The 3 Most Valuable Pieces of Real Estate on Any Web Site Content Page

There are only 15-steps that any small business owner needs to follow for optimizing a particular content page on his or her Web site. And the 15-step search engine optimization process is easy to master and does not require any technical expertise. I demonstrate the 15-step process with detail and precise checklists within my book The Small Business Owner’s Handbook to Search Engine Optimization. The entire optimization process can be implemented by non-technical business owners in just a matter of hours.

However, despite the efficiency and effectiveness of my SEO process, I am frequently asked by business owners during my live SEO training programs the following question: “Yeah but Stephen…within your 15-steps, are there any steps you think are the most critical?” And my answer is always the same. Absolutely! In fact, there are three steps within the overall process that focus on optimizing what I call the three most valuable pieces of real estate on any content page. They are: 1) page title, 2) META Keywords, and 3) META Description.

In fact, if you did nothing else after reviewing this post or reading my book, I strongly urge you to optimize your page titles, META Keywords, and META Descriptions on each page you plan to leverage as part of your strategy to bring more traffic to your Web site. Based on my experience, you will be much farther ahead than the vast majority of your competitors by taking advantage of this real estate.

So what are page titles, META Keywords, and META Descriptions? And where can you find them?

Page Title

The page title is the white text over the blue background in the upper left corner of your browser window. It doesn’t matter if you are using Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox. The position of the page title is the same. And it is possible to place the most searched keywords inside the page title so instead of reading something generic like “Company XYZ’s Services”, the page title should include keywords relevant to the specific content of the page. Google also uses a content page’s page title to create the link it displays within its search results. By including most searched keywords related to content page within your page titles, you are making the link to your Web site more attractive for users to click on when they see it within Google’s search results. Including keywords within your page title helps Google rank your content page higher and you increase your opportunity to attract more visitors to your Web site. A nice double bonus!

META Keywords Field

The META Keywords field is part of the HTML source code within a content page. It was very common in the past for business owners and Web developers alike to put 20, 30, or as many 50 keywords inside the META Keywords field in an effort to make a content page rank well for everyone. This tactic does not work at all anymore. Google wants specific content pages (See step 9 of my 15-step process) versus pages that try to be everything to everyone. Consequently, you should reuse the same most searched keywords from the page title by placing them directly into the META Keywords field. This accomplishes two things: 1) it further clarifies the theme of the content page for Google and 2) it creates keyword repetition and consistency, which are extremely important to Google. Some participants in my live SEO training programs have questioned whether or not the META Keywords field is even relevant anymore. I always affirm that yes it is, when it used properly. Syncing the META Keywords field with the page title is the perfect strategy.

META Description Field

The META Description field is the final piece of valuable real estate. Writing a quality META Description is critical because Google uses this content to create the little snippet of text displayed underneath the various links within its search results. A properly formatted META Description should be 23 words or less and repeat the same search keywords used within the page title and META Keywords field.

So why are the three pieces of real estate so critical to your success? Because these are the first places that Google looks when “indexing” or cataloging your content pages into their database. Placing keywords into these fields gives Google an immediate overview of what a particular content page is about. And because Google values these fields so highly, it uses the keywords found there to create the search results it displays. And then searchers see the keywords within the Google results because the words are bolded within the links and snippet descriptions. So next time you do a Google search, pay attention the links and the description snippets. I suspect you will uncover some opportunities and see how easy it would be to jump past your competitors in Google’s rankings.

Selecting the Most Searched Keywords

Now, there’s one more thing. Selecting keywords that deliver proven results is the critical first step to this process. If you use the wrong keywords, you will be wasting your time. Chapter 4 of The Small Business Owner’s Handbook to Search Engine Optimization will walk you step-by-step through the keyword selection process so you never waste time optimizing content around ineffective search keywords. Only select search keywords that are proven performers!

I wish you the best of success!