In this 3-part series of articles, we're talking about what you - as a writer or author - can do to optimize your Website or blog and make it more people - and search engine-friendly and drive more traffic to your site.
In this article, we’re going to go into the the importance of Meta Tags, Page Titles, Descriptions and Keywords have in SEO for your Website if you’re a writer or author.
What Happens When A Search Engine Visits Your Website
When a search engine comes to visit your Website (called a spider), the first thing it’s going to do is look at your Page Title, Description, and Keyword Meta Tags.
These are all elements in the “code” of your page. If you didn’t design your page yourself, you can usually find them and see what’s written if you look at the top of your browser bar and look for the word “view”. Click that, and scroll down till you see “Page Source” - click it and it will show you what your Website looks like written in html or other programming language.
Just scroll down ‘til you see the “Page Title,” “Description,” and keyword “Meta Tags.”
If you have a blog, you can find these things in “settings” on your dashboard.
The SEO Steps You Need to Take Before Submitting Your Website to the Search Engines
Meta Tags
Before submitting your website to the search engines, make sure that your Meta Tags for each page accurately describe each page’s content.
In other words, don’t use the same keywords on all pages, and don’t fill the Meta Tags with every single keyword you can think of.
Right now, less is more. Focus on the one to three keywords that accurately describe the content visitors will find on your Website or Blog.
Page Title
Make sure the page title describes what the visitor is going to find - and include your most important keyword or keyword phrase. Remember, you can always add lots of subtitles, to keep visitors moving through your content, but each page title should give them the big overview. In most cases, it’s best to keep titles to under 10 words.
Description
You want the description (this is what humans read when your site shows up on a Search Engine Results Page [SERP]) - to be interesting and enticing enough that a searcher clicks on your link to get more information.
Keywords
Your keywords need to be in your meta tags, in the description and in the page title. Use it in the first sentence, or at least in the first paragraph. Make sure you're not just repeating your main keyword phrase.
Why?
Because search engines have gotten a lot smarter. If all you’re doing is using your keyword over and over again, you’re going to get penalized for what is known as “keyword stuffing” - which is a practice of lazy Webmasters (or Webmasters who can’t write real content) of using their main keywords in the hopes of getting people to click the link to their page.
The problem is - while this used to work for the search engines (and it doesn’t any more) - it has a tendency to tick off the human visitors to a site - and rather than clicking another link to try and find the information they need - these days people just click the back button and look elsewhere.
Instead, think about what problems or questions your visitor has, or what information they're really looking for... and give it to them?
Are Meta Tags Still Important?
You may have heard that meta tags aren’t important anymore when it comes to optimizing your Website for the Search Engines. There is some truth to this, because in the old days, as I said, you could just slap up a whole bunch of keywords in the meta tags, and you were guaranteed to get listed in the search engines. These days, it’s not so easy. For one thing, you’ve got a whole lot more competition than in the old days.
For example, while researching this article, I found 4,170,000 Websites for the keyword “copywriter.”
And for the keyword phrase “How do I make money from a writing business” Google shows 143,000,000 results. Which is why you have to use a different SEO strategy when it comes to using Meta Tags on your Website or Blog.
How Writers and Authors Can Use Meta Tags Effectively for SEO Optimization
So what’s the most effective SEO strategy for writers or authors when it comes to meta tags? Make sure that each page includes only the most important and relevant keywords listed in the meta tags. Don’t go overboard. Keep it simple. Choose one or two at most.
You also want to put that same keyword or keyword phrase in the content.
The search engines give your keyword or keyword phrase more importance when they find it in the beginning of your content. (And doesn’t that make sense? After all, if I called you on the phone and told you that I had to tell you about this new restaurant I found, and then start talking to you about my new pair of walking shoes… You’re going to be a little confused.)
So that means to make your SEO strategy for getting the most out of Meta Tags today goes - include your main keyword or keyword phrase in the headline and in the first paragraph of your content.
Just Remember: You need to make sure that all your keywords or keyword phrases are included in the content on each Web or Blog page.
But now I want to give you another piece of advice about optimizing your Website or Blog for the search engines: Don’t obsess about it. Because the other thing you need to remember is that as important as your SEO strategies are - at the same time you're writing for people - real people who are trying to find the answer to a specific question or problem.
Which means they’ve while they’ve probably landed on your Website based on the keywords you’ve used in your SEO strategy, you’ve only won half the battle. Now that you’ve got them there, you’ve got to keep them on your site.
And that’s where content and structure come in. To find out why the structure of your Website and high quality content are important, look for the third and final article in this series.
Cheryl Antier is the director of the Writer's Business Academy - an online academy for writers and authors who want to learn more about the business side of a writing business. To get your copy of DIY SEO for Writers and Authors, visit the Writer's Business Academy today.
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