Using Keywords in the Body: Put Them Here, Put Them There, Put
Them Everywhere! By: Janet L. Hall
The keywords you are using MUST be reflected in the page
content, the BODY, of the web page you are trying to improve or
build.
There are many places you can, and should place your keywords to
help you get a higher ranking in the search engines; remember,
this is the ultimate goal. People searching for you WON’T find
you if you don’t use your keywords throughout your web page!
TOP Seven Areas to Place Your Keywords in the BODY of Your Web
Pages:
1.Beginning and near the top of web page. 2.Headlines (Headings)
and Subtitles. 3.Links. 4.Site Address in Links. 5.Name of
Images. 6.ALT (Image) TAGS. 7.Background Images.
This month we'll look at the top first four, one at a time, and
next month we'll finish up with the last three.
We continue building and organizing your web page from last time
by inserting the BODY TAG: <BODY> This TAG is automatically
inserted for you by FrontPage and probably other web page design
software after your ending or closing HEAD TAG </HEAD> <BODY>
1. Beginning and near the top of web page : Here you want to
type in a paragraph, or more, of information about your
services, products, or yourself, being sure to incorporate and
use the KEYWORDS you have selected for that page. Get your most
important and relevant keywords as close to the top of your web
page.
Many designers and beginners put logos, images, or banners near
the top of their web page. Bad mistake! This can cause some of
the search engine spiders to be “caught in the web,” so to
speak. They can’t read the image, so they stop retrieving
information from your web page and web site; they move on to
another web site to spider. They might be able to retrieve the
first few lines on that page, and those lines of text might get
used as the description of your site when someone is searching
for you. Since search engines seem to be in a constant change of
what they want, it’s important that your first few lines of text
be your most important information, with your most important
keywords in there!
According to wordtracker.com, “Make the first 25 words in the
body of your page keyword rich…Spread your keyword phrases
throughout the body of the page in natural sounding paragraphs.
Put a keyword at the end of your body text as well.”
Another trick you might try to boost your keyword relevance is
by putting your keyword phrases in bold in your BODY text.
2. Headlines (Headings) and Subtitles: The headlines, subtitles,
and titles in the BODY of your web page are considered headings.
Not to be confused with the HEAD TAG I wrote about in issue 5 of
OverHall IT! (http://www.overhall.com/issue5.htm )
Heading TAGS are numbered, one, <h1>, being the most important
and largest. The Heading TAG is written as: <h1>, <h2>, <h3>,
and so on. The ending or closing TAG is written as: </h1>,
</h2>, </h3>, and so on.
Heading TAG Sample:
<h1>OverHall IT! </h1>
3. Links are usually presented on your web page as blue text and
underlined. Links to other pages on your web site or to another
web site are always written the same, with the exception that
you place the web address (URL) of the web site or page that you
want people to go to. It is also another place you can place
your keywords. Below is an example of a link to my web’s home
page:
<A HREF="http://www.overhall.com">Click here to get organized</A>
Notice the opening TAG is <A HREF=" "> and the closing TAG is
</A>. After the first quotation sign you type in the web site
address or web page you are linking to. Next, insert another
quotation mark, then a bracket, after which you type the text
that you want to be blue, underlined, and containing your
keywords; the words that a person will click on to move to the
web site or page you have linked to. Then your closing TAG </A>.
Here is an example of linking from my home page to another: <A
HREF="http://www.overhall.com/issues_and_articles.htm">O
rganizing tips and Organizing articles</A>
Please notice how I used an underscore, _ , between the words in
the web address. You can also use a dash (-) to separate words
in addresses. By using the underscore or dash, the search
engines will see the words as individual words in a phrase. If
not broken up, issuesandarticles, the search engines see a
single term, DON’T DO THAT!
4. Site Address in Links: When you are building your pages, make
sure you name the new pages (the htm pages) after your KEYWORDS.
Let’s examine one of my addresses: My domain name is
http://www.overhall.com and I’ve built a page about a dated
filing system that I think is a terrific product, that I sell,
and that I refer to as a tickler file. My keyword is tickler
file. So that page is called tickler_file.htm and the address
looks like this: http://www.overhall.com ickler_file.htm See how
I used my keyword as the name of the htm page?
I’m still in the process of fixing some of my pages because when
I made them I didn’t know to put my keywords in the name of the
address. I then have to decide whether to keep the old ones up
on the Internet, because people might have bookmarked them, or I
can redirect the person to the new page. Then I have the task of
resubmitting them to the search engines. So, TAKE YOUR TIME when
you start building other pages, carefully deciding on your
keywords and using them in the address.
Okay, using this and last month's lesson, let's see what your
web page should look like:
WEB PAGE EXAMPLE:
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE> disorganized? organizing help, clutter tips, organizing
tools</TITLE>
<META NAME="DESCRIPTION" CONTENT=" disorganized? need help
getting organized? Organizing solutions to simplify your life.
got clutter? get rid of clutter. live the life you've been
dreaming of, clutter free, get an overhall">
<META NAME="KEYWORDS" CONTENT=" organizing, organising, clutter,
overhall, overhaul, organized, get organized, organizing tools,
stuff, disorganized, clutter in your life, stay organized,
professional organizers">
<META NAME="AUTHOR" CONTENT=" janet l. hall, owner of overhall
consulting, professional organizer, speaker, author can help you
get organized and get rid of your clutter">
<!--//overhall consulting website is maintained and updated by
professional organizer, janet l. hall//--!>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
Are you sick and tired of being stressed out, disorganized, and
frustrated by the clutter in your life?
<H1>let overhall consulting help you</H1>
Our website is loaded with <A
HREF="http://www.overhall.com/issues_and_articles.htm">o
rganizing articles</A>
</BODY>
See how I inserted the BODY Closing TAG </BODY>.
This is the TAG you insert at the bottom or end of your page.
TIP: Each page on your web site needs to be given it’s OWN HEAD
information.
Editors NOTE: In the examples above, anything typed in lower
case should be replaced with YOUR title, YOUR description, YOUR
keywords, and YOUR author and comment information. In the
examples above the TAGS have been typed in UPPER CASE; however,
this is not necessary when entering this information onto your
web page. All brackets and other symbols need to be typed in as
presented in the above examples. All information typed in lower
case in the BODY should be replaced with your information and
links.
Next time image TAGS, until then, Happy TAGGING!
The Organizing Wizard, Janet L. Hall, is a Professional
Organizer, Speaker, and Author. She is the owner of OverHall
Consulting, and Organizing By Phone. Subscribe to her FREE
organizing newsletter at http://www.overhall.com/newsletter.htm
or visit her web site at http://www.overhall.com
Copyright 2001 by OverHall Consulting P.O. Box 263, Port
Republic, MD 20676 All Rights Reserved. Permission is granted to
reproduce, copy, or distribute so long as article is kept
intact, this copyright notice and full information about
contacting the author is attached.
About the author:
The Organizing Wizard, Janet L. Hall, is a Professional
Organizer, Speaker, and Author. She is the owner of OverHall
Consulting, and Organizing By Phone. Subscribe to her FREE
organizing newsletter at http://www.overhall.com/newsletter.htm
or visit her web site at http://www.overhall.com