It’s now a given that one of the keys for making effective use of your business website is in delivering high-quality search engine optimisation. However, search engine optimisation is not the only key, although making sure that search engines can optimise visitors by referring to search engine optimisation techniques is important.*
*Deliberate KEYWORD SPAM!
Did that last sentence give you a headache? A slight dull throb behind the eyes? The ‘techniques of yesteryear are the penalty earners of today.
“Google will not buy your product or service… But it will bring the people that
might!”
Believing that SEO is the only key to success quickly causes problems for website visitors by turning what should be an easy-to-read and informative page into a senseless mass of “triggers”. True success is not simply about attracting readers to your site, but in then having them do what you want when they get there!
Striking a Proper Balance: Meta, H1, H2, Descriptions and BOLD!
Your task, therefore, is to strike a balance that both delivers visitors and then gains results from them. Your meta title is an important ranking factor, but it should pair up with an attractive meta description which interests potential visitors enough to make them decide to click through and pay you a visit.
Your H1 and then H2 titles should be to-the-point, to help provide important indicators to any search engine. Text highlighted in bold tells search engines such as Google that this is an important piece of information. Make sure that anything in bold is, therefore, important to the telling of your story or the making of your case. Think of bold stand-outs in a printed news story or ad – they help to focus and direct the reader’s attention.
Writing for People – Not Search Engines
When you visit a website and read the copy, it’s useful to have occasional links – either internal or external – that help to make your case or take the visitor to where you wish them to be. However, some folk go overboard, their copy packed with these links which end up creating a disruption in the reader’s mind. More than a couple per page and you may simply annoy your visitor and then they are likely to head elsewhere… It also opens you up to Google’s pet Panda and Penguin Algorithms and a penalty on the search listings if you go overboard. So keep it sensible!
Take the time to effectively label the images you use – although less of a problem than before, some computers still load slowly, and it’s good to let people know what they will eventually be seeing… It is also a huge indicator to Google as to what that image is. (Though Google is always learning so expect it to ‘see’ an image and recognise it in the coming years!)
Finally, to return to a point made at the start. Imagine opening Nicholas Nickleby and trying to read the text if his full name was mentioned every single time he either featured in the story or spoke a word. Within a page or two, you would have thrown the book away in frustration. That’s how annoying an over-reliance on “text for SEO” can prove to be to the people you are wanting to think kindly about your business or organisation.
