Writing for Search Engines
SEO Is Not a Four-Letter Word - Part 2

I hope you were able to read last month’s newsletter and are finding your way past the tangle of SEO approximate knowledge. It looks like all this internet stuff is here to stay, so it’s best to meet ecommerce proactively. Get ahead in the game!

Last month we talked about search engine spiders. They like lots of juicy content, and so do shoppers! Shoppers pay our bills, and spiders don’t. However, it’s best to make friends with both of them. Give them all what they need: great, substantive content. And they’ll give your site what it craves: lots of traffic.

This week, we need to look at all that meta-stuff. (I think I heard a groan from the crowd…) There are three main elements on your ecommerce site that are waiting for your attention. They are the 1) title, 2) description, and 3) keyword tags.

Title Element

The title is just what it says it is. It should tell both your shoppers and search engine spiders what your particular page is about. It will be the little rectangle that shows on your taskbar, so it needs to be identifiable. If you’re selling the world’s finest, most digestible, most nutritious, organic dog food, then that’s what your title should say. An index page entitled, “Home” is hardly utilizing the title tag to the best advantage.

The title should contain the top keyphrases that you’re targeting for that page. Including spaces, it should be around 50-75 characters, and clearly say what the page is about. The title should be alluring and enticing for your shoppers and clear for the search engines. Using the example above, we could title our page, Nutri-Yummys—highly digestible, nutritious, all-natural dog food. That would be far more enticing than, Nutri-Yummy dog food or Nutri-Yummy home.

Description

The description tag is the little blurb that shows up on the search engine page after a search has been conducted. To see what engines display when you search for a particular term, Heather Lloyd-Martin, author of the fantastic ebook, Successful Search Engine Copywriting, suggests that you simply go to hotbot.com. You can type in your search phrase and see how your position and what description the search engines display.

At that point, you’ll notice that not all search engines display the descriptions that are entered. However, bear in mind that even though some engines don’t even use descriptions, that others do. It’s very little work to do for increased sales. Be safe. Enter in a description that uses the following criteria:

• Use a marketing statement coupled with a persuasive a call-to-action. (Give your dog the nutrition what he wants and needs. Top dog breeders agree that Nutri-Yummys are their preference for highly digestible, nutritious, all-natural dog food. )
• Include the main keyphrases for the page.
• Limit your description to 200-300 characters (including spaces).

Keyword Tags

Approximate knowledge really lends itself well to keyword tags, so let’s clear the air. Merchants without a good and thorough understanding of keyword tags have sneaked every type of keyword into the background, hoping to be picked up by a passing spider. They figured if it was good to say “ketchup” once, it was 100 times better to say it 100 times. And, even better, to say “ketchup” 100 times if your page was about French fries or hamburgers… (I can see the free-association wheels beginning to turn.)

Once again, be warned: don’t try to trick the search engines. They will through you out of the game altogether. Once again, Heather Lloyd-Martin has some really great guidelines for the keyword tags:

• Keyword tags should contain from five to 10 phrases. Those might be your main keyphrases or any others you think important.
• Keyword tags can contain common misspellings (“Cannon printers”, “Canon printers”), international spellings, or alternate spellings (ebook, e-book).
• Don’t stuff your keyword tag area. When something is about everything, it’s about nothing.
• Separate your keywords with commas.

See, that meta-stuff really isn’t so bad. And, if applied collectively, it can really be quite effective in traffic building. The best thing to remember about SEO is that it’s not an event; it’s an ongoing process. It requires effort and continual attention, as does most everything else worthwhile in life.

Ydesigns™ offers a number of live SEO classes online. They are scheduled according to enrollment, so make sure to give us a call if you are interested in attending. Remember that Ydesigns™ is including full paid tuition for Webstore University’s classes with every new store build and complete redesign through the month of July.

Every Success,

Leta Miller
Matthew Ledford 

For a great book on this topic check out our friend and REAL expert.

Heather Lloyd-Martin-http://www.searchenginewriting.com/ We HIGHLY recommend, her great book Successful Search Engine Copywriting