META tags are hidden code read only by search engine webcrawlers (also called spiders). They live within the HEAD section of a web page. There are actually 2 very important META tags you need to worry about: description and keywords. Meta tags summarize what the site is about, and despite some SEO controversy, they still play an instrumental role in meta-based search engines. The META tags you need to be the most concerned about are:

1. description
2. keywords

Sequencing of these tags may be extremely important. I say “may” because SEO is mostly hypothesis due to the changing algorithms of the search engines. Even though the W3C states that tag attributes do not have to be in any particular sequence, I’ve noticed a significant difference when I have the tags and attributes in the order described here. The only deviation from the list above is that the Title tag should come before the META description.

The description META tag is the text that will be displayed under your title on the results page. See the OC Internet Advertising example above. There’s also a lot of controversy about the number of characters you should have in this tag. I’ve seen sites with a paragraph in their description listed in the top results, so I don’t think the number of characters here plays any kind of role with the search engines.

However, if you want the listing to look clear and to the point, my Top 10 SEO Tips for this META tag would be to keep it under 150 characters and to not repeat your keywords more than 3 times. It may be a coincidence, but I’ve also noticed ranking improvements when I put my keywords at the beginning of the description. Here’s the syntax:

<meta name=”description” content=”your_keywords_here followed by a statement about your product service or organization.” />

The last important META tag is the keywords META tag, which some time ago lost a lot of points in Google’s search engine algorithm. Along with being valuable to this top 10 SEO tips list, this tag is still important to many other search engines and should not be ignored. Based on my experience with this tag, you can have approximately 800 characters in this tag (including spaces).

SEO Tip: if you repeat your keywords more than 3 times it can be a pretty good indication to the search engine that you are trying to spam their search results. Also, don’t waste your time including keywords that aren’t used in the BODY section of your website, that could be seen as another spam technique. Here’s the syntax used on this Top 10 SEO Tips page:

<meta name=”keywords” content=”top 10 seo tips, what is seo, resources, seo software, seo ebook, search engine optimization” />

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There are different theories about how long your Title should be. Since Google only displays the first 66 or so characters (with spaces), my Top 10 SEO Tips for the title would be to keep it under 66 characters and relevant to the content on the page. However, some may argue that the value of the homepage title may warrant additional search term inclusion.

Bar none the most important of the top 10 SEO tips involves your keywords. If you wish to be on the first page of the search results, you must include your keywords in your Title tag. Preferably before all other words in the Title. No need to repeat your keywords in the Title, that’s interpreted as spam by the search engines. Here is an example of good Title:

This one excersise could make or break your SEO campaign. Click-Through Rate (CTR) plays an instrumental role in how relevant Google thinks your website is. By compelling users to click with clear call-to-actions (buy, order, download, beat, fix, etc) and by using value propositions (guaranteed, on sale now, etc), one can improve their CTR and search engine ranking. Oh, don’t forget to squeeze your keywords in there as well.

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Perhaps you’ve already heard about the mass defections towards Yahoo and MSN as well as the fallout of the ‘Quality Score’ of Google. If you still prefer to use Google Ad words, you have to ensure that you can create worthy landing pages.

How can you identify a landing page that is of good quality? The page should reinforce ‘conversion intent’. The only way to do this is to consider your visitor’s mindset. The page should provide adequate information so that you can convert visitors into real clients. You have to make sure that the landing page does not contain any unnecessary distraction that can affect the buying tendency of site visitors.

Here is a 10-point checklist to create the best design for your landing page:

1.    Brevity – the page should be straight to the point and try keeping it short.  Your paragraphs should not exceed three lines and try to have one idea for each of your paragraphs.
2.    The offer should be relevant to the copy and texts. You can display the keywords by highlighting them. Relevancy is the only concern of site visitors and you must keep this in your mind at all times.
3.    To better highlight the product or service benefits, try using bullet points. A lot of internet users tend to ‘skim’ so if you bold the very important messages, you can easily deliver it to them.
4.    On the page, you must provide a button which says – BUY NOW; this will serve as your call to action.
5.    When you are creating ad campaigns, the landing page should provide the needed key facts. By being transparent – posting the price and product features, site visitors will appreciate it most because you’re not focusing on fiction but on the facts. Don’t use flowery prose.
6.    Some links can be very distracting and since your goal in the landing page is to convince the visitor to checkout, you should remove unnecessary links. Your copy should be compelling. Limit the options so that site visitors will not drop out. Display the costs and delivery options clearly. This is the best way to sell your products!
7.    You can get some great answers by utilizing usability testing. Encourage your site visitors to run/walk down the conversion path.
8.    The landing page should be free from grammatical errors. Online users are looking for a reputable site that has grammatical accuracy. Before you launch the landing page, proofread…
9.    Don’t forget to provide press, testimonials, kite marks, support options, partners, etc. These things can make your site trustworthy and respectable. Customers want to buy from respectable sites.
10.    Use the right color and images. To reinforce purchase intent, you need to present the icons, graphics, and colors properly. Avoid litter and try to create a smart layout.

By simply putting yourself in the shoes of the site visitors, you will know how to create the best and most suitable landing page. Relevant pages provide adequate information with the texts rich in relevant keywords or keyword phrases. Improve your conversion rates now.

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