The SEO News Blog from Pat Marcello

So, did you know that some parts of your page are more important than others when it comes to SEO?

Yep. Spiders are looking for specific things when they arrive, and if your page is lacking… pffft!!! They just wasted a visit, and guess what? They may not come back anytime soon.

Here is a list of things you should be thinking about when putting any pages onto the Web, even blog posts:

1. Keyword in your title tag (First, if possible)
2. Keyword in your domain name (really helps if it’s there)
3. <h1> and <h2> tags that include your keywords
4. Anchor text (a keyword phrase that is hyperlinked back to your site)
5. External anchor text (keyword phrases on other pages that link back to your site)
6. Keyword use in your subdomain
7. Keywords in image ALT tags
8. Keywords in bold
9. Keyword phrases in italics
10. Keywords in your META description tag

All of these things are important to varying degrees. Want  to know the #1 most important thing you can do? Give your page a title! I mean, make sure your title tag in the HTML of the page is keyword rich, that your keyword appears first, and that it sells the click.

Your title tag and META description are what show up in Google when someone searches for a keyword that you rank for. So, make them good. Though the description isn’t quite as important to spiders, the title is VERY, very, VERY important. So, never neglect to add it to your page.

In a blog, each post is considered a page, so you can get plugins that allow you to add your title and description to every post you make: All-in-One SEO is one HeadSpace2 is another. Be sure to have ONE of those in place and be sure to add your title and description to every post. Don’t be lazy! This is really important stuff!

If you do nothing else—the <h1>, the bold, the alt tags, etc—be SURE that you have a title on every page. And that doesn’t mean the same title for every page in your site, either. That means a very specific, keyword rich title that makes sense for that individual page’s content.

If you don’t have a title, the spiders are already itching to move on.