Web site owners and blog writers have been asking how to rank for specific keywords since the beginning of the Internet. Of course, things have changed since 1998 (the year Google began). So here are 10 Sure-fire ways to rank for ranking in your keywords.
1. Use the Title tag correctly. Many have tried spamming, but that just doesn’t work. You want the actual title of your page to go here. Lets just hope that your title holds keywords.
2. It has been argued that search engines don’t use Meta tags for rankings as much as they did in the past. However, most agree that they should still be used since some still use both the keywords and description.
How to use meta keywords?
<meta name=”keywords” content=”keyword 1, keyword 2, keyword 3 keyword 4″ />
It is important to use the comma separator and to not use the same words over and over.
3. One of the most overlooked ranking strategies is by just using the words in content. How is this overlooked? I have seen many web pages which have the keywords in the title, meta tags, h1 tag but not within the actual content… and they wonder why they don’t rank.
4. Use the keywords in links. Yes, both internal and external. Link other pages from within the site to the page using the keywords you wish to rank for. And if you have any links pointing to other web pages, use keywords within the text.
5. The title attribute is something which isn’t discussed too often, but in the back of our mind wonder what it is for. Well, the title attribute shows when you hover your mouse over a link or image. Yes, IE has had this wrong forever and used the alt attribute instead. The title attribute will not only help you rank better, but will help out the vision impaired who frequent your site.
6. The alt attribute shows whenever an image can’t, such as the page doesn’t load correctly. It is used as a place holder and to tell visitors what exactly was suppose to be there. Oh, and it tells screen readers what the image is. The alt attribute is a must. Try sticking a keyword within the alt attribute… just don’t get too spammy.
7. Link to authority websites from within your niche. I know, I know, you don’t want to give them more link juice than they already have. But, if you are trying to rank for that keyword and are nowhere to be found, why are you so worried about the #1 spot? You should be more worried about getting onto the first page, and linking to the authority site is one way to do just that.
8. h1,h2,h3 tags. Oh boy. Just about everyone knows about the h1 tag, but not the h2 or h3 tags. These are pretty useful. Not only does it let you categorize pages more easily, but they will help out your rankings too.
9. Use <strong> and <em> tags. Don’t just use them, use them with your keywords. Both are seen as equals from within search engines, so I wouldn’t be worried too much about which to use. However, try not to be too spammy and use them as stoppers for your user. What is a stopper? A word which makes the visitor stop and actually read.
10. Not too spammy. Yeah, spam hurts in just about everything you do. Don’t post your links to all the forums you see or all the blogs. Don’t use the keywords too often within your content (3%-6% should suffice). Don’t use the keywords too much within the Title tag or meta description. Oh, and definitely not more than once from within the h1 tag. Simple rule of thumb; mention the keyword only once from within the h1 tag, meta description and title tag.
Written: Sep 10, 2007
renee - 21st Century Parenting
February 17, 2008 @ 5:49 pm
great post. these are the tried and true basics, as far as i know. (i’m pretty new to the whole SEO quest.) but you have explained them clearly and concisely. THANKS!
p.s. any recommendations about how to do KEYWORD RESEARCH?
Gary R. Hess
February 18, 2008 @ 12:01 am
WordTracker.