you own Classic Hair and Beauty Salon – your domain name could be ‘besthairsalon.com – it is a term strangers are more likely to use when searching for a new salon. If you have good SEO and keywords that reflect best hair salon – they will find you despite the lack of your actual company name.

The Benefit

Good use of keywords and meta tags will add get you boosted up the Google ranks – but they aren’t all there is to SEO – don’t forget the importance of backlinks, internal reference linking and so on.

Lastlly, take advantage of any other tips for designing web pages that get results that you come across – note them down and implement as you build a page of good quality content.