Content is King

By Susanne Svette, IdeaStar Search Engine Specialist

When it comes to recognition in search engines, content is king. So cut out the fluff! Your Web site should tell visitors what you do, where you do it, and why. Be sure to incorporate a few market specific keywords, and the search engines will easily be able to determine what your Web site is about, and place you appropriately.

But how do you find those market specific keywords – niche terms – that attract the traffic you want. If your search terms are too broad, you’ll get a lot of traffic, but it will quickly leave because they won’t find what they are looking for. You need to narrow the focus.

Adding locality and specialty to a search phrase helps. For instance, NextHome, a real estate company which allows you to sell your home by owner or realtor, would be lost under the term real estate. But narrow that down to a location - full service realtor Cleveland - and you start to attract more focused visitors. Adding specialty– open houses columbus ohio – and it becomes even more clear what the site is about. The company appears higher in the search listings under those specific terms, than it would under the very broad term, real estate.

Finding those niche terms can take a little time, but it is easy. There are Web sites which give you the number of times a word or phrase was searched on in a search engine. Some cost while others are free. Two respected tools include Wordtracker and KeywordDiscovery. There are many more. Just type “free keyword tools” into your favorite search engine. You'll find many sites where you can try different words and terms to fine tune your Web site.

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