SEO FAQ 7

Should I bold and/or italicize my keyword phrases in my copy?

I heard from the dogcatcher that I need to place my keyword phrases in: [bold] [italics] [H1s] [alt tags] [Meta tags] [anchor text] [Title tags] [body text] [the first few words on my site] [the first paragraph of my site] [the last paragraph of my site] [my cousin Vinnie's site]. Is this true?

The most important places to utilize your researched keyword phrases (anywhere from 3-5 of these per page) are 1) your Title tags, 2) in the visible copy that people read, and 3) in onsite and offsite links (aka the "anchor text").

Whether they're in the first paragraph, first words, last words, or whatever really doesn't make all that much difference. I've long ago stopped worrying about specific places and coding and simply use them where they make sense from a reader's perspective. I would definitely avoid using them in "ALL the right places" such as listed in the question above, however. This is because if you pull all the tricks out of your SEO bag, your page will simply reek of SEO.

If it makes sense to have a headline that uses a keyword phrase, then go for it, but don't feel that you have to create headlines where none were needed. If it makes sense to describe a graphic with a keyword phrase, then you shouldn't hesitate to do it. The important thing is not to do anything just because you think you have to in order for the search engines to like you. There are very, very few "have to's" when it comes to SEO. This is because SEO is an art, not a science.

Why do many top-listed pages have no content?

If you're so smart and keep telling everyone that content is king, then how come the top pages for the keyword [insert any word here] don't have lots of visible content?

I do believe that content is king, because that's what the people who visit your site are looking for. However, content doesn't necessarily mean 250 words (or whatever) of text. Content means different things for different sites. Content can simply be your product offerings. For instance, sites from well-known brands very often have no visible copy on their home pages, but still rank highly for some very general keywords. This is often due to their strong brand, which brings in tons and tons of natural links to the site.

Natural links are those that people add to their own websites just because they found them relevant to whatever point they were trying to make. Bloggers do this often, and so do people on forum threads. Let's face it; well-known brands are talked about a lot, both in real life, and online. It makes perfect sense that if you're searching for something general like "pizza" that Pizza Hut and Domino's will show up at the top of the results. It's not necessary for them to say all over their site that they are all about pizza because that's a given.

For those of you who don't have a big brand, you can certainly create a home page that doesn't describe what you offer in clear words, but you'd better be prepared to put all your faith in a link-building campaign.

Always remember that there are tons of ways to obtain targeted search engine traffic, and the methods I espouse are just one way. They happen to work for my clients and me, and I like them because they focus on making the site better overall. However, every site is unique and you have to decide what the best overall strategy is for YOUR site. There's no sense in compromising your message for search engine rankings, as you'll be less apt to convert your visitors into taking your desired action. On the other hand, if you have no visitors, it really doesn't matter what your message is, now does it!

Can search engines index dynamic sites with ? and = (query strings) in the URL?

I have a dynamically generated site which places question marks and equal signs in the URL. My mother's hairdresser told me that I need to create static HTML pages in order to show up in the search engines. What do you think?

For the most part, the search engines no longer choke on query strings (those question marks and equal signs) in URLs. Just try to make sure that your content management system (CMS) doesn't put more than 3 parameters in, and you should most likely be okay. Whenever I'm asked this question, I check the person's site in Google and Yahoo -- and 99% of the time just about all of their pages are indexed already. In those cases, there are not any technical issues; they simply have to do a better job of optimizing their pages for their appropriate keyword phrases.

The most important thing to do with a dynamic site is to create links to the important, optimized pages of the site. Sometimes the only way to find certain information on one of these sites is to fill out a form which then conducts a search of the site. A page that has what you're looking for is then created for you and displayed in your browser. Unfortunately, that type of page will not be accessible by the search engines because it doesn't actually exist on the server. If there are specific pages that are created through specific search criteria that many people would be looking for on your site, those are the ones you should create links to in your site navigation and your site map.

You'll also want to make sure that your CMS is capable of generating unique Title tags for every page of the site. If not, you'll have to fix this in the system because this is actually one of those things that will be critical to your search engine success.

Can I change the font size of my header tags (H1, H2) without getting into trouble?

I want to put keywords in header tags such as H1 and H2 because my mail carrier told me that this would give me High Rankings® in the search engines. Will I be penalized if I use style sheets to keep the font down to a reasonable size?

As mentioned in a previous answer (Where Do I Place Keywords?), it may not actually even be necessary for you to put keyword phrases into header tags. That said, we've definitely found that the use of headlines and subheadlines in your copy really helps people get the gist of your site very easily. Therefore, if you can work them into your content, also using H1 and H2 tags as specified by the W3C, is certainly a good idea. If it makes sense to also use keyword phrases within some of these headlines, then that's all the better! (If they don't make sense, then it's no big deal. Really!)

Adjusting the size of your headlines to fit with the overall look and feel of your site through cascading style sheets (CSS) is absolutely, positively fine. The search engines aren't out to force you to use a huge font size just because that's the H1 default size. Don't worry another second about that one.

If I submitted my site and it's not showing up, does this mean it's been banned?

I submitted my site [manually] [automatically] [last week] [last month] [3 days ago] and it's not showing up in any of the search engines. Have I been penalized/banned?

If the site you submitted doesn't have any deceptive qualities, then no, you're not banned or penalized. However, all the submissions in the world won't get your site listed or bring search engine traffic if there aren't links pointing to it from other sites -- and if it's not optimized for specific keyword phrases. As I've mentioned elsewhere submitting to search engines is not necessary nor even helpful. The search engines automatically find new pages on their own.

As with everything SEO related, the keys here are patience and time. If you don't have both of those, you might as well get out of the SEO game right now and simply buy your way into the search engines through PPC ads.

How can I automate the link building process?

Link building is hard and I don't like it. I send out tons of emails requesting reciprocal links, but barely get any responses. How can I automate the process?

You can create something so great and wonderfully unique that people naturally link to it. This won't happen overnight, and of course there will be lots of hard work to get to that point and to keep it up, but at least you won't have to worry about link building. (See my site for an example of this at work. I've never once asked for a link, nor do I ever plan to.)

I would highly suggest some means of constantly adding information to your site, such as through a weekly or monthly newsletter, a frequently updated blog, or articles that relate to the products/services you provide. Because even if you do have a completely unique and great site, you still need a means of letting others know this.