SEVEN TIPS WHEN WORKING WITH KEYWORDS TO GET A LOCAL LISTING

Want to get a top listing for your local Internet webpage? Here are seven changesthat you can implement today that can make a big difference on your search enginerankings. Some of you may have the working knowledge to make these HTMLchanges, others of you may need a little help. These tips will help make yourwebsite search engine friendly. I live in Ventura County in Southern California. I've spent many hours looking athundreds of local websites for Real Estate, Chiropractic, and Dentist clients. It isvery important for them to show up on search engines for local search terms. I'mgoing to use my local Chiropractor listings as examples in this HTML tutorial. Ilooked up websites using Keywords like, "Chiropractor in Ventura County,""Chiropractor in Thousand Oaks," and "Chiropractor offices in Ventura County." Iwant you to know that with a few minor adjustments to your HTML you can gain adistinctive advantage over other local websites that could mean more business toyou in the coming months. Who isn't interested in some new business in today'seconomy? Let's examine what top ranked Chiropractor sites are doing to gain Keywordrelevancy on search engines. You can look at your competition's HTML tags bygoing to your browser of choice, clicking "View" in the upper left hand corner ofyour browser (Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator), and then scrolling downto the word "Source". It will open another browser window with the HTMLlanguage for you to look at. 1. USE YOUR KEYWORDS IN YOUR TITLE TAG Several search engines use Keywords in the Title tag as part of the their algorithms.Algorithms are rules that search engines use to calculate a ranking of a website.Each engine uses different algorithms. Using a Title tag like; John Q. Smith Chiropractor is wasted text unless you think that people are going to be using the name (John Q.Smith) as search term. If you want to attract visitors who are looking forChiropractor in Ventura County" you may want to use the Keyword phrase,"Chiropractor in Ventura County" in your Title tag. Here is how you may want to put Keywords in your Title tag. Chiropractor in Ventura County, Thousand Oaks, and Westlake<br>California, Chiropractor office in Ventura County.It doesn't matter what order you place the tags in the HEAD area, although someexperts recommended that you include the TITLE tag first on the page, beforelisting any other tags.2. USE KEYWORDS IN YOUR META TAGSThere's a continuing debate about whether to separate each Keyword in the Metatag by a comma, or to group related words (i.e, phrases) by commas, or to list allthe words in one long string separating each word only by a spaces.Which method is better? The most common method is separating each word orphrase by a comma. However, many experts contend that the search enginesignore the commas. Their thought is that by eliminating them, you can include morewords in the tag. My position is that it won't likely affect your rankings either way. Caution: Be careful not to repeat the same Keyword more than two or threetimes in the Meta tag. NEVER repeat the same word twice in a row or you maytrigger a search engine's "spam filter." Never include Keywords that do not applyto the content of your page. Here's what your Meta tag may look like for "Chiropractor in Ventura County".3. USE KEYWORDS IN YOUR META DESCRIPTION TAGS Each engine that supports the Meta description tag will shrink it down to 150 to350 characters depending on the engine. Therefore, include the best portion ofyour description in the first 150 characters, but go ahead and add additional text tofill it out to about 350 characters.Here's what your Meta Description tag may look like for "Chiropractor in VenturaCounty".4. USE KEYWORDS IN THE BODY OF YOUR TEXT Many engines look at your first paragraph for Keyword relevance. By carefullywording the text in your first paragraph, you can add to your Keyword relevancy.My suggestion is not to use your Keywords more than five times on any page inthe body of your text. Here is an example of using Keywords in the body of your text. Keywords = "Chiropractor in Ventura County."When you're looking to purchase Chiropractor in Ventura County you wantsomeone who is an expert in buying and selling Chiropractor in Ventura County.We are here to help. Located in the Thousand Oaks/ Westlake Village area inVentura County. Our Chiropractor office is here to focus on you and yourpersonal needs. Some engines will also check the last paragraph of the body of your text. One localChiropractor uses this text at the bottom of his homepage to gain added Keywordrelevancy for his website. "ABC Chiropractic proudly serves the following areas of Ventura County: ConejoValley, Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Camarillo, Lake Sherwood, Moorpark,Newbury Park, North Ranch, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, and WestlakeVillage." TIP: Pages heavy with text in a small font size may not get listed. Avoid using fontsize lower than 2 as the dominant size for your body copy. 5. USE KEYWORDS IN YOUR IMAGE/ALT TAGSSome engines will actually look at your Image and Alta tags as part of theirAlgorithms. On way to take advantage of this is by renaming your Image and Alttags with your Keywords. Here is an example. You have an image named, "image1.jpg"Change the name to "chiropractor1.jpg" or "venturacounty.jpg" Here is an example of how your Image tag may look in HTML.SRC="images/venturacounty.jpg" >An Alt tag is the text that pops up when you move your mouse over a Hyperlinkand some text is displayed in your browser as the mouse rolls over the link. Example: "Find more information about Chiropractors in Ventura County,Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village California."Here is an example of how your Alt tag may look in HTML.Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village California.">6. USE KEYWORDS IN YOUR HYPERLINKS Some engines will actually look at the words in your Hyperlinks for addedrelevancy. If you have several pages on your website, consider renaming them withyour Keywords. One local top ranking Realtor uses this technique to gain a topranking on Google. Each of the Hyperlinks on the home page are packed with Keywords andKeyword phrases. Here are several examples for John Q. Smith of ABC Realty:TESTIMONIALS: For John Q. Smith of ABC Realty from satisfied home buyersand home sellers in Ventura County, Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village. WELCOME: From John Q. Smith of ABC Realty in Ventura County, ThousandOaks and Westlake Village. Featured homes in Ventura County, Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village. Take alook at Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village and Moorpark, California homes forsale. ABOUT: John Q. Smith from ABC Realty serving Thousand Oaks, WestlakeVillage and Ventura County. Get to know all about your real estate and relocationprofessional in Ventura County California. These are just a few examples of clever ways that you can add Keywords to yourHyperlinks to gain extra Keyword relevancy for your website. Consider addingsome links about your local city with hyperlinks that use your Keywords, such as;Learn all about Ventura County, Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village. Information and hot links about Ventura County. My favorite places to visit in Ventura County. School information for Ventura County, Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village. Suggestions_ feature local businesses, landmarks, points of interest. Be creative. Make your links stand out so people will want to click them. Themore time they spend on your site, the better chance at gaining a new client. 7. USE H1 TAGS TO BOOST RELEVANCY. Some search engines will give words found in your "H1" tag a boost in relevancy.The H1 tag is used to specify page or topic headings. In most browsers H1 is anoversized font that looks out of place on a page.Here is a smart way that you can gain keyword relevancy both ways by usingCascading Style Sheets (CSS). With CSS, you can specify that the browserdisplay the H1 tag or other tags on your page anyway you please. By using CSSyou can get both a boost in relevancy and get better control of your webpage'sappearance with this easy step. In the area of the page, put the following STYLE lines:This will force all H1 tags on the page to use a 12 pt Arial or Helvetica font inblack text. This will also allow you to adjust the point size or font to whatever sizemay look best on your webpage. Using this CSS tag, you can now use the H1 tag on all your pages to gain extrarelevancy Keyword relevancy without sacrificing the look of your pages. Manyexperts agree that a majority of the engines give more weight to Keywords thatappear within H1 heading tags. Try it, you'll be amazed at the results.A QUICK CLOSING COMMENT. This past summer I spent some time with my family at the Palm Desert MarriotResort. While playing in the pool with my kids, I noticed that several people keptasking me what I do for a living. After some conversation, I realized that the Hotelwas host to Mike Ferry Real Estate Trainer. The number one question I was askedthat day was, "How can I get my site to show up on search engines for mylocal area?" By following the above advice you can help your website's rankingon many search engines.All of this information will make a difference in the way your website is indexed onsearch engines that are Keyword driven. I would love to get you started withmaking these changes. If you need any help, you can e-mail me atdavid@webpositionadvisor.comA couple of hours with me may mean a couple of new patients to you. You willneed a slightly different strategy on some of the other Search Directories.