Published By KW Blog
Written By by Cary Sylvester, Executive Director of Technology
Now that you understand how to pick keywords that will help your target audience find your Website (from my earlier post), it’s time to move on to the next phase of your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts: creating page titles and meta descriptions.
Peppering keywords in your content is important, but it’s not good enough to get the attention of search engines that drive targeted traffic to your site. Once you understand the importance of page titles and meta descriptions—and once you learn to use them strategically—you’ll be well on your way to increasing your prospects.
What Is a Page Title?
A page title appears in the browser at the top of each web page. It’s important to choose your page title wisely because Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines put an emphasis on the keywords in your page titles when they crawl your site. Your page title will also appear as the link for that page in search engine results. That makes page titles a critical aspect of your SEO efforts.
Page Title Dos and Don’ts
Do use natural language in your page titles.
Do make your page titles interesting and engaging.
Do include a strategic keyword in your page titles.
Do use your keyword as the first word of your page title, if possible.
Do make your page titles different for every page.
Do include your brand name at the end of the page title.
Do not underestimate the importance of page titles.
Do not stuff your page title with keywords.
Do not write page titles longer than 67 characters.
Good, Bad and Ugly Page Titles
Need some examples of page titles? Keep the dos and don’ts above in mind as you review the page title suggestions below. You can adapt these for your own market.
(Good) South Beach Real Estate
(Bad) Your Best Realtor
(Good) Condos for Sale in South Beach, Miami Beach, Fischer Island
(Bad) John Doe (Don’t use your name unless everybody knows you.)
(Good) Real Estate/ Foreclosures/ Fort Lauderdale
(Bad) Experienced Real Estate Agent
What is a Meta Description?
Also vital to your SEO efforts, the meta description puts the power in your hands to tell Google how you want them to describe your web page. In other words, it’s the description search engines pick up and run under the page title in the search results. Not all search engines use the meta description, but Google does.
Meta Description Dos and Don’ts
Do include your keywords in your meta description.
Do write a compelling description that entices visitors to click.
Do maintain credibility and honest.
Do place your most important keywords near the beginning of the description.
Don’t use the same meta description on more than one page.
Don’t use more than 160 characters.
Don’t replicate copy from your page title or your Google Adwords ads.
Don’t use your keywords excessively.
Good, Bad and Ugly Meta Descriptions
Still not sure how to translate all these dos and don’ts to your meta tag descriptions? Here are some models you can adapt based on your market—and some you should never use.
(Good) “Looking for condos for sale in South Beach? Professional real estate agent Max Jones specializes in high rise and luxury condo sales in Fischer Island, Star Island and Miami Beach.”
(Bad) Call Max Jones of Keller Williams Realty. Max Jones is a real estate agent licensed in Florida and Georgia. He has been in the industry for five years.
The key difference between the good and the bad (we’ll skip the ugly) is that the good offers locally relevant information and descriptive keywords like condos, high-rise and luxury. It still mentions the words “real estate agent” and offers the agent’s name, but the focus is on what’s most important: location, location, location.
Showing posts with label website. Show all posts
Showing posts with label website. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
5 Steps to Making Google Part of Your Lead Gen Team
Published by Cary Sylvester, Executive Director of Technology
The most common question I’m asked is “Can you fix my website-it’s not working!” Immediately, we run to a computer, pull up their website and voila, there it is…working as expected.
So, what isn’t working? It’s not generating leads – that’s the problem! So, I stop and ask, who are you trying to reach with your website? This is inevitably the time I get the blank stare and hear “well, leads.” If you want to “fix” your Website and reach your clients in 2010 and beyond, here are my five tips to make your Website work for you:
1. Determine who your audience is
Seems simple enough, but why aren’t we doing it. Remember, potential clients need a reason to find your site. Ask yourself, are they looking for foreclosures, their first home, information on the tax credit? Or, do they love the neighborhood by the lake or a certain school? Don’t limit yourself when setting up a Website. It’s very common to jump right in to adding your content or redesigning your site to make it look great. But, before you do this, answer a few questions to help you build out a site that works for you:
What’s in it for them?
What type of information are they looking for?
What questions are they asking you?
What makes them unique?
You’ll notice that all the questions are about your audience, not you. There is only one thing about you – how to provide enough compelling information that they feel comfortable sharing their information with you. Use these audiences to build out the interior pages of your website.
2. Pay Attention to the Long Tail
You’ve just begun setting up your Website or maybe you have done a full-scale redesign and you are so excited to lead generate with it! Suddenly every home buyer looking for homes for sale in your city will Google “Homes for Sale” and magically, you will appear in the list…as result number 12,365. Only 100 pages in! Well, wait, how do you get on the first page? It takes time, a lot of content and money to drive business to your site for the most popular keywords. (i.e. “Homes for sale in Austin”) These broad terms will result in about 20% of your traffic at the most. 80% or more of your traffic from Google will come from less popular, obscure key words, such as “Lakefront homes for sale in Austin”.
3. Pick the Right Keywords
Great, you’ve found and audience you want to attract to your site. Now, speak their language. Let me repeat, speak THEIR language. The biggest mistake I see is using the word “Listings”. Do your clients call and ask to see listings in the area? NO – they ask to see homes for sale, houses for sale, etc. Think about how your clients ask for services to craft the words you choose to use on your site. For example, CMA vs. value of my home; MLS vs. homes in the area, etc.
Another key to using the right keywords is to use them naturally, as if you are in conversation with someone. Adding awkward keywords to your webpage to attract Google will only do two things: give you strikes with Google and annoy your client. Finally, add your keywords to your page title, meta-description and possibly as part of your domain name.
4. Focus on Having a Great Landing Page
You’ve found your target audience, attracted them with compelling content, now you need a relevant landing page with clear calls to action to compel them to share their contact information with you.
Sending that potential client to your home page or other generic page doesn’t tie the program together. Let me give you an analogy – you receive an advertisement for the best SHOES at XYZ store. You drive over to the store and its all clothes and hidden away is that one pair of shoes. Do you think you’ll stick around to find it? Well, your website IS your storefront and if you attract an audience looking for a particular niche, you’d better give them what their looking for quickly.
5. See Your Website as Part of Your Marketing Plan-Not a Technology Plan
This is no longer technology. Let me repeat….this is no longer technology! These strategies are part of your overall marketing plan – only online. Don’t be afraid of mastering this because you’re not a “techie” – you are a marketer and that’s all that matters.
The most common question I’m asked is “Can you fix my website-it’s not working!” Immediately, we run to a computer, pull up their website and voila, there it is…working as expected.
So, what isn’t working? It’s not generating leads – that’s the problem! So, I stop and ask, who are you trying to reach with your website? This is inevitably the time I get the blank stare and hear “well, leads.” If you want to “fix” your Website and reach your clients in 2010 and beyond, here are my five tips to make your Website work for you:
1. Determine who your audience is
Seems simple enough, but why aren’t we doing it. Remember, potential clients need a reason to find your site. Ask yourself, are they looking for foreclosures, their first home, information on the tax credit? Or, do they love the neighborhood by the lake or a certain school? Don’t limit yourself when setting up a Website. It’s very common to jump right in to adding your content or redesigning your site to make it look great. But, before you do this, answer a few questions to help you build out a site that works for you:
What’s in it for them?
What type of information are they looking for?
What questions are they asking you?
What makes them unique?
You’ll notice that all the questions are about your audience, not you. There is only one thing about you – how to provide enough compelling information that they feel comfortable sharing their information with you. Use these audiences to build out the interior pages of your website.
2. Pay Attention to the Long Tail
You’ve just begun setting up your Website or maybe you have done a full-scale redesign and you are so excited to lead generate with it! Suddenly every home buyer looking for homes for sale in your city will Google “Homes for Sale” and magically, you will appear in the list…as result number 12,365. Only 100 pages in! Well, wait, how do you get on the first page? It takes time, a lot of content and money to drive business to your site for the most popular keywords. (i.e. “Homes for sale in Austin”) These broad terms will result in about 20% of your traffic at the most. 80% or more of your traffic from Google will come from less popular, obscure key words, such as “Lakefront homes for sale in Austin”.
3. Pick the Right Keywords
Great, you’ve found and audience you want to attract to your site. Now, speak their language. Let me repeat, speak THEIR language. The biggest mistake I see is using the word “Listings”. Do your clients call and ask to see listings in the area? NO – they ask to see homes for sale, houses for sale, etc. Think about how your clients ask for services to craft the words you choose to use on your site. For example, CMA vs. value of my home; MLS vs. homes in the area, etc.
Another key to using the right keywords is to use them naturally, as if you are in conversation with someone. Adding awkward keywords to your webpage to attract Google will only do two things: give you strikes with Google and annoy your client. Finally, add your keywords to your page title, meta-description and possibly as part of your domain name.
4. Focus on Having a Great Landing Page
You’ve found your target audience, attracted them with compelling content, now you need a relevant landing page with clear calls to action to compel them to share their contact information with you.
Sending that potential client to your home page or other generic page doesn’t tie the program together. Let me give you an analogy – you receive an advertisement for the best SHOES at XYZ store. You drive over to the store and its all clothes and hidden away is that one pair of shoes. Do you think you’ll stick around to find it? Well, your website IS your storefront and if you attract an audience looking for a particular niche, you’d better give them what their looking for quickly.
5. See Your Website as Part of Your Marketing Plan-Not a Technology Plan
This is no longer technology. Let me repeat….this is no longer technology! These strategies are part of your overall marketing plan – only online. Don’t be afraid of mastering this because you’re not a “techie” – you are a marketer and that’s all that matters.
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