Getting keywords into your website copy sometimes feels a bit like getting more fiber into your diet—you know it’s good for you, but working it in isn’t always fun. Likewise, keyword rich copy will help your search engine ranking, but it can be such a chore to incorporate those targeted key phrases. This is especially challenging if you have existing website copy that you don’t want to rewrite from scratch.
Luckily, there are a few subtle, yet effective ways to boost your keyword count that are painless for you and nearly undetectable to your readership. Before you go back to the drawing board, add some quick SEO to your web content using the following pain-free ways to get more keywords in your website copy:
1. Add a Tagline to Your Title
The title tag determines the text that will appear in the browser’s title bar and in search engine listings. Each page on your website should have a keyword optimized title tag that includes, at the very least, your company name, the title of the page and a few choice keywords. If your pages currently have generic titles such as “Home,” “About Us” or “Services,” then there is a huge opportunity to get some high value keywords into your pages.
The best way to do this is with a tagline. Your targeted keywords will occur naturally in a well-written tagline. In fact, sometimes the best way to communicate what your business does is to simply list your main services. Examples:
- Community Internet Marketing Inc. | Affordable Social Media Marketing Strategies for Orange County Non-Profits
- Fast Zap LLC | 24-Hour On-Site Pest Control in Dallas/Ft. Worth
- HeyGoodLooking.com | Internet Marketing Services for Newport Beach Plastic Surgeons
2. Add ALT Tags
Since search engines can’t exactly recognize images, ALT tags help them get an idea of what the image is. ALT tag descriptions also stand-in if the image doesn’t load correctly. For the vast majority of users, the absence or presence of ALT tags won’t make a difference, since all they’ll see is the image itself. As such, you can painlessly incorporate keywords into the ALT tag—but don’t go overboard. Simply include a description of what the image is and leave it at that. Examples:
- Web Marketing Designs LLC Logo
- Chart Showing Conversion Rates for Search Marketing Customers
- Video Marketing Diagram
Tip: Make sure your image filenames are keyword rich and descriptive as well. Instead of DC0019.jpg or Image3.png, try SEO-tips-and-tricks.png or OnlinePromotion-logo.png.
3. Add Headings
The Onion ran a headline this year that was a funny as it was true: “Nation Shudders At Large Block Of Uninterrupted Text.” The Internet is for skimming, and heading make any text more palatable. A good balance is to go for one heading per 100 to 250 words or every 2 to 3 paragraphs. Not only does this make it more readable, but it also lets you introduce your keywords in a meaningful way.
4. Optimize Anchor Text
What do your links look like? Do you ask customers interested in a free online quote to click here? Or do you invite interest customers to click here for a free online quote? The meaning and readability of both sentences is the same, but the latter is better for SEO. It not only makes the keywords stand out, it also gives vital clues to search engine spiders as to what it’ll find when it follows the link.
5. Get Specific
You can write good website content in generic terms, but it’ll benefit—both in terms of readability and keyword richness—if you add a little specificity. Scan your content for instances of generic terms, such as “services” or “product” or “device” and replace it with something more descriptive.
Example:
Our services will help your customers locate your business on the Web. Our methods are tailored toward local audiences so you can turn pageviews into personal connections.
Our Internet marketing services will help your customers find your plastic surgery practice on the Web. Our search engine marketing strategies let you target audiences right here in Orange County, so you can turn pageviews into personal connections.
6. Bring It Together
Sometimes, keywords within a key phrase will occur naturally on your page, but they’ll be spread apart. For search engine optimization purposes, the closer keywords are, the better. For example, “We are an Internet marketing firm with offices located in Orange County” is good, but “We are an Internet marketing firm in Orange County” is better. “We are an Orange County Internet marketing firm” is best.
Tip: Search engines don’t read line breaks or punctuation. Try ending a sentence with the first part of a keyword and beginning the next with the second half. Example: “Want to learn more about the benefits of search engine optimization? Orange County businesses can reach us at 555 – 5555.”
7. Change Up Tenses
Most search engines are fairly good about handling plural vs. singular and past vs. present tenses of words. Most of the time, they do this by “stemming.” That is, if a user searches for “fresh papayas,” they’ll also get results from pages that rank high for “fresh papaya.” In spite of this, you should strive to use as many variations of your keywords, just in case. This is particularly important if the spelling of the word changes significantly different tenses or between singular and plural, such as louse and lice or eat and ate.
Conclusion
These are just a few tips that can help you make your website copy more keyword rich and search engine friendly. Of course, it’s always easiest to apply these tricks when you’re first writing the content than to go back and add them later. But if you’re looking for some low hanging fruit to boost your SEO, these tips make an excellent starting point.
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