I get calls all the time from entrepreneurs desperate to get their websites seen on Google and the many other search engines.

It’s sad really…they’ve spent thousands on the layout and content of the site only to have it seen by a few.

Then they get sucked into running Adwords, Facebook ads and various Pay Per Click campaigns only to realize more money is being flushed down the proverbial drain.

So, they come to me already beaten down and distrusting of what I can do for them. They’ve heard the promises before and so now I have to spend my time educating them as to why their web guy screwed up.

They just don’t understand why people can’t just type their name or their company name into Google to find them. And, they cringe when I tell them their name is irrelevant to Google searches. Unless said customer actually knows the exact spelling of your name or product the chances of them finding you are slim to none.

So here I am writing another short article to try to explain to people once again why they need proper SEO for their websites. And why, the same keywords and phrases should never be used to describe each page of your website.

Every website that’s created has (or should have) what’s called Meta tags (coding). It’s this coding that Google and the other search engines use to index your site in their ranking system. No meta tags or lousy coding and your site is stuck into the phantom zone. That’s any page that isn’t on Page 1 of Google, Bing, Yahoo or any the search engine you frequent the most. If you’re not on Page 1 then forget it…because rarely do people look beyond that page when searching.

Now to the actual fundamentals…

Meta coding is broken into 3 sections:

(1) Title

(2) Description and

(3) Keywords.

The Meta Title is what shows up in or above your search bar depending what browser you use…its function is to give a brief synopsis of your page in 60 characters or less. I usually tell clients pick 2 or 3 keywords that best describe the page plus what ever cities you service to give the search bots (a term used to describe the way search engines file your site in their system) a better understanding of what you do.

Next is the Meta Description. This a short paragraph limited to no more than 160 characters that expand on the keywords you used in your Title. This information again should reflect whats on the actual webpage.

Now we get to Meta Keywords…and this where most people get confused. Meta Keywords are the words that reflect what the page is about nothing more. This is where 99% of web designers make their mistakes. They stuff keywords. They put keywords in that have nothing to do with the page or what they do. Limit your keywords to no more than 15, this keeps each page unique and prevents overuse of redundant words.

Here’s the caveat…Google doesn’t even use the Meta Keywords in your coding…so stuffing them doesn’t do any good. Sure the other search engines do…but, if you stick to relevant words your chances of ranking higher are so much better.

So why do I share this great information and potentially give away my secrets?

Well, frankly I’m tired of the so-called web companies not knowing how to SEO correctly and driving everyone to spend gobs of money on Adwords.

Do you realize Google invented Adwords to fill a void and help websites get seen?

Yep, they realized web designers weren’t coding sites correctly so they created a product that took advantage of those who got screwed the first time. And now they continue to get screwed with every Adwords campaign.

Ingenious or unscrupulous?

Either way…now you know.

Interested in learning more about SEO?

Here’s some additional articles…

SEO Tip: Writing Content For Your Website     –      SEO is NOT Rocket Science!

SEO Is Evolving      –      Does Improving SEO Keywords Impact Sales?

If you’d like to learn more about search engine optimization (SEO), how your site can dramatically improve ranking and how we go about helping you call us today at (412)267-7224 – we’d be glad to review your site and share with you ways to improve ranking.