Optimising a page for a specific key phrase involves many steps. My blog today will focus on what I consider the three quickest steps that will give you the most “bang for your buck”.
This blog post is written to help the non-SEO minded person to understand how to make some simple, yet effective changes to their pages to give their page a chance of ranking. The post is not intended for SEO experts, as ultimately the points below would be considered “absolute no-brainers”.
In this example, lets say I have been presented with a pre-existing page of content from a client who sells wedding veils for a good price. They want to target the key phrase “affordable wedding veils”.
Step 1: Add the Key Phrase to the Page’s <TITLE> Tag
The <TITLE> tag is the name of the page that appears at the top of your browser window/tab. It is also what Google commonly selects to appear in blue on the search results pages. Make sure your key phrase is displayed at the beginning of the <TITLE> tag. Often for branding purposes, I would add the company’s name after.
E.g. Affordable Wedding Veils | Mary’s Wedding Boutique
Step 2: Add the Key Phrase to the Page’s URL (web address)
A modern Content Management System (CMS) will allow you to modify the page’s URL. Make sure the exact key phrase is present, connected with dashes (hyphens).
E.g. marysweddingboutique.com.au/affordable-wedding-veils/
Step 3: Insert the Key Phrase at least 3 Times into the Page Content
Finally, make sure the actual key phrase is mentioned three times in the actual content of the page. This can also include the H1 (the page heading) value. Also format the key phrase to be bold, as Google has been proven to give the bold items on a page slightly more bearing.
E.g. “Mary’s Wedding Boutique specialises in affordable wedding veils…”
BONUS ROUND: Rename an Image on the Page to Include the Key Phrase
I learned this one a while back and at first thought nothing of it. However, I’ve seen first hand that it can have an impact on rankings. As all good content pages should include some type of imagery, try renaming one of these images to include the key phrase, once again connected with dashes.
E.g. affordable-wedding-veils.jpg
I hope these tips will assist you when you’re optimising your website’s pages.
Fun Fact:
As a company who prides itself on offering “affordable web design” we’ve learned that Google is quick to associate your pages with other words of a similar meaning. No company would ever want to refer to themselves as “cheap” however, in the privacy of their own home, the average person looking to save money on a web design (or in my above example a wedding veil) is not afraid to type “cheap web design” into Google.
Take our homepage for example (www.mywork.com.au). Not one single reference to the key phrase “cheap web design”, however the page is heavily optimised for “affordable web design”. Despite the lack of it even being mentioned at all on our homepage, we sit near the very top of Google for “cheap web design”.