How to best utilize keywords using All in One SEO
-
Please forgive my noob questions here. I'm using Wordpress with All in One SEO.
I'm launching a new video production company (www.heartwavemedia.com) and have spent the last few months building a website for it in my spare time. Visually and structurally, it's there but I'm just beginning to tackle SEO. I've read a fair amount on the subject but I'm unclear on the following:
1. Regarding the All in One SEO "keywords" field on each page, are more or less keywords better?
2. Should I be using a long list of broad, industry relevant keywords that are plugged into every page (where All in One SEO gives you the "keywords" field) or should each page be targeting a more specific set of keywords? Alternatively, is it appropriate to do that sometimes but not others? For example should I be casting a wide net with my home page and then get laser precise with subsequent pages?
3. Is my goal to pick one (or two or three) keywords that my research leads me to believe I could get some traction with and write copy referencing them across my entire site or to spread them around?
4. Is it absolutely necessary to include keyword rich copy for each page or doe's the "keyword" field address that need? Are they read the same by SEs or do they complement each other?
5. On a scale of 1-10, how infuriating are the previous 4 questions?
In the event that your head hasn't exploded, I appreciate your forthcoming advice!
-
No problem - well I would definitely look at removing the keyword cloud for a start as this just looks so spammy in my opinion and is likely to stick out like a sore thumb to Google. The other issue you have is that some of your pages with videos on are very thin on content and so all this repeating text in the footer across the site isn't likely to help in terms of duplicate content.
I don't see an issue with the pictures and they do look good apart from why do you have them on Flickr and not hosted on your site maybe I am missing something? I would consider adding another link to your top menu for the whats new links and have them on sub-menu as your other items currently do rather than repeating them on every pages footer as they look like targeted keywords to me. Adding them to the main navigation won't complicate things and at worst gives these pages more weight. I would also have one page that talks about who you are but I also think that repeating it across your site devalues your homepage content as the majority of it is basically your footer. In short I think the current layout will be devaluing your SEO, but the choice is yours...
-
Thanks again, Matt. I'm starting to wrap my head around this. Let me explain my reasoning behind the site-wide footer... And to be clear, I'm referring to the section at the bottom of each page that reads Who We Are, What We Do, What's New, and Watch Us Work.
I didn't actually have SEO in mind when I designed it that way. It just seemed like a good way to communicate some essential info (about, recent projects) and fit in some more fun stuff (behind the scenes photos) without complicating overall navigation (actual services provided, portfolio, client list, contact, etc.).
I like it in terms of functionality, communication and aesthetics and would prefer not to mess with it but I will rethink it's going to hurt me. I know that SEs reward unique content but I guess my question is, if SOME content is the same on every page (the footer in question) will that significantly devalue my SEO?
-
Yes you are talking about the words that the areas you have mentioned above focus on but remember don't just use your keyword try and make your optimization look as natural as possible whilst including it in these areas.
Yes you have the right idea in terms of your homepage and subsequent pages.
Copy is very important when it comes to websites in terms of SEO. Search engines will see every element on that page as part of it and it will take into account the text wherever it is. Just remember that the higher up the page the more weight is given to that content. Descriptions of your videos will count as they are text on your page so they will be read when crawled by Google.
Can you just repeat your question on site wide footers as I am not sure what it is and can't see it above?
In terms of your footer I don't think it is a good idea to have a keyword cloud like you have repeated across your site as this just shouts over-optimization in my opinion and you are risking trouble as it is clearly there for one reason and one reason only - boost rankings! I also think it isn't worth repeating a paragraph about you on every page. In the current climate there is little advantage to your footer as you have it in terms of helping you rank - as I say content above the fold/ higher up the page is where the most weight is placed.
You also need to remember that only the first link on a page is counted, so repeating your menu in the footer has zero value from an SEO point of view.
Footer tactics for ranking are old hat and the likes of Google have wised up to manipulation tactics using them...
-
Thanks, Matt! That definitely clears up my confusion about that damn "keyword" field and what to do with it. Nothing. Check.
So then, when we're talking about keywords, we really are just talking about words used across headers, titles, urls, image and video file names, etc., correct?
And that means that my home page keywords should be more broad like "San Francisco Video Production" whereas subsequent pages should look more like "Wedding and Bridal Video", right?
Then it really does come down to copy... If my Wordpress site's pages are comprised of different elements like the main post body also a side bar (like here: http://www.heartwavemedia.com/video/business/), does the SE see everything as being part of the same page? For example, if the body of a post is a series of videos would keyword rich copy in the sidebar count? And furthermore, would descriptions of the videos themselves count?
That still leaves my question about the impact of my site-wide footer. Anyone?
-
I believe the keyword field you are talking about is setting the meta keywords on your page which unfortunately has no positive impact on your rankings in the search engines. The most adding keywords in this field will do is tell your competitors what keywords you are targeting at a quick glance. This field use to be used by a type of search engine called a meta-crawler and it was common that when you searched for something totally unrelated you would get porn as they would have unrelated keywords in their meta tags (this is the common example people mention when talking of such) hence why this type of search was surpassed for more efficient methods years ago.
You need to make sure you include your keywords in the title, headers, body and so on in order to target keywords with your web pages. I would have a look at seomoz beginners guide to seo for a better understanding of on-page optimisation.
Btw you do want to do some keyword research in order to identify which keywords you want to target in relation to you niche but don't try and target the same keywords with every page and I would focus on one rather than multiple keywords per page personally But the trick is to write decent content that adds value and is natural not just aimed at targeting a keyworI in the search engines.
hope this clears things up...
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
What place does plural versions of keywords have in keyword research?
Working on doing a massive keyword research project for my sites, one of the things I am trying to figure out is if I should be including plural versions of keywords. For example, should you include yoga mat as well as yoga mats?
Keyword Research | | ShockoeCommerce0 -
To switch high-ranking keyword for one with higher volume?
I have a client who already ranks very well for the keyword "odor removal service" (#3 average rank). I'd like to use this as my primary keyword phrase, but the search volume is not very high (avg. monthly search of 90). A similar keyword phrase like "odor eliminator" has a search vol. of 4400 and the same competitiveness. Even its long-tail derivatives like "natural odor eliminator" still have a much higher volume (360) and would be a more accurate description of the service. In cases like this where you are already ranking well for a relevant keyword (but are still not generating much traffic), is it worth losing that keyword ranking in the hopes of ranking better for a keyword with higher volumes. Just to be clear, I'm not referring to a secondary keyword, but to the main keyword phrase around which we'll be building primary and secondary related keywords. Thanks for any feedback.
Keyword Research | | Mike_E0 -
How do I use Google Keyword in onsite seo?
Hello to all, I wanted to ask if I am doing this correctly. So I own a Bernese mountain dog website I used the google keyword research tools to view keyword ideas. I listed my results below. So my questions are: 1 - Bernese Mountain Dog Puppies (the keyword) blow away the other keywords. So when you are looking at your sites most popular keywords, do you make the most popular keyword your homepage? Because it gets the most link juice? Like would you build the homepage around the best keyword instead of branding - like the company name etc? Or does it matter? Basically just as long as you use it for one page? 2 - When you have keywords that have parts of other keywords, is it safe to use the longer keyword because it has parts of the other phrases? Such as Bernese mountain dog puppies for sale is a part of Bernese mountain dog puppies for sale in Colorado. So if you use bernese mountain dog puppies for sale in Colorado, it will also hit the bernese mountain dog puppies for sale? ( without the In Colorado) What type of strategy would you use for this type of situation? 3- Lastly, and thank you for your time - I watched a video from a grey hat seo guy. He said to take a keyword or phrase like say Colorado home builders, create a page like example.com/Colorado-home-builders/ Then make you h1 tag - The Best Colorado Home Builders Add The Best Colorado home builders to your meta description and one more time in your h2 tag Then create a Bold, and italic The Best Colorado Home Builders in your unique content paragraphs. So my question is - is this grey hat and bad? Or the standard? I do not want to get hit for over optimizing. So just wanted to ask you opinion first. In the end, I truly thank you for taking the time to read my questions. I appreciate everyone's help and greatly appreciate your knowledge. So my results look like this | bernese mountain dog puppies | 590 | Low | $0.45 | 1% | |
Keyword Research | | Berner
| bernese mountain dog puppies for sale | 90 | High | $0.42 | 9% | |
| bernese mountain dogs | 90 | Low | $0.37 | 0% | |
| bernese mountain dog puppies for sale in colorado | 30 | Medium | $0.76 | 0% | |
| bernese mountain dog breeders in colorado | 20 | Medium | $0.32 | 0% | |
| bernese mountain dogs colorado | 40 | Low | $0.08 | 0% | |
| bernese mountain dog puppy breeders | 10 |0 -
Is there any value to meta keywords?
The more I read the more I realize that meta keywords are not as helpful as they once were. Is there any SEO value to meta keywords anymore or should the emphasis be put on the content and title tags in regards to keywords? As always, I appreciate any feedback.
Keyword Research | | TracSoft0 -
Best advice for my site for ranking better on my main keyword "Orlando Wedding Photographers"?
Hi, I run a photography site: www.joeyvalyphotography.com and my main keyword is Orlando Wedding Photographers . I have been trying to improve my rankings but i have gone no where. I would greatly appreciate some tips, on getting my site up there higher on the ranks, some day! Thanks in advanced, Joey
Keyword Research | | gaji0 -
Google keyword tool
Hey anyone noticed Google's keyword tool seems to be returning weird data for search volume compared to just a few days ago? "iron fist clothing" exact match was returning around 1,000 local monthly searches and a monthly trend of approximately the same over the past year. As of yesterday it has zero searches for exact match and even the monthly trends have all been set to zero for every month going back a year Now I suppose this could happen in theory but the fact that the trend is showing up as zero for each month over the last year makes me think this could be a bug. I've also noticed this for one of my keywords on my SEO site, again suddenly gone to zero searches and monthly trends going back a year. However a quick check on webmaster tools shows the impressions going back a few months at the average of 1,300 that the old trend suggested it should be. Anyone else noticed this?
Keyword Research | | barabis770 -
Google Webmaster Keyword Significance.
In my google webmaster tools the most significant keyword google attaches to my site is word 'VAT' as in, Value Added Tax. Followed by Basket. I can see why this is, as the word VAT and Basket is on every product page, but it really is not a keyword I want to target. Does this have any negative effect on other keywords I am targeting? What should I do about this? Here is the site: https://www.loveelectronics.co.uk
Keyword Research | | jcarter0 -
Keywords for homepage and product categories
My homepage explains the different electrical equipment our company sells, our main product category page also does the same but in more detail. I'm stuck where I feel the homepage and product category page need to be optimised for the same keyword except the homepage needs to be optimised for our company name too. Was anyone else in the same situation as me and how did you choose the right keyword between two pages that have the same message?
Keyword Research | | Seaward-Group0