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Clueless about Keywords

by sjs2671
3 replies
  • SEO
    • |
First, let me preface this by saying that I'm not a marketer, I am not a web guru...I'm an office manager tasked with improving the rank on our company website. Ok, not improving...my boss wants top rank, and wants it yesterday. I've researched quite a bit, and have a basic understanding of what I'm doing, but overall...I'm clueless about this stuff.

A few weeks ago, we ranked really well. My boss got the idea that adding tons more keywords would be a good idea, because the plug-in we use in WordPress allows up to 500 per page. Tons were added to each page (not by me)...way too many, and way too broad. Rank took a dive, and I've got to fix it.

So...here's what I can't seem to find info on online...(and forgive me, I'm probably not looking in the right places).

Question 1...In my list of 10-12 keywords on each page...do I need to repeat the main ones and add a few that are relevant to that particular page, or do I do a whole set that are relevant to the page and assume that the ones on the home page will get picked up too? (Should I use the word Atlanta on every page, or is on the home page sufficient?) This poses a problem for us anyway, because there are well over 100 words that "we" want to rank with.

Question 2...It's my understanding that I should keep keywords to 10-12 on the home page, and more specific ones limited to 5-7 on other pages. Is that accurate?

Question 3...The goal is to target local clients. So, the word Atlanta is often in the terms that my boss wants to rank with. For instance, therapy atlanta. Do I need to list all four words like this: therapy, atlanta, therapy atlanta, atlanta therapy....or, is it sufficient to list only: therapy, atlanta for us to come up in searches for therapy atlanta for example?

Any input is greatly appreciated...even if it's to tell me I'm a lost cause when it comes to all of this. Thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for any help that anyone can provide.
#clueless #keyword structure #keywords
  • Profile picture of the author IM Ash
    Tell your boss if he wants top ranking like yesterday he must invest in a PPC campaign

    You guys are using a plugin that is stuffing keywords on pages which is regarded as Bl@ck H@t... don't be surprised when the site gets zero traffic.

    You can target as many KWs as you want on a page but that doesn't mean it is going to bring in any traffic. Each page will have to be optimized on-page and off-page for the page to rank and how easily it ranks depends on the competitiveness of the KWs.

    You can't just place KWs on a page and expect to get traffic. Your boss needs a wake-up call... no one can come into the SEO arena and start engaging in best practice from day one... he needs to hire a professional as this will be a viable business decision.
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    • Profile picture of the author sjs2671
      Thanks for the response...you know this, and I know this...but there's an "if you build it they will come" mentality that I'm working with here. She won't pay anyone to do this...I'm it. We paid someone last year to re-do one of our sites, and rank was improving on it. Within 6 months, it was discarded completely, and we went back to the old one because we hadn't made a million in sales from the new site. I want to do what I can, within what I'm allowed to do, to help the site (mostly to make my life easier)...but it seems like I'm fighting a losing battle here.

      By optimized on-page...that means content, I believe. That's something else that I've tried to explain, but have been told that I'm wrong. She writes what she wants to write, without regard for SEO at all...and when she does try, it's every other word is a keyword, which just reads awfully. Short of throwing up my hands and refusing to work on the site at all...is there anything I can do?
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      • Profile picture of the author IM Ash
        Originally Posted by sjs2671 View Post

        Thanks for the response...you know this, and I know this...but there's an "if you build it they will come" mentality that I'm working with here. She won't pay anyone to do this...I'm it. We paid someone last year to re-do one of our sites, and rank was improving on it. Within 6 months, it was discarded completely, and we went back to the old one because we hadn't made a million in sales from the new site. I want to do what I can, within what I'm allowed to do, to help the site (mostly to make my life easier)...but it seems like I'm fighting a losing battle here.

        By optimized on-page...that means content, I believe. That's something else that I've tried to explain, but have been told that I'm wrong. She writes what she wants to write, without regard for SEO at all...and when she does try, it's every other word is a keyword, which just reads awfully. Short of throwing up my hands and refusing to work on the site at all...is there anything I can do?
        You know: it took me 2 months to learn SEO and during those 2 months I read and read and read, and then I built little test sites to apply the knowledge I gained. From there I was able to figure out what worked and what didn't work, but didn't end there - the industry is ever-changing and dynamic and one has to continually keep up with the changes to succeed. Search engine traffic is a priviledge and not a right - it can disappear at any time. As someone new to this field you going to be exposed to a great deal of misinformation which will ultimately do the site more harm then good.

        This basically means that your boss is placing her business at risk by taking the stance that she is. She is clueless about this industry and that ignorance will bite her in the behind very quickly

        I get that you may want to score some points here by taking the initiative but is it really worth it?

        With regard to your question: ON-Page optimization is vast it does include content, keywords, title tags, h tags, navigation, site structure, internal linking etc.

        When targeting a specific keyword all you need to do is include the KW in your title and an H tag and maybe 1-2x in the content. Search Engines see the title and H tags as important descriptions of what the content is about and they will use th words in there to rank a site, but again, the site may never rank if the KW is competitive.

        It is not all about stuffing KWs in your content and hoping you going to rank for it - one has to think about user experience. KW stuffed content lowers the contents readability and hence lowers the user experience.
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