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SEO questions


Ant

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Just a few questions on SEO.I'm trying to learn as much as I can but the amount of info is overwhelming so I narrowed it down to a few questions. I realize SEO goes pretty deep so I know theres a list of things that helps. I was just wondering about the following.

 

The site that's launched is about 3 months live now.(I realize it takes time)

 

I'm trying to get better rankings for 2 search scenarios, that I FEEL are pretty narrow.

 

1. Based on state but as a section not the whole state. i.e North Jersey Salon

 

2. One based on County i.e Bergen County Salon

 

Here are my questions:

 

1. Should the title AND description of the site contain BOTH, although that MAY read awkwardly for the title. I guess it's possible to word it and make it work for the site description. Currently both phrases are mentioned. One in the title and one in the description.

 

2. Do i need to somehow mention those search terms in a natural way throughout the sites page content? I know that your not supposed to add it in a way that makes it look forced etc.

 

3. Throughout the content of the pages should I be incorporating all combinations of the search phrase I want to highlight. So if i wanted "new Jersey Salon" would I use "nj salon"and "new jersey salon" and so on for each search term I want to target? I assume it makes a difference. I hope that made sense.

 

Thanks

A.

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1) I'm assuming that you will have multiple pages in the website, so I would think that you could vary the titles, using "North Jersey" in one and "Bergen County" in another. If you are mentioning it in both the home page title and description, you should be fine. You can always do something like "North Jersey Salon in Bergen County" if you prefer.

 

2) Yes. Try to do it in a way where it isn't obvious to users that you are just trying to get better search engine ranking.

 

3) Yes.

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  • 9 months later...

As usual Ben covered it pretty well.

 

Let me just add :

  1. I like your mention of phrases, people lock in to "Keywords" when few users use them, usually you will have better luck with "Key phrases." Ask friends what they would type in to find it? new jersey, hair salon or "Salon in North Jersey or Bergen county area" ?
  2. Search Engines are limited to what they index, so sate what the web site is in the first sentence or two. Then write like a news paper writer would. All pertinent data in the first 2-3 paragraphs followed then by back up info. Just check on some news articles to see what I mean, they will state for instance that N. Korea is developing Nukes and other detail etc, then lower down they would explain about the Korean War, or Kim Il Un being the son of Kim Il Jung and how he may have started the development of nukes etc.
  3. Remember the web site is for humans and not machines, often people focus so on the SE Spiders that the site becomes less usable for the customer.
  4. Accessibility, look into it. If you use solid code and build the site thinking of users with disabilities, it will help with SEO. A web site built to ease access to blind users will work well for SE's because they are blind as well. Pretty graphics mean nothing. The site should be designed logically and H-tags (H1 - H6) should be used (correctly) extensively. Blind users and spiders will use H-tags for navigation to jump around the page. So be sure all H-Tags are meaningful and describe the following content.
  5. Images need to have alternative text (alt attribute) if they represent anything. The title if it is an image banner should be used as the alternative text for users/spiders that cannot read the image. Photo of the Salon? alt="The ?? Salon on X street, North Jersey in Bergen County Alaska". As for fluff and design images, use an empty alt, alt="" so the spider and users know it is not important.

 

Just remember, if users with disabilities can use the site, then spiders can do and it can only help your SEO. SEO is about machines, not people, help the machine serve it's users to find what they need and you will rank higher.

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  • 6 months later...

SEO can take time to understand and learn. I am also a beginner when it comes to SEO but i know a little about keywords. As you decide on what keywords to place on the title tags, consider their competition. Try and start ranking for the low competition keywords as opposed to the high competition keywords.

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Many times is it outside influences that effect on where you show up in the search engines. So yes, you have to have the proper keywords in place, but you also have to be sure that other sites recognize you within the context of those keywords. So for example, if you want Google to show you as a North Jersey salon, be sure that other sites point that out about you.

 

Hint: try google places for example. From Google about Google Places:

 

More people search for businesses online than anywhere else, so it's important to make sure your local business listing can be easily found on Google.com and Google Maps. With Google Places, creating a great listing takes just a few minutes and doesn’t cost a thing.

 

The link:

 

https://support.google.com/places/answer/143059?hl=en

 

 

 

Stefan

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Yeah... Stefan pretty much nailed it.

 

Google Places is your best bet. You don't need to worry too much about the content on the site when using Google Places because it is not totally dependent on your page content as much as it is about maintaining a clean listing on Google Places.

 

FYI: What you are trying to achieve is location based... This means that it is a service solicited in a service area. When Google encounters search queries based on a service such as:

 

Bergen County Salon

Salons in Bergen County

Salons (Searched by someone in Bergen County)

 

Google will always display the map first above all other search queries. You will see a map with markers displaying all the businesses within that area that service that type of query...

 

In short focus on Google Places. http://www.google.com/lbc

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  • 2 weeks later...

2. Do i need to somehow mention those search terms in a natural way throughout the sites page content? I know that your not supposed to add it in a way that makes it look forced etc.

 

Yes, and of course, after recent Humming bird update, search quires in the content got more importance. I also suggest you to use your keywords in your meta description. And for state base ranking use business listings.

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