Keyword Density

Keyword prominence and relevance

Google, for all its head-of-the-table bravado, just likes a snappy, sassy introduction to a website - no idealistic diatribe, just the truth in bite-sized pieces...

Less is more, baby...

Although there are some complicated algorithms at play (which are constantly altering) the guideline to a page that will work successfully on Google is a page that is created simply and follows this basic premise. When you (or your developer) are creating a web page, the top 25% of the page and the very bottom of the page are the most important. This is not to say that everything in between is ignored, far from it - but what Google wants to see is prominence given to the critical or key words and phrases by which you are looking to be ranked.

Don't, therefore, waste the prime real estate or the top of a page with a lengthy introduction to the site or the topic but get right in there - go straight for the jugular, and be conscious of the prominence and relevance you give to the keywords being quoted. If you sell trendy T-shirts then you need to be dropping in the brands that you carry, not a monologue about the importance of Tshirts or a history of the garment. Start selling product, both to the user and to Google. Let them all know that you mean business.

Equally, the very bottom of the page is important. Does your page taper off with a couple of half-hearted links to the privacy policy and a © statement? Or does it include the pertinent navigational options repeated as text-only links that will add both to the user's ability to continue navigating your site and to Google's ability to notice yet another reference to a certain type of T-shirt, thus helping you to rise up the rankings because of relevance and prominence?

H tags

The jury's out as to their weighting, but I remain convinced that as long as you don't try to abuse the system (by tagging every subject as H1) then, considering all other factors, they work. H tags are the way you tell the search engines that this 'H' (or header), is worth paying attention to - it's like making a sentence bold; it gets noticed. Whilst you may have physically altered the text to be bold or italic or presented in a larger point size, Google ignores this as it's cosmetic. It's looking for H tags, and your job is to list them in order of relevance.

If there are four main focuses to your web page then you're well within your rights to label each one with an H tag, ideally listed in ranking order - H1, H2, H3 and so on. Though labelling each topic with H1 might win you a short-term gain, it's foolhardy and will eventually be penalised. Equally, if there's only one major topic or point to the page, add your H1 tag, but don't be tempted to add others for the sake of it.

Here's an idea for you

If you are yet to employ H tags, then reassess your web pages and assign them to the pertinent points on each page. If you are already using H tags, check that they are being utilised correctly. Are they relevant? Do they add to the site? Will they help or hinder the site being ranked? If there are any more than six on a page, ditch the overkill.


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