I've been trying to optimize my web design company site, and have a few questions. My title tags and other area say "san jose bay area web design company" because I would like to get results for that phrase, or different variations of it such as, "san jose web design company" or "bay area web design." So, am I correct in assuming that if I use the entire phrase "san jose bay area web design company" I am covered for the variations of it? Or is that only optimizing for that exact phrase (which isn't very often search for according to keyword tools). I am hoping it is broad and keywords can be used from that whole phrase. Any thoughts? Thanks.
Use Google insight to know the search trends in San Jose, and then see the search volume. This way you'll have more targeted keywords filtered out! Regards,
I think that's a bit out of my league at the moment. I can use google keyword tools to look for popular search phrases and fine some that fit my need without being too broad. But my main question is, does the phrase I chose, "san jose bay area web design" potentially get results from variations of those words such as "san jose web design," or will it only get results if someone types in that exact phrase?
For search results using "san jose bay area web design" Your site still will appear for search of "san jose bay area web design" or "san jose web design". The problem here is the ranking. To build up your website ranking for these keywords, you need quality backlinks using anchored keywords.
Ah right, so the sites linking back to me should really be using "san jose web design" as the anchor text in the link? That makes sense. Are backlinks with keyword anchors the only way to get results for targeted keywords? Because it seems like I wouldn't have much control over the anchor text other websites choose to link to my site with.
It is right that anchor of back links help in improving the rankings of keywords that is used in anchor text.
Thanks, but what about the lack of control I have over what anchor text people use on their website to link to me? Of course on forums and blog comments, I have control over that.
The resource box using article directories, social bookmarking site, blog comments, etc. BTW a good start would be to register the .com for that exact phrase before you start building backlinks, I see it's still available.
you mean the domain for sanjosebayareawebdesigncompany.com or something similar? I'm against keyword domains for the reason that they look and sound ridiculous. I know they will get better results because of the domain name, but that I feel isn't worth the integrity of a quality business. I want my web design business to have a certain style, and be viewed as a creative professional solution. It makes better sense to me to have a creative brand name and work on other organic seo solutions to help build a reputation for it, rather than use obvious keywords in your domain.
Yeah, I'd jump on it, it'll give you a big SEO boost, but if you're going to work on building backlinks and adding quality content it might not matter that much in the long run. However, you could just register the name and redirect it to your current site, that way you'd have the best of both ways. BTW I have been known to register the .net, .org and .info as well just so the competition wouldn't get it. But that's just me
The only thing I don't like about redirecting the keyword domain is that it will be the domain people see in search results. I'd rather not let anyone see that I have a crazy keyword name purely for the sake of results. So I don't know if there is a way to use that domain, but have it show bravewhale.com in the results instead.
Buying sanjosebayareawebdesigncompany.com and 301 redirecting it to your existing site is going to do absolutely nothing for you from an SEO perspective. 1) that domain has likely never been registered and therefore would have no backlinks. So redirecting it doesn't give your site any credit for additional inbound links. 2) that domain will not even exist in Google's index. When Google sees the 301 from that domain to your existing domain, it tells them to a) transfer credit for all inbound links to sanjosebayareawebdesigncompany.com to your main domain and b) remove sanjosebayareawebdesigncompany.com from the index. If you register and redirect the sanjosebayareawebdesigncompany.com site, the ONLY help that owning sanjosebayareawebdesigncompany.com will give your site is if someone simply types in sanjosebayareawebdesigncompany.com guessing that there might be a site there. But that URL is so long that I can say with confidence that it's likely that no one will ever type it in. The only way sanjosebayareawebdesigncompany.com will assist you from an SEO perspective is if you build out unique content at that new domain, work on building backlinks to it, and then link from sanjosebayareawebdesigncompany.com to your main domain. The only "extra" boost you really get from keyword domains like this is if the domain name EXACTLY matches the search phrase. For non exact match search phrases, having a partial match in the domain name doesn't provide any more noticeable an SEO benefit than simply having the partial match in the folders or file name in the URL. Buying sanjosebayareawebdesigncompany.com is a waste IMO. It will likely just distract you from building content and links to your main site. If you can't SEO one site well, don't bother trying to SEO more than one at a time.
I agree that it is mostly a waste to register such a ridiculous domain, and in my above post I discussed my dislike for keyword focused domain names. I would like the extra search results boost I would gain from a keyword domain, but I prefer to optimize on page for my creatively branded name instead.