When performing search engine optimization on your Web site, keep in mind the blend between optimizing for the “bots” and for your users. If you gravitate toward one over the other, your efforts may win over only one of your audiences, rather than appealing to both of them.
One way to produce the best blend of keywords within Web site copy is to narrow the core list of keywords from your research to a small list of derivatives, about 20, while you are writing your copy. This works better if the person writing the copy is not the one who did the keyword research; it brings a fresh perspective to the mix. By having a short list of similar keywords per page of copy, your keywords become more varied and you don’t overuse your most valuable keyword for the page, something which leads to your content looking “spammy.” This way, you increase the amount of keywords you would have if you’d only chosen one or two keywords to target on the page, and your copy will be written more naturally — which search engines love. Search engines want to deliver the most relevant content to the user who types in your targeted keywords. By writing naturally and having multiple keywords for a theme, you increase the chances of your page being returned for your topic.
Opportunities to achieve effective blends also exist via H1 tag optimization in the headline introductions to specific sections on your page. H1 tags are a great chance to call out your most important keywords, provided that the specific section of copy is on that topic. The headlines not only break up the content so it’s in easy-to-read sections, but it helps you anchor your most important keywords from your meta content in your Web site content.
While the content and on-page elements are just two pieces of the optimization puzzle, they are often the most under-utilized, especially on the home page. The majority of traffic for most Web sites is directed to the home page, which is often lacking in the amount of content it houses. Remember always that proximity is key in the placement of your keywords in the content, so it is best to put your most important keywords at the top of your content areas.
When these elements are properly executed on your site, it can dramatically affect the way the search engines see your Web site and its subject matter.
