How to Optimise my Web Page Content
L: Today, we are going to be looking at how to optimise the text and content of a web page to make it more attractive to search engines. I imagine this is a hot topic at the moment?
J: Absolutely, most people want to know how they can get their websites noticed by people carrying out searches on websites like Google, MSN and Yahoo! So anything they can do to improve that on individual pages is a bonus.
L: So this podcast is about what to do with individual pages rather than a whole website?
J: Yes, that's right. If we were to talk about the whole website then this would basically turn into the never-ending story because there are so many different and sometimes complex factors involved in website promotion. For now, we are looking at what you can do with the content of individual pages to increase their chances of being found.
L: Sounds useful. So let's say I've come up with a page on my website and I want to enhance its chances of coming up higher, where do I begin?
J: For me, the first step in how to optimise my web page content is to identify a single phrase with which I want that page to be associated. So then if someone searches for that particular phrase the page has a better chance of being found because I have identified that key phrase as part of a deliberate strategy for getting the page noticed.
L: I see, so we are using a whole page on the website to optimise one phrase?
J: Essentially yes. You can optimise more than one phrase on a page but it is easier to promote a phrase when you dedicate a whole page to it.
L: Aha! So I am guessing that if you wanted to optimise five phrases on a site then it might be a good idea to have five whole pages, each one focussed on a different phrase?
L: That's exactly the kind of thing you would do. You may even want to have more than one page for any phrase but for now we will look at how to get a phrase noticed within a single page.
L: Okay, so I am guessing that this phrase needs to appear within the main text of the page?
J: Yes, and it may even be worth featuring it there twice or three times, although you also want to avoid being penalised as spammy so my advice would be not to have the phrase repeated too close together within the same few paragraphs.
L: Oh, I see. So this is a dangerous game we are playing!
J: There is certainly a small risk to be aware of. A good rule of thumb might be to mention the phrase somewhere in the middle of the page. And then for re-emphasis it may be worth repeating it just once more closer to the end of the page.
L: Sounds pretty easy so far. I know that any client can use the Reyus system to edit their text so this should be straightforward enough. But what about the technical side of how to optimise my web page content? Aren't there there are some behind-the-scenes elements that can also be tweaked.
J: There are - and the good news is that you do not need to be a techncial whizz to get to grips with them. In fact, we have brought out a new component on our editing system that allows clients to go in directly and easily put their phrases into the relevant elements of a page.
Can't hear the podcast? Read more at How to Optimise my Web Page Content Part II
