• Let’s Take Another Look At My Keyword Rankings •
• Is Search Engine Optimization Working? •

Time flies by and I realized I need to write an update to my rankings. In an effort to honestly show you that ethical SEO techniques really do make a difference, I have promised to actually expose one of my websites and some of the keywords that are responsible for bringing me quality targeted traffic.

So, in the last post of March 26th I was holding down the #1 and #2 positions for the keyword phrase: hypertufa recipes

Good News! One month has gone by and I am still  holding those same top spots.

But I have mentioned before that you can’t sit back after finally attaining top search engine positions, expecting your web pages to remain at the top. No siree! Depending upon the niche you are in, you may find your rankings slipping over time, due to the competition (and other factors as well).

Even if you experience a long stretch of stable top rankings, I still suggest you write a new new page of content every now and then to help add value for your site’s visitors and to help reinforce your ranking position(s). 

To that end, I DO practice what I preach, and I wrote another good solid page of information the other day, utilizing this keyword phrase. I don’t want to get nudged out of my great ranking positions by those other people down below me.

Hey … have you signed up yet for my bi-weekly SEO newsletter?  Learn how to implement ethical SEO techniques on your website or blog! If you’ve not yet done so, click here and you’ll be taken right to the sign-up page!  Plus, you’ll get a FREE copy of my informative eBook “The SEO Edge”.

Not a bad deal if I say so myself!

• Have You Done A Great Job Writing Compelling Tags? •
• Title & Description Tags Need To Grab A Searcher’s Attention •

If I’ve tried to drum anything through my readers or clients heads about search engine optimization techniques, it’s how very effective optimizing each page’s title and description tags can be. Many times this basic SEO attention to each page can make a huge difference in the keyword rankings.

How about taking a look today at your most important keyword phrases and their ranking positions in Google. How are those keywords doing? Are they in the top ten?

Even if your keywords rank #1 … I strongly suggest you still keep an eye on the wording and keyword placement your competitors are applying to their titles and descriptions. Always keep a couple steps ahead of them. Never assume once you’ve achieved a top-ten ranking that you’re there for good!

Compared to your competitors’ titles and descriptions, how do yours compare?

Make darn sure you’ve written your titles and descriptions to be more compelling and interesting. You want to GRAB the searcher’s’ attention immediately while they’re skimming over the results.

A good thing to do is to ask a friend or two’s opinion on your writing skills. Let some other “eyes” read over your tags and see if what you’ve written really is compelling or not. They might even have a better way of saying what you need to say! And their constructive criticism will be well worth it. After all, you DO want higher rankings, don’t you?

Bottom line … if all you’ve done is merely stick your keywords within a sentence in your titles and descriptions, versus really providing the searcher with a compelling title and description, well hop to it! Rewrite your tags immediately before you add any new pages of content to your site. Put a lot of thought and consideration into your efforts this time. It’ll pay off many times over.

• Sharing My Keyword Rankings In Order To Prove This SEO Stuff Works •
• Let’s Touch Upon The Most Basic SEO TEchniques •

Alright, I’ve given you a glimpse into one of my top-ten rankings keyword phrases in my previous post. Because the explanation of how my Home page ranks #1 for this keyword phrase isn’t beginning basic cut-and-dry tecniques, I thought I’d choose a keyword phrase that does clearly show the most basic level of optimization techniques.

This example couldn’t be any clearer, or easier to explain as to how I hold the #1 ands #2 spots as of today (and have been for quite awhile):

The keyword phrase is: hypertufa recipes

Content … Let Me Talk About That First

Alright, one of the most basic things you need to do with the on-page (your content) optimization in order to try and achieve top-ten rankings is to use the keyword phrase sprinkled throughout the page. I have done that. I also used a variation of the term, “hypertufa recipe (singular). If you review the actual content: Basic Hypertufa Recipes you’ll see what I mean.

Note: If you read through the page, you’ll see I haven’t over-used the keyword phrases … yes they may show up often on the page, but based on the quality level of information I am trying to provide for my all important visitor … the number of times I’ve used the keyword phrases is quite acceptable.

Next … The Title Tag and Description Meta Tag

Next is the issue of properly optimizing the Title tag and Description meta tag with the keyword phrase. Let me show you both of them as found in the #1 ranking position:

TITLE tag: Basic Hypertufa Recipes and Important Mixing Guidelines

DESCRIPTION meta tag: Start with the right hypertufa ingredients. These time-tested recipes will insure your garden art project’s success. Lots of ‘tufa tips & guidelines.

Can I let you in on something about the level of  “expert” SEO of these two tags?  It sort of stinks!  (Did I just say that??)  Yes … I wrote these tags when I first built the website many years ago and well … I wasn’t terribly proficient in SEO, but I was almost adhering to all the basic rules.  What do I mean by “almost adhering”??

I mean that I should have used both words — “hypertufa recipes” – TOGETHER in the description tag.  That’s what I teach all my clients to do.  And for sure, today I would definitely write a better Title and Description but you know what?  If it ain’t broke … don’t fix it!  lol

I’m leaving well enough alone because I am holding the top two rankings!  Why mess with something that is working??

Before I stop for today, I’ll mention one more thing that is causing these two pages to rank as nicely as they do.  It’s because my competition isn’t doing as good a job as I am in all the optimization factors nor are they experiencing some of the other important factors that help search engine rankings (in-pointing links; quantity of quality content, etc).  I’ll teach you about these “advanced” SEO issues in future posts.

I hope you are starting to get an idea of how your keyword phrase has to be focused upon in a number of ways for each page of content on your site.   See you later!