Take your META description tag and chop it into two pieces -- one part for the headline and one part for the opening paragraph of your body copy.
If a single discussion warrants more than a single headline, use a smaller
headline (<H2><H3>) containing variations of your page’s most important
keywords.
Special Note… Every single content page must contain a <H1> or <H2> tag for
maximum ranking relevancy. If you are not using these tags, you are missing out
on free Search Engine traffic!
5) Body copy
We started the body copy at the beginning of DAY 6. Let’s see what our search
result listing would look like for those engines that don’t use the META
description tag. First of all, the Title appears as a link...
WORLD'S BEST Fashion Factory Outlet Stores,
The Cream of Cyber Discount Fashions
This is followed by the H1 tag and the beginning of the body copy...
Fashion Outlet Stores Nirvana
Ever been on the road, far from home, when what do
you see? A mall jammed with fashion outlet stores!
Yes, that would pull me through to your page! So you see how important it is to
start your body copy strongly, as we did above. Now don’t blow it!
OVERdeliver great content in your body copy.
Your intro paragraphs establish your VPP while quickening the pulse of your
reader. After that, you’ll deliver the benefits of your site by answering the
“what’s in it for me” question that every visitor asks when arriving at a site.
And you’ll do it while blending in your keyword. You should work not only
“factory outlet stores” into your copy, but also common synonyms and variations
like “outlet stores” and “fashion outlets” and “fashion malls” and “discount
fashions” and “discount outlets” and “discount malls.”
And also work in General Keywords that would likely be associated with your
keyword (ex., shopping, shops, savings, discounts, etc.). If someone searches
with part or all of your Specific Keyword and one of these General Keywords,
you’ll have a good shot at being found. And you’ll have a high-quality, interested
and motivated visitor!
Remember, though, that synonyms and variations should not reduce your main
keyword (factory outlet stores) to near invisibility. Establish your main keyword
and then sprinkle in the synonyms and variations.
How many times should you use your specific keyword in your body copy? As I
said before, do use your Specific Keyword more than your high school teacher
would have liked -- keyword density is of some importance for the SEs.
However, don’t overdo it, either. Don’t cross over the line between properly
optimized content and spam. The best rule of thumb is to read your page aloud,
and ask yourself…
“Does this sound natural?”
If too many incidences of your Specific Keyword are making your page sound a
little odd, then replace these with appropriate synonyms. Surprisingly enough,
top ranking SE pages have keyword densities a lot lower than you think --
varying from as little as 1-4%.
What about keyword prominence (i.e., the location in your page text where your
keywords appear)? Yes, keyword prominence has a role to play as well. Make it
a point to use your Specific Keyword more heavily in the opening two
paragraphs (it must be in your opening sentence), and also in the closing
paragraph. And then, like a good chef, sprinkle throughout!
Your keyword scatter pattern should look like an hourglass... bigger (i.e., more
frequent usage) on the top and bottom, and less (but still present) in the middle
of the page.
If you like, you may experiment with different numbers, frequencies and patterns
of keywords as you build new pages. But again, don’t waste much time on this
keyword density or prominence. The growing importance of off-page ranking
criteria makes such efforts a low-yield effort.
Follow the 80-20 best practices approach to SEO (which, as you will see later,
also includes a good links program), you’ll be fine. In the meantime, you know
what to do…
C -> T -> P -> M
How long should a page be?
As long as it needs to be, but no longer!
Don’t worry about what the Search Engines think about length -- that’s important
only to your reader. It makes no sense for an engine to score a short page any
better than a long one. If length is of any importance, it’s minor.
One caveat…
The longer you make an article, the greater the chance you will wander off-topic
and dilute the importance of your Specific Keyword. Slice-and-dice lengthy
articles into smaller ones. This improves readability and gives you additional
opportunities to rank well with the Search Engines.
Bottom line?
Use common sense, and avoid abuse.
Keep your content focused to a single theme per page. Do not ever get offtarget
and introduce a second topic to a page -- you’ll dilute the effectiveness of
your Specific Keyword. And that goes for your site as well. The more you laserbeam
on a single theme, the better you’ll do with the Search Engines.
Of course if you’ve followed your passion, you will have lots of ideas for content. You may not know all you want to, but when you love your topic, learning more about it will be a pleasure.
Whether you know a lot or a little to begin with, research can add pizzazz to your
site. Search It! is a researcher’s dream.
Reference Library for Content (STEP 1) includes an impressive list of links --
articles, news, quotations, encyclopedia entries, etc…
And if that weren’t enough…
Use Images -- Video -- Sound (STEP 1) to find extras you can use judiciously.
Just remember that “Content is King”!