After reading several articles on the importance of using
keywords to improve rankings, I started my "keyword project" by using a great
little search engine optimization tool a friend directed me to. There, I found I could type in up to five keywords or
keyword phrases and see how certain pages on my site were positioned on Google.
The results were fascinating. (Now I use
Google AdWords Keyword Tool.)
The first thing I learned was that search results vary dramatically depending on
how one orders their keywords when doing a search. Thus, to effectively plant
keywords, you must first figure out what words most people are likely to use
when searching for whatever it is that you're trying to sell on the Web, and
then you've got to figure out how to string those words together in your text for the search
engines to find.
Note that Google doesn't use the keywords placed in Meta tag
definitions, but it does pick up your Meta description tag, so the more keywords
you can tuck into that tag, the better (more on this topic below).
Use of Commas and the Word "and" in Keyword Searches
One of the things that surprised me was how search results
varied when you used a comma or the word "and" in a keyword phrase. For example,
my first search for "writing, editing services" back in 2006 had my writing/editing services
page listed #59. But when I searched for "writing and editing services" (using
"and" instead of a comma), that same page came up #19 (not great, but certainly
better). More interesting, when I searched for "editing, writing services"
(merely reversing the order of the keywords), my pages were nowhere to be found
in the first one hundred listings. However, a search for just "editing services"
had that page positioned #59 (same as "writing, editing services") whereas "book
manuscript editing service" came up in #43 position, and "book manuscript
editing" ranked me a bit higher, at #35. There were no results for me at all for
searches for "book editors." (I need to work on these keywords.)
See below for how I've brought all these rankings
up to page one or two.
For those of you who are selling home-business products or
services, note that listings will turn up in a different order, and also in a
different volume, depending on the exact keywords you search for and whether you
separate words with a space or a hyphen or use a plural of a word. A little "s"
can make quite a difference. This is important to remember whenever you're
planting keywords in your headings, sub-headings or body text, or in your Meta,
image, or link tags. For example, check the number of listings that Google turns
up when the following keywords are typed in the search box (notice the
incredible growth since 2006):
home business - 17,700,000 in 2006;
51, 600,000 in Oct. 2011
homebased business - 979,000
in 2006;
1.090,000 in Oct 2011
home based business -12,900,000
in 2006:
25,400,000 in Oct. 2011
home-based business -1,910,000
in 2006;
184,000,000 in Oct. 2011
The Power of the Hyphen and the Simple "s"
When I first began this study, I was tracking "home business
books" and "home-business books" and getting entirely different rankings for the
page that has always listed my book titles. I was also tracking "home-business expert," (note the hyphen)
and was pleased to see that my name came up #19 in 2006. But there were fewer
"experts" three years ago, and I never planted those keywords in my articles, so
I lost that ranking a long time ago and haven't looked to see how far down I am
now for those keywords. Today, if you search for "home business expert"
with and without the hyphen, and then add an "s" to both keyword phrases, you'll
turn up different web pages for each, depending on how each website owner has
spelled those keywords. All this is to say that if you're trying to get a high
ranking for any word/s that others may be writing with a hyphen, or making
plural instead of singular, add all variations to your list.
Of course, if you search for me by name, I'll always come up on top because I'm about
the only Barbara Brabec who is active on the Web. For example, if you know my
name and search for "Barbara Brabec's books," you'll turn up 1,180,000 pages
for me now (in 2011), but in 2006, there were only 400. It's not surprising, then, that a search for "books by Barbara
Brabec" has me positioned #1 on Google. I was surprised to find that a search
for "home-business authors" had me in #2 position in 2006
,
but even more surprised when I searched for "home business authors" (without the
hyphen) and found I was nowhere to be found in the first ten pages that year.
Now, in 2011, I'm coming up in the number-one spot for both search phrases,
which I find rather amusing inasmuch as my books are all several years old now.
In trying to improve my page positions for my telephone consulting service, it
was easy to get my consulting services page to come up #1 on Google, provided I
searched for "telephone consulting service." But just because this is what I
call my service doesn't mean anyone else is going to be looking for it on
Google. If, however, someone was looking for "home business consulting"
in 2006, my page
turned up #44. Now, in 2011, because I added the phrase "home business" to my
telephone consulting service, that page comes up #1 only if one happens to
search for "home business authors." I do not actively promote any telephone
consulting now except for authors who need help with a contract from a book
publisher.
Adjusting and Adding the Right Keywords
Articles I've read have stressed the importance of using the
same keywords several times on a page. The higher your "keyword density" on any
given page, the more likely the page will be indexed by Google. If you want a
visual picture of keyword density on a particular page,
do a search for "book manuscript editing" on Google to find my listing, and then
click the CACHE (not the green web link)
and you'll get a page that highlights all the keywords Google is using to rank
this particular page.
Experts advise
that we group keywords closely together, and also keep them as close to the
beginning of a sentence or paragraph as possible. Add them to your headings and
sub-headings and, when possible, use keywords in your links.
After I got serious about this business of using the right keywords, my Google
rankings for my writing and editing service pages improved dramatically. First, I studied the
keywords being used by some of my competitors and made a list of words that
should be added to my pages. Then I reread my pages and looked for places where
I could add keywords to headings and body text. I then added descriptive tags to
all my images and text links as well, since this is a legitimate way to increase
keyword density on a page. (See below for how to write this HTML code.) Below,
you can see how these changes improved my ranking for some of the search terms
mentioned above. Of course, the rankings change all the time, depending on what
others are doing each day, but the point is that I'm now on page one for some
keyword searches whereas before I was on page six or nowhere to be found. This
has made a big difference in my ability to attract new clients for my
book editing, critiquing, and consulting services.
BEFORE AND AFTER RANKINGS - 2006/07
&
October, 2011
"writing, editing services" - #59 / #4
(as of
10/11: #4 of 19,200,000 pgs.)
"writing and editing services" - #19 / #7
(as of
10/11: #7 of 4,880,000 pgs.)
"editing, writing services" - #100+ / #47
(as of
10/11: #11 of 5,840,000 pgs.)
"book manuscript editing service" - #43 / #28
(as
of 10/21: #4 of 2,420,000 pgs.)
"book manuscript editing" - #35 / #21
(as of
10/11: #2 of 4.900,000 pgs.)
As you can
imagine, I'm patting myself on the back for figuring out how to climb on top of
all the millions of others on the Web who are currently offering book editing
services. Of course, submitting a site map to Google is probably the real key to
success here. (See "Webmaster Tools" there.) If you haven't done that yet, make
this a priority. Then, whenever you make a lot of changes to your website, go
back into Google and tell them to crawl your site again. The first time I did a major update to
my site and changed the description Meta tags for a lot of my
web pages, Google began to use them within a few days of crawling my site
again.
How to Add Tags to Images and Links
I like to add tags to links because I can convey an added
message to site visitors, but this also happens to be an effective keyword
strategy as well. (Mouse over some of the links on my home page to see what I
mean.) You should also add descriptive tags to images for the benefit of those
who may have graphics turned off on their browser.
To bring up a descriptive box that comes up when you mouse
over a link, modify your HTML code according to this example:
Sample text:
Click here for details about Barbara's BOOK MANUSCRIPT
CRITIQUING SERVICE.
HTML code and link would be placed before "Click here" and would read: <a
href="writing_publishing/book-manuscript-critiquing-service.htm" title="Book
Manuscript Critiques from author and editor Barbara Brabec">
(Note that I've just planted all my important keyword search terms in the title
tag: "Barbara
Brabec," "author and editor," and "book manuscript critiques."
To add a tag to a graphic image, you would use the word "alt" instead of "title"
in your tag. For example: Text in one of my graphic images reads
"Writing/Editing Services." The HTML tag for the image reads:
<img border="0" src="images_(file name)" alt="Graphic that says Writing &
Editing Services, two of the services offered by home-business expert Barbara
Brabec" width="156" height="49"></p>
As you can see, I've sneaked in three keyword phrases here: "writing & editing
services," "Barbara Brabec," and "home-business expert." (Note that it doesn't
seem to make a difference whether you use "&" or "and.")
ENDNOTE
I first got interested in all this keyword stuff when I asked a new client how
she learned of my services. She explained that she had just gone to Google and
typed "writing, editing services" into the search bar, and I said thanks for the
information. Then, when I did the same thing on Google and found that my listing
was on the bottom of page six, I wrote back and asked why she chose me over the
58 other editors listed ahead of me on Google. Her answer really surprised me.
She said she had checked several websites, but decided on my services
because she liked the looks of my website, but mostly because she liked my
picture on the site. She said I looked like someone she could trust to do a good
job for her. If ever there was an example of a picture being worth a thousand
words, this is it!
In my books, I have often written about the importance of including your
photograph on your printed materials and website because people don't do
business with businesses; they do business with PEOPLE. And they like to know
what the people they're doing business with look like. I don't understand why so
many product and service sellers alike try to hide behind the fancy design of
their websites when what could really sell a stranger on their products or
services would be a photograph of themselves. Whether it's a formal portrait, a
casual picture of you at work, or a nice line drawing that captures the "real
you," remember that a picture truly is worth a thousand words, and it can often
do a terrific selling job for you.
[more Computertalk Articles]
[Back to Top]
Copyright © 2000-2012
by Barbara Brabec
All Rights Reserved
Barbara Brabec's World
BarbaraBrabec.com
