Over the past few weeks, I've talked a lot about the importance of credibility to your website, and writing for low-literacy users.
But eventually the question comes up: "How do I even get users to my website in the first place?"
Good question.
One of the answers, as I'm sure you know, is search engine optimization, since most people find products and services through search engines.
Optimization happens in two places: on your site (such as through keyword density) and off your site (such as through inbound links).
In this post, I want to focus on something you can do on your site right now to improve search performance.
Specifically, I want to focus on meta tags.
And even more specifically, on how you can use them to essentially advertise free on search engine results pages.
Don't Ignore What Search Engines Adore
For the uninitiated, meta tags tell search engines about a website but don't appear to readers on a page. (To find some, crack open the source code in this page and look for the tags beginning with "meta.")
Many people are confused about their role in search engine optimization.
There are a few good reasons.
First, search engines ignore some meta tags because people used to stuff them with irrelevant information. (Imagine the number of sites that used to offer "free sex" in hopes of attracting traffic.)
Second, every search engine treats meta tags a little differently.
Third, search engine optimization can be more esoteric than Kabbalah.
But sometimes, the esoteric becomes concrete.
Such is the case with meta tags: you will find that what works really works.
Similarly, what doesn't work, doesn't.
So let's work through what you can do to get real results.
Step One: Define Your Top Keywords
To start, determine your high-performing keywords and phrases.
You can begin by looking through analytics reports to find those that produce the most conversions.
In our case, for example, high-performing keywords and phrases include "writing for the web," "writing websites" and "web content writing."
Many people who enter these search phrases find our site and download our web writing e-book.
If you don't know your top-performing keywords—or don't even have a website yet—don't worry.
You can always use Google's Keyword Tool to find keywords related to your offering or subject matter.
Try picking keywords with high search volume and low competition.
Once you have your keywords, you're ready to take the next step.
Step Two: Eliminate Your Keyword Meta Tag
Thought we were going to use those keywords in the appropriately named keyword meta tag?
Nope.
Search engines universally ignore it.
For this reason, don't worry about it.
Even better, get rid of it completely.
Why?
Because if you don't, your competitors can easily see what keywords you're targeting.
Then they can target the same keywords to steal your traffic.
Step Three: Grab Attention with Your Title Tag
Here's where we will use the keywords.
The title tag tells your browser what to display in the title bar (look up).
It can moderately influence what search engines think of your pages.
And it can dramatically affect whether people click to your site in search engine results pages.
These are the pages that appear when you search for a particular keyword or phrase.
When your website shows up in these pages, you want to present the most powerful message—you want to grab searchers' attention.
To help, write a title tag that's keyword-relevant, descriptive and differentiated from your competitors' title tags.
For example, we recently changed our site title tag because it, well, sucked.
It read, simply, "c o m m u n e."
Realizing how little that uselessly self-promoting title said about our services, we changed it to, "c o m m u n e : Web writing and online content for internet marketing."
Why?
Because "web writing," "online content" and "internet marketing" are three high-performing search phrases for our site.
Combined, they also instantly tell searchers about our offering.
(Note: if you search for our site, you may even still find our old meta information until search engines update their results.)
And remember: while your company's name can be important, your keywords are more important.
Yes. I would consider ridding our name entirely from the title tag if it improved search traffic and conversions.
Step Four: Sell Your Offering with Your Description Tag
Next up, your description tag.
Unlike the title tag, this won't usually appear to readers anywhere but in search engine results pages.
Here, search engines often use the description tag to create a brief description of your page.
While not all search engines factor it in your rankings (Google reportedly does not), others weigh it heavily (Yahoo! reportedly does).
Regardless, however, your description tag plays a key role in getting traffic to your site over your competitions' pages.
To this end, you should:
- Write it well and be descriptive.
- Use relevant keywords and phrases.
- Differentiate yourself from the competition.
- Be targeted.
- Be concise (under 200 characters).
Recently, we also revised our main site description.
It used to read, "We provide content services that measurably improve your ability to inform, educate, influence and engage."
By now, you should see some of the problems.
First of all, it's too abstract. Second of all, it relates to none of our high-performing keywords and phrases.
For these and other reasons, we recently revised it to, "Web writing and online content for internet marketing. Download free e-book, find expert advice, read case studies and order service."
Perhaps a bit terse, but definitely descriptive, keyword-relevant and targeted.
A Word of Caution
I hope you can see how each of these changes can improve your search performance.
But before you head out on a tag frenzy, one warning.
While meta tags are important, the content of your pages is more important.
Meta tags and page content must work in harmony.
So it's essential that the information you place in meta tags reflects the content of your pages.
This doesn't just affect your search performance. It also affects how readers relate to your content when they click and visit your site.
So, ready to work your own meta tag magic?
Try these tips for yourself, then tell everyone about your results in the comments below.