Meta stupid...

[Anissa]

I need serious help with meta tags, but first, I have a few questions...

1. Is it possible to rate within the first 5 pages of a search engine without having to pay for advertising services wtih them?

2. If so, what in the world do I have to do to do that?

3. Do I have to fix the meta tags on all my web pages?


The following is what I have so far:

<meta name="rayasroost" content="religion, aromatherapy, herbals, poetry, meditation, family, home school">
<meta name="keywords" content="herbs, bulk, essential oils, soap, candles, beads, jewelry, handmade, nutrition, diet aids">
<meta name="Microsoft Border" content="none, default">


How do I tweek this? This kind of stuff is all greek to me, and I really need major help with it.

[jomariet]

Yes - not that it will be easy. Current SE wisdom says to think in terms of niche search phrases so concentrate on those and let the more general terms take care of themselves.

Start by knowing the single descriptive search term that should apply to EACH PAGE of your website. Since you don't have this section live on your site I can't be specific but lets take an imaginary page for Bulk Herbs.

There are 777,000 results on Google for this phrase which is a lot better than 8,830,000 for the keyword "Herbs". Its still too many so using Google's Suggest page http://www.google.com/webhp?complete=1&hl=en, we'll try to narrow it a bit more.

Google comes up with:
bulk herbs wholesale
bulk herbs and spices
bulk herbs Canada
bulk herbs for sale
bulk herbs online

Well, since all herbs aren't equal, I'd also type in phrases like bulk herb teas or bulk lemon grass - whatever type of herbs you are selling.

If this was my site, I'd have a top level page for "Bulk Herbs" and optimize that page with content, metatags and all the other stuff you are supposed to put in for that phrase. I'd then build a page for the herbs I actually sell AND optimize those pages specifically.

My understanding is that 3 keyword search phrases are how people are currently using search engines so I'd be more interested in getting to the top for these phrases than a single keyword. After all, you are more likely to make a sale to someone who is specific in their search than you are to someone with a very general search.

To summarize: Yes, you have to address every page in the site. One set of metatags will not be enough. Aromatherapy and bulk herbs shouldn't be in the same set of keywords. Not because they don't compliment each other but because someone who is searching for aromatheraphy is not the same person searching for bulk herbs. You may end up cross selling but you have to get them to your site first.

Make each page of your site effective for your visitor and you'll do well on the search engines.

JM

[Anissa]

Ty... I need all the help that I can get.

How often do I have to re-do the tags?

[jomariet]

When you change the purpose of the page. If the page content changes but not the topic you probably don't have to change the metatags unless they aren't working.

JM

[Evic]

Yes, it's fairly easy to get listed within the top 5 without advertising. The key is your competition.

If I started a website about gaming, it would be very, very hard to get listed at the top. It would probably take years.

I decided, rather than start a site about gaming, limit myself to a niche market (First Person Shooters). If you Google that term all you get is articles on major gaming websites, not a single domain is completely dedicated to First Person Shooters. My chances of becoming the authority, and therefore being listed at the top is greater.

Same thing for my website wowcensus.com (which I sold a few months back). It filled a niche market, and was only one of two websites providing in-game demographics for World of Warcraft. Because I landed the domain wowcensus.com, and because the mod that was required was named wowcensus, I ended up doing a lot better than my competition.

It's all about niche these days. The massive portals for a certain category are done, they have their reputation, and you are not competing against that - period.

Find a niche, and fulfill that niche's needs. You'll become the authority on that niche.

For example, herbs. Would you rather go to GNC and talk to the cashier about a medicinal herb, or would you rather speak to a professor at your local college who specialized in only medicinal herbs? Same concept.

As for your meta tags, a lot of spiders ignore most of them, but it still doesn't hurt to put them in. The key to successful keywords is your content. Make your content relevant, and bold your keywords (as they pertain to that page) the first time they appear on the page.

Also, rayasroost is an invalid META NAME.

[wrmineo]

Let's start a little more basic:

Your title, description and keyword tags should be very specific to the page - not general and intended to cover the whole site or an entire genre. Every page should have metas specific to that page, not cut/paste of the same throughout.

Come up with an INTENT for you site and home page first off. Then develop a a headline, that describes that page for your title. Then write a short, clear and concise thesis statement that becomes your description. Then, using realistic and content relevant thinking, come up with some keyPHRASES not keywords that describe that page's content only for your keywords.

Your site has only been online a few months, since April, so don't think you're going to jump off the porch and be running with the big guys from the starting gate. Take time to develop your pages and give them a perspective from the visitors view point, not the search engine's. (Speaking of new - what's this? "copyright 2000 all rights reserved")

Think of your web page like an English paper. Create a title and an outline of your main points and fill in the paragraphs. After you've written the page contents, the keywords and description should come naturally.