October 6, 2006 We have discussed meta tags and the such. Now we will discuss the content that is on your homepage. The content is in part how the search engines know what your site is all about. They can’t see pictures, so naturally they will have to read your site. I do want to point out, with saying that, a picture of words will not count. This is often done in Photoshop, Flash, or some other imaging software to create effects on a website. So be sure that the text on the site is «real» HTML text. There are a lot of debates about the number of words that should appear on the homepage. 250 words is thrown around a lot. Try to think of it like this. If you are an expert in an area, you’re probably gonna have a lot to say about a subject. So, if you have a lot to say about a subject, the search engines will feel that you are an expert in that area, and likely want to show you first. Google themselves said 500 words one time, but again, don’t do things for the search engines, do it for your customer(s). And you obviously want to educate your customers right. We like to throw out the 250 words number because it’s not a whole lot of work to get that much, and it will give ample opportunity to use the terms that you want to be found under. Now we come to density. You are proving to a search engine that you are relevant to a certain term. What better way than to use that term? Let’s stop for just a second. I’m gonna repeat something again. If I could, I would put a disclaimer between every single word I write so that it get hammered into your brain. You don’t want to do things for the search engines. You want to prove to them that you are relevant, not trick them into thinking so. There is a way of density known as «stuffing.» Basically this means that you are placing your terms all over the place to show your relevancy. Don’t get caught up in that mind set. Let us continue. This is why it’s a good idea to still have a keywords tag. You want to be mindful of the terms that you want to be found under. So try to use these terms at a minimum of one time each. Your title is the most important, so should contain at least five of your most important search terms. Yahoo! especially puts priority on the title tag. Don’t use more than 80 characters, some reports are saying 70. You will want to have a good percentage of density of your title words in your text. Try for around 5%, but don’t exceed 10%-12%. Too much looks like spam or stuffing. So, for all you 6th grade dropouts, that would be 5 times for every 100 words on the homepage. Reassure your customers, this sounds like a lot, but when you write out 100 words, 5 instances of a word is not a lot at all. You will likely use the word «the» 15-20 times.

It’s also a good idea to give weight to your title words. The H1 tag has the most weight, bolding words is a good idea and bold internal links to a page that is about that term is great. Your main search terms should also be as close, if not at the top of your text, and should all be in close proximity of each other if at all possible. Again, you hear to place the exact title on the top of your site. Think about this. If my title is «funny, stupid, mean, crazy, offensive, shirts, Jacksonville, fl,» how is that gonna look on your site. Not very good I say. Just be sure to show weight and importance to these terms. Don’t overdue it. Remember, you want your site to look good for your customer at the same time revealing what your site is all about to the search engines.

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