SEO -basics question

[jennyjennyb]

Having surrendered to complexities of web design and called in the professionals, I am now embarking on the optimisation of the site.

I have been advised to try and learn to do it myself and have dutifully pulled off Rural Webs free guide, googles seo guide and even watched Bamboos one hour long video ( but only the once). I have searched, and read as many posts as I could including the cinetodvd but to be honest, all I think I have managed to do is confuse myself even further.

The main cause of the confusion (I think) is the use of different names which differ from one source to another.So for am I right in thinking that the following:-

PAGE NAME= aka url name ie.www.abc.co.uk/acatalog/compression_ couplers.html.
The compression_couplers bit in the page name in actinic.
This is automatically created by actinic from product name


PAGE TITLE-aka Title tag-
This is where SEO steps in, I should use max 45 letters, relevant keywords first, relevant to products on page eg .It should be readable, and could be something like.. Compression Fittings-Couplers,Tees,Elbows . This will show up as the Blue Title in google searches.
oh and it needs to be unique.

META DESCRIPTION- Is this the blurb that shows up underneath on the google searches eg Order brass couplers today available in sizes 8mm-42mm. Or is this the Page description or is it the same thing?

META KEYWORDS- keywords relevant to the page.


IF, and it's a big if, all the above is correct, then what are H1 tags? and am I right in thinking that the description box in the sections and the full description box in the products also have a part to play in SEO.

Thanks if you have made it to the bottom of this post and any responses will be fantastic. Hopefully I can finally get my head around this!

cheers
Jenny

[pinbrook]

for each page you want ot optimise pick out the most important keyword and maybe a couple of others. if you have single product pages this is made easier

PAGE NAME= aka url name ie.www.abc.co.uk/acatalog/compression_ couplers.html.
The compression_couplers bit in the page name in actinic.
This is automatically created by actinic from product name

pagename can be generated by actinic but is best input by yourself for better control. in the format keyword.html so in your example www.abc.co.uk/acatalog/compression_ couplers.html. is good

PAGE TITLE-aka Title tag-
This is where SEO steps in, I should use max 45 letters, relevant keywords first, relevant to products on page eg .It should be readable, and could be something like.. Compression Fittings-Couplers,Tees,Elbows . This will show up as the Blue Title in google searches.
oh and it needs to be unique.

yes, again use keywords relevant to the product ie keyword1, keyword2

META DESCRIPTION- Is this the blurb that shows up underneath on the google searches eg Order brass couplers today available in sizes 8mm-42mm. Or is this the Page description or is it the same thing?

meta description and page description are 2 separeate entities in actinic, but i often paste the first sentence of my product description into the meta description.

META KEYWORDS- keywords relevant to the page.

not really used by search engines, just use this as a reminder to yourself to tell you which leywords the page is optimised for

IF, and it's a big if, all the above is correct, then what are H1 tags? and am I right in thinking that the description box in the sections and the full

use h1 tags to hightlight important words to search engines, a good way to do this is one single product pages by placing them around the product short description

[Firecom]

I'd only use one h1 tag per page too. For any other headings under the h1 opt hor h2, h3 etc onwards.

I use the h1 tage on a header with the pages keywords being used, ie:

Compression Fittings-Couplers

[bamboo]

To build on what has been said.

From one of my own sites product page

Page Name

brocadebottlebags.html

Page Title

Brocade Bottle Bags l Bottle Bags l Wine Bottle Bags

Meta Description

Bottle bags say you really care and have gone the extra mile. Paper ones are OK but our brocade versions turn the cheapest bottle into something special.

Meta Keywords

bottle bag,wine bottle bag,whiskey bottle bag,whisky bottle bag,spirit bottle bag,chinese bottle bag.

The big thing about the meta description is properly worded it is able to pre-sell or 'convince' your target customer to visit your site. Done well it will actually cut down on the amount of 'browsers' who click through without buying and over time you should get more targeted traffic as you test & refine the description.

Think of it in terms of a free adwords ad and you won't go far wrong IME.

Edit: Before anyone tells me my example description is in dire need of improvement

[consciouspnm]

Brocadebottlebags.html

Isn't that better as Brocade-Bottle-Bags.html?

[RuralWeb]

Yes..........

[bamboo]

Isn't that better as Brocade-Bottle-Bags.html?

In tests I've run it makes no difference whatsoever on page ranking whichever format is used. I must emphasise these are my tests and not a third party's.
However from a human viewers point of view it isn't easy to read.
With that said this page was indexed a fair while ago and it doesn't pay to alter page titles once indexed.

I've been following this advice with good results

Domain Name
Ensure that the domain name you are using is brandable. The time has come and gone for "throw-away" domain names, or domains that are keyword rich with hyphens in between the keywords.

You want "google.com" instead of "search-engine-searching.com". Make sure that you register a "dot com" and don't get caught up in all the new extensions available. "Dot Com" is still the easiest to brand.

If the domain you have right now is not brandable, my advise is to change right now. See if you can purchase an already existing domain or look at other options. But if you continue with a poor domain, regardless of how well the domain is doing, it will have a cap at some point, and you don't want to hit it.

Keyword Refinement
Doing keyword research is a basic function of SEO, however, keyword refinement is often a lost or forgotten art. I use WordTracker and Keyword Discovery less and less and find myself using Google's External Keyword Tool instead. While the data isn't perfect, it is better than other tools as it is coming direct from Google. Plus, KEI has been a "farse" for years due to the expansion of the web.

Tip: Before starting an SEO keyword campaign, make sure that you test the keywords through a PPC engine like AdWords. If the keywords convert and you make money, that means you can make money with the organic search. But if the keywords can't convert, then you know either your page needs to improve, or you are targeting the wrong keywords. It is good to know this information now, instead of after you have invested dozens or hundreds of hours in an organic campaign to get a top ranking.

I strongly suggest that you start with 5-10 keyword phrases, create content, optimize, and post the pages. The reason I choose to do small blocks of keywords, is it allows me to stay focused and not get bogged down. If I sit down and say, "I need to write 100 pages of content for 100 keywords" there is no way I will finish. But 5-10 pages at a time and I will get there.
One area that I would strongly suggest is that of "Low Hanging Fruit" a phrase coined by Michael Campbell. What it refers to is keywords that get less then 25 queries per day and generally do not have a lot of competition. If you can find the keywords that are highly qualified (i.e. antique european jewelry) but have little to no competition, you can instantly rank well for these keywords phrases, bring traffic to your site and have high conversion ratios. This is the key.

But remember, before optimizing a page for a keyword phrase, test it through PPC.

I am implementing the following, but far to slowly to be honest.

Keyword Density
I advise the following:

* Use the keyword once in the title (do NOT use two title tags)
* Once in the description tag
* Once in the Heading (H1), but only one H1 tag, there has started to be backlash if more than H1 is used
* Once in the URL (as the filename, not the domain)
* Use in bold
* Overall density should be in the 2-5% range
* Don't go after misspells anymore, as with auto correct, the click throughs have dropped significantly

Things to remember
Remember the following items to ensure you keep "the big picture in mind"

* Google uses and incremental index, so expect changes on a daily basis
* Google does a lot of testing during the summer months and over holiday weekends
* Visible backlink update occurs every 3-5 weeks
* Visible PageRank update occurs every 3-4 months
* The Visible PageRank and backlinks numbers are old, often months old and they have NO effect on the current ranking in the SERPs
* There is no penalty for the use of iFrames or JavaScript
* Always use an absolute link to point to the root home page

Have read of this

[RuralWeb]

And the most important point on the list is that googles algorithums change almost daily - people always miss this one and think Seo is a one shot deal when in reality it requires constant work. And as more sites are built and more people do seo then it will only continue to get harder.

[Mark H]

Isn't that better as Brocade-Bottle-Bags.html?

I think there is a benefit here (and also, still, in hyphens over underscores).

Derek - if you Google for "brocade bottle bags", your site's product doesn't appear, but interestingly the extended information page does, but for the average customer there is no way to the product from there.

However, if you Google for brocadebottlebags, your product does appear. (together with this thread......)

[RuralWeb]

There is no difference these days between - & _ however urlswithnothingbetweenwords are useless as google cannot interpret the words that make them up. G does however highlight them in search result but only after ranking the page.

[leehack]

Where's Fergus with his double meaning domain names, he's missed his cue on this thread.

expertsexchange.co.uk is the one I recall.

[grantglendinnin]

Go on..., you know you want to

[Golf Tee Warehouse]

oddsexchange.com is another on a similar theme (betting odds)

[bamboo]

Derek - if you Google for "brocade bottle bags", your site's product doesn't appear, but interestingly the extended information page does, but for the average customer there is no way to the product from there.

Google algo has cocked up somehow. The page title belongs to this page
http://www.exoticandoriental.co.uk/a...ottlebags.html
Not the one it is showing in the search results
http://www.exoticandoriental.co.uk/a...info_1091.html

I think and this is just my opinion, this shows that in common with all search algorithms Google's is and always will be a work in progress.

What is odd that this extended info page opens in the same window despite the Actinic settings being set site wide.
=(Opens In A Pop-Up Window)

I now see it could be an Actinic problem or a hosting problem but I honestly don't know the answer. Someone on here probably will.

[Rich Brady]

This is the problem when using Extended Info Pages, especially ones where there is no navigation.

Customers cannot get to your site from these pages