Which Website Ranking Signals Do SEOs Worry About — That They Shouldn’t — And What Should They Focus On
IX Brand SEO Services Company is a search engine optimization and online reputation management services company with offices in Sugar Land, TX, serving the Metro Houston area and other States too. If you’d like to discuss your small business website issue, including a website ranking issue, please call 281-343-3284.
The head of Google’s WebSpam Team, Matt Cutts, recently starred in a video responding to a questions — “Which website ranking signals do SEOs worry about too much and what ranking signals should SEOs focus on the most”? There are lots of search engine optimization “experts” who rely and promote statistical tools that tell you if your website or blog post has been “optimized.” Google’s message is that focusing on the tools and the statistics they generate isn’t wise. Remind yourself that Google is looking for high-quality, relevant and compelling websites to list for Web searchers. You should remember Google’s goals as you set the goals for your website and your Internet marketing effort.
Here’s the website ranking signals video:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHYA5gAsRBA]
Keyword Density is Overused as a Website Ranking Signal
Matt’s response was “keyword density“ to the first part of the question. In other words, you shouldn’t be overly concerned about how often a particular keyword is used on a page, if you’re producing high-quality and highly readable copy. I have SEO tools that calculate keyword density and I’ve read SEO books that claim there are specific limits to the number of times a keyword can be mentioned on a page. One friend was telling me about a software tool that “optimized” blog posts by counting keywords. Matt’s and Google’s guidance is to focus on producing quality content that people want to read and link to.
I have a client, Emerald Sod Farms, that’s fortunate enough to have good keywords as part of it’s business name. It’s natural to write page copy for this business that uses the business name in talking about the turfgrass sod it grows and its delivery and installation services. If we couldn’t use the word “sod” more than a couple of times on a page for fear of exceeding a keyword density limit, we couldn’t talk about the business or its services in a clear and understandable way. In developing page copy for the Emerald Sod Farms website, we certainly use keyword research so we understand the words and phrases people are using to find turfgrass sod on the Internet, but we use those words and phrases in a natural, understandable, and hopefully persuasive way to make a positive impression on website visitors and convert them into customers.
Don’t Focus on Any Particular Website Ranking Signal
As to the second part of the question, Matt says that you shouldn’t focus on any particular website ranking signal. You want compelling content that people will want to read, link to, and revisit. You want to do keyword research so you know what words and phrases your customers are using to search the Web. You want to have good titles and headings. The SEO should make sure the content is crawled (indexed by Google and the other search engines), but don’t worry too much about any particular SEO statistic describing your website or its pages. Developing compelling content should be your major focus as an SEO or as a small business owner or as a website designer.
How do you develop new content for your business website?
As always, if you have any questions about Internet marketing in general or SEO, social media marketing, video marketing or online reputation management, please call 281-343-3284 or use the contact form to send an email.
Related articles
- Worried About Your Bounce Rate? – SEO Sugar Land TX (houstontexasseo.com)
- Better Google Rankings – Still Guessing How? – SEO Consultant Sugar Land TX (houstontexasseo.com)
- 7 Achievable Steps For Great SEO After The Penguin Update (seomoz.org)
