Home Buyer Articles & Advice

SEVEN TIPS WHEN WORKING WITH KEYWORDS TO GET A LOCAL LISTING

Want to get a top listing for your local Internet webpage? Here are seven changes
that you can implement today that can make a big difference on your search engine
rankings. Some of you may have the working knowledge to make these HTML
changes, others of you may need a little help. These tips will help make your
website search engine friendly.

I live in Ventura County in Southern California. I've spent many hours looking at
hundreds of local websites for Real Estate, Chiropractic, and Dentist clients. It is
very important for them to show up on search engines for local search terms. I'm
going to use my local Chiropractor listings as examples in this HTML tutorial.

I looked up websites using Keywords like, "Chiropractor in Ventura County,"
"Chiropractor in Thousand Oaks," and "Chiropractor offices in Ventura County." I
want you to know that with a few minor adjustments to your HTML you can gain a
distinctive advantage over other local websites that could mean more business to
you in the coming months. Who isn't interested in some new business in today's
economy?

Let's examine what top ranked Chiropractor sites are doing to gain Keyword
relevancy on search engines. You can look at your competition's HTML tags by
going to your browser of choice, clicking "View" in the upper left hand corner of
your browser (Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator), and then scrolling down
to the word "Source". It will open another browser window with the HTML
language for you to look at.

1. USE YOUR KEYWORDS IN YOUR TITLE TAG

Several search engines use Keywords in the Title tag as part of the their algorithms.
Algorithms are rules that search engines use to calculate a ranking of a website.
Each engine uses different algorithms. Using a Title tag is wasted text unless you
think that people are going to be using the name (John Q.
Smith) as search term. If you want to attract visitors who are looking for
Chiropractor in Ventura County" you may want to use the Keyword phrase,
"Chiropractor in Ventura County" in your Title tag.

Here is how you may want to put Keywords in your Title tag.

It doesn't matter what order you place the tags in the HEAD area, although some
experts recommended that you include the TITLE tag first on the page, before
listing any other tags.

2. USE KEYWORDS IN YOUR META TAGS

There's a continuing debate about whether to separate each Keyword in the Meta
tag by a comma, or to group related words (i.e, phrases) by commas, or to list all
the words in one long string separating each word only by a spaces.

Which method is better? The most common method is separating each word or
phrase by a comma. However, many experts contend that the search engines
ignore the commas. Their thought is that by eliminating them, you can include more
words in the tag. My position is that it won't likely affect your rankings either way.

Caution: Be careful not to repeat the same Keyword more than two or three
times in the Meta tag. NEVER repeat the same word twice in a row or you may
trigger a search engine's "spam filter." Never include Keywords that do not apply
to the content of your page.

Here's what your Meta tag may look like for "Chiropractor in Ventura County".

Chiropractors, Chiropracitic, Chiropractic care, Ventura County, Thousand Oaks,
Westlake Village, California, John Q. Smith Chiropractor." >

3. USE KEYWORDS IN YOUR META DESCRIPTION TAGS

Each engine that supports the Meta description tag will shrink it down to 150 to
350 characters depending on the engine. Therefore, include the best portion of
your description in the first 150 characters, but go ahead and add additional text to
fill it out to about 350 characters.

Here's what your Meta Description tag may look like for "Chiropractor in Ventura
County".

County? Find expert advice from a proven Ventura County Chiropractor,
Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village Chiropractor expert, John Q Smith, dedicated
to providing the best service in Ventura County.">

4. USE KEYWORDS IN THE BODY OF YOUR TEXT

Many engines look at your first paragraph for Keyword relevance. By carefully
wording the text in your first paragraph, you can add to your Keyword relevancy.
My suggestion is not to use your Keywords more than five times on any page in
the body of your text.

Here is an example of using Keywords in the body of your text. Keywords = "
Chiropractor in Ventura County."

When you're looking to purchase Chiropractor in Ventura County you want
someone who is an expert in buying and selling Chiropractor in Ventura County.
We are here to help. Located in the Thousand Oaks/ Westlake Village area in
Ventura County. Our Chiropractor office is here to focus on you and your
personal needs.

Some engines will also check the last paragraph of the body of your text. One local
Chiropractor uses this text at the bottom of his homepage to gain added Keyword
relevancy for his website.

"ABC Chiropractic proudly serves the following areas of Ventura County: Conejo
Valley, Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Camarillo, Lake Sherwood, Moorpark,
Newbury Park, North Ranch, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, and Westlake
Village."

TIP: Pages heavy with text in a small font size may not get listed. Avoid using font
size lower than 2 as the dominant size for your body copy.

5. USE KEYWORDS IN YOUR IMAGE/ALT TAGS

Some engines will actually look at your Image and Alta tags as part of their
Algorithms. On way to take advantage of this is by renaming your Image and Alt
tags with your Keywords.

An Alt tag is the text that pops up when you move your mouse over a Hyperlink
and some text is displayed in your browser as the mouse rolls over the link.

Example: "Find more information about Chiropractors in Ventura County,
Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village California."

Here is an example of how your Alt tag may look in HTML.

Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village California.

6. USE KEYWORDS IN YOUR HYPERLINKS

Some engines will actually look at the words in your Hyperlinks for added
relevancy. If you have several pages on your website, consider renaming them with
your Keywords. One local top ranking Realtor uses this technique to gain a top
ranking on Google.

Each of the Hyperlinks on the home page are packed with Keywords and
Keyword phrases. Here are several examples for John Q. Smith of ABC Realty:

TESTIMONIALS: For John Q. Smith of ABC Realty from satisfied home buyers
and home sellers in Ventura County, Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village.

WELCOME: From John Q. Smith of ABC Realty in Ventura County, Thousand
Oaks and Westlake Village.

Featured homes in Ventura County, Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village. Take a
look at Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village and Moorpark, California homes for
sale.

ABOUT: John Q. Smith from ABC Realty serving Thousand Oaks, Westlake
Village and Ventura County. Get to know all about your real estate and relocation
professional in Ventura County California.

These are just a few examples of clever ways that you can add Keywords to your
Hyperlinks to gain extra Keyword relevancy for your website. Consider adding
some links about your local city with hyperlinks that use your Keywords, such as;

Learn all about Ventura County, Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village.

Information and hot links about Ventura County.

My favorite places to visit in Ventura County.

School information for Ventura County, Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village.

Suggestions_ feature local businesses, landmarks, points of interest.

Be creative. Make your links stand out so people will want to click them. The
more time they spend on your site, the better chance at gaining a new client.

7. USE H1 TAGS TO BOOST RELEVANCY.

Some search engines will give words found in your "H1" tag a boost in relevancy.
The H1 tag is used to specify page or topic headings. In most browsers H1 is an
oversized font that looks out of place on a page.

Here is a smart way that you can gain keyword relevancy both ways by using
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). With CSS, you can specify that the browser
display the H1 tag or other tags on your page anyway you please. By using CSS
you can get both a boost in relevancy and get better control of your webpage's
appearance with this easy step.

In the area of the page, put the following STYLE lines:



This will force all H1 tags on the page to use a 12 pt Arial or Helvetica font in
black text. This will also allow you to adjust the point size or font to whatever size
may look best on your webpage.

Using this CSS tag, you can now use the H1 tag on all your pages to gain extra
relevancy Keyword relevancy without sacrificing the look of your pages. Many
experts agree that a majority of the engines give more weight to Keywords that
appear within H1 heading tags. Try it, you'll be amazed at the results.

A QUICK CLOSING COMMENT.

This past summer I spent some time with my family at the Palm Desert Marriot
Resort. While playing in the pool with my kids, I noticed that several people kept
asking me what I do for a living. After some conversation, I realized that the Hotel
was host to Mike Ferry Real Estate Trainer. The number one question I was asked
that day was, "How can I get my site to show up on search engines for my
local area?" By following the above advice you can help your website's ranking
on many search engines.

All of this information will make a difference in the way your website is indexed on
search engines that are Keyword driven. I would love to get you started with
making these changes. If you need any help, you can e-mail me at
david@webpositionadvisor.com

A couple of hours with me may mean a couple of new patients to you. You will
need a slightly different strategy on some of the other Search Directories.

David Dimas is an off-site Internet manager in Ventura County, California. He is a widely read author of Internet Tutorials. His website contains 30 tutorials on Search Engines, Internet Advertising, E-zines, Press Releases, and other "How To," tutorials on Internet marketing. He is also an approved instructor at USCB Extension in Santa Barbara, California for Internet Advertising 101 and Search Engine 101.

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