HELP! An example SEO/keyword optimization

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   jansharesposted 12 years ago

   When I read tutorials my head spins. So please give me an example using my topic: a recipe for baked salmon. If the title is "How to make Herb-crusted baked salmon", and I use the phrases "salmon fillet" "fish" throughout the hub, that's not optimizing right? Examples please in as few words as possible. Feel free to use apples, oranges, whatever.

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      Sapperposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      There are two main methods for what you are looking for, exact match keywords and LSI keywords. For exact match, you would put a specific word or phrase so many times, between 2 and 4% of your total words. If you Google keyword density, there are tons of free tools you can use to check what your density is.
      
      The examples that you used are LSI keywords. Another example would be if you wanted to write about how to exercise. Throughout your post you could use workout, get in shape, and other words that mean the same, and Google's algorithms will pick up on what your post is about.
      
      The difference between the two is exact match will usually rank faster, but will jump around a lot with Google's updates. LSI's take longer to rank, but will take smaller hits with updates. Either way is fine, but exact match keywords take a little more work to stay ranked high.

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         jansharesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Ok, it's becoming clearer. Thank you, Sapper. I need to use the tools, not just assume I'm using the best keywords. I appreciate the specifics about 2-4% of total words.

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      DreamerMegposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I went into Google adwords tool (I signed in) and used the term "baked salmon" as my keyword. I tried "herb baked salmon" but there were only 590 global monthly searches for that, so I just went with "baked salmon" and a "broad" match in the left hand navigation bar. I also removed the "location" indicator, so it looked worldwide.
      
      The term "baked salmon" gets 201,000 global monthly searches and has low competition. I understand that "how to" in the title is pretty good too (haven't researched that) so "How to cook baked salmon" should be a good title. If you want to include "herbs", then how about "How to cook baked salmon with a herb crust"?
      
      I then clicked on the "Global Monthly Searches" column so it would range the numbers in order from high to  low. The best terms related to baked salmon were "recipes", "recipes for fish" and "fish recipes", "salmon recipe", "recipe for salmon" (and a few other similar phrases) "how to bake salmon", "how to cook a salmon" (and some more similar) etc.
      
      I would write my recipe and article out inmy own way, then I would look to see if I had these terms in it. So, if my article said, "I think this is a great recipe for anyone who has been landed with a salmon unexpectedly and asked to cook it." I might look at the search terms  that people are using and change it to, " "I think this is a great salmon recipe for anyone who has been landed with one of these fish unexpectedly and now needs to know how to cook a salmon.

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         jansharesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Wow, very interesting, DreamerMeg. It was so nice of you to show a technically slow girl the ropes. I think I'm understanding much better now. Just couldn't wrap my head around it. This has been really helpful for my next recipe hub.

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         Sapperposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Few small problems with this. First, if you are using Google Keyword Tool for research, you want to change broad on the side to exact. Second, Low competition is for placing ads, for selling ads, low is bad. You want high competition there. High means there are more people selling an ad for the keyword, low means there are more sites about the keyword. Lastly, you want to leave is on local, not global.
         
         When using Google Keyword Tool for research, you are looking for three things, exact local monthly searches above 1600, CPC at least $1 or higher, and you want higher competition. Also, the tool is for selling ads, so take any info on there with a grain of salt.

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         KenDeanAgudoposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Wow amazing, I have learned something here, i am just starting Adwords and i find it really helpful though I never know the effect of it since i cannot track my blogs stats

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      jansharesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you all for your help. I just tweaked my baked salmon recipe hub. We will see what happens after it's re-indexed. I plan to use the tools and your valuable advice for my next fish recipe. I appreciate this helpful community so much. You guys are the best.

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   Greekgeekposted 12 years ago

   Optimizing is doing anything to help people searching for your content find it.
   
   So, yes. Using the terms and words that they're liable to use to search for your recipe is a simple form of optimization, since it helps search engines figure out what you're writing about and, hopefully, who's looking for it.
   
   Use "herb-crusted baked salmon" in an image caption, if it sounds natural to do so. Or put "herb-crusted baked salmon" in the header. Use the words you just mentioned in the body of the recipe. Perhaps link to a few other good salmon recipes or variations on how to make other kinds of herb crusts. These all help nail down what you're writing about and make it clear that yes, indeed, your topic is an herb-crusted salmon recipe.
   
   But don't do any of these things unless it makes sense, flows naturally and is useful to your readers. Don't  do any kind of optimization that's only an attempt to reinforce keywords. That's like putting certain words in bold and red ink and GIANT FONTS because you're not able to write clearly enough to make yourself understood. There are ways to use keywords naturally: if you're talking about X and Y, then just...make sure you talk about X and Y, and don't ramble on too much about Z and Q. 
   
   Search engines are like a librarian, skimming your book cover (URL/title), chapter headings (section headings), pictures (captions), bibliography (links to other stuff), and content to figure out where to file the book in the card catalog. The way you structure the book helps the librarian do a good job of filing and classifying your content, and that can in help readers find the book in the library. However, you are writing first and foremost for those who actually sit down and read the book.
   
   With practice, it's possible to write specifically, using clear language, illustrations, and headings, in a way that helps the librarian AND helps your readers understand your content better. That's what good Search Engine Optimization does.

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      jansharesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Greekgeek, thank you kindly for this clear and concise explanation. It is starting to gel now. This is great.

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   WriteAngledposted 12 years ago

   Doesn't all this jargon talk of LSI simply mean we are going back to what used to be viewed as good writing style: use of a wide range of synonyms to avoid the tedium of endlessly repeated words?
   
   If yes, I rejoice!

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      Sapperposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Basically, except now the search engines, or at least Google, will pick up on it instead of having to rely mostly on off-page SEO.

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      jansharesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      WriteAngled, that helps. Applying my good writing skills is more than half the brain-battle. Yes, jargon is what makes my head spin :-)

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      Greekgeekposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, it's basically an impressive way of saying that.
      
      Glad my explanation was at least a little helpful.
      
      For me, the only difference between writing instinctively and writing with search in mind is that I use tools to learn "hey, what do OTHER people call what I'm talking about?"
      
      I'll check the Google Keywords Tool and do some Google Searches to see what related search terms come up. That tells me what words other people are using to search for the topic. Just as importantly, if I punch in what I think are good search terms, does it come up with a whole pile of stuff NOT related to my topic? Then I may need to rethink.
      
      
      But I don't become too slavish about keyword densities or KEIs or any artificial procedure for determining how to place words on the page. At most, I'll check competition and use that data to help choose the page title and URL. And I am aware in the back of my mind that search engines particularly look at the words in section headers, image names and captions, and links. But for the most part, I just use the keyword list I've cooked up like a writing prompt: "here's the common language that you share with your readers, so keep these words in mind and use them if/when they express what you're trying to say."

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         jansharesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks again, Greekgeek. You've be more than a little helpful. Appreciate it.

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   Faith Reaperposted 12 years ago

   I am sorry, I wish I could help, but I have not learned about the SEO thing yet, as I just have to make time to study it more.

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      isenhower33posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      http://www.seocentro.com/tools/search-e … lyzer.html
      
      Thats the site I use Faith, if you look on the left it has a box that says SEO tools and you can use those tools to find out how well you used keywords and stuff like that.
      For keywords to search, go to google adwords, login and go to tools tab, it'll say under it keyword tool and click that. Or just type it in to the google search bar put google adwords keyword tool and it'll come up and you can research your words

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         DzyMsLizzyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Very interesting, but my problem is with not understanding the information I've been given.  I just picked one of my hubs at random, and entered it at the link you gave above, for the first choice, which was "meta tags" ... and got this information:
         Status: 200 OK
         Web Server: nginx
         Content Type: text/html
         Content Length: 61043
         
         Ok...fine...but what does that tell me?  What does it mean?  I'm no wiser or better off than I was prior to running this check. 
         
         When running the search again for "Rank Checker," I got an entire screen full of information, telling me that there were 2 keywords (what I typed into their search box), and that they appeared twice  (in the title).  The rest of the stats seemed to just repeat that information in various categories.
         AND--further down, it was noted that the keywords did NOT appear in the domain or sub-domain..and those were highlighted in red--as if this is a big problem.  But, how could keywords appear in a domain or sub-domain, unless you are repetitively writing and re-writing on the same topic??
         
         Signed, a tech dummy...

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      jansharesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks, FaithReaper. I don't feel so bad now. No apology needed love.

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   tillsontitanposted 12 years ago

   Well Janshares, it seems you've done a lot of us a favor.  The answers you've gotten are very helpful.  We sometimes think we know, but then find out we don't when we read things in more common and easy to understand terms.  Thank you Janshares and all who answered your question!

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      jansharesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      You're very welcome, tillsontitan. I think we can be on our way now to creating better, search optimized hubs.

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      L.L. Woodardposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Please allow me to add my thanks to you, Janshares, for asking the question and to everyone who came afterward to clear up and firm up concepts.

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         jansharesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         You're very welcome, LL. I'm grateful for all the generous help we've received.

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   janderson99posted 12 years ago

   This FREE tool is one of the best for seeing if your keyword phrase is likely to be competitive - very quick and also displays your competitors.
   
   http://www.seodevgroup.com/products/Nic … inder.html

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      jansharesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Great, janderson99, much appreciation to you. I will check it out.

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   Mark Ewbieposted 10 years ago

   MOST people on here and elsewhere talk a load of garbage about SEO.
   
   GreekGeek doesn't.  She is a rarity.
   
   I would be VERY careful about taking ANY notice of anyone especially when they start talking jargon. percentages and back-links.
   
   And if they are offering to sell you something - even if it is just attracting visitors to their SEO 'advice' - ignore it.
   
   Just my opinion of course.

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