Boutique SEO – Why Content is Key

I went through last week and used the worksheet from Your SEO Plan to take a look at my keywords and see how I compared in search engine rankings for each keyword.  Now I can chart my efforts as I make changes in the site.  Part of the key to this is not to make too many changes at once, or it’s hard to determine which changes worked. 

My first plan of attack is my content.  I believe that content is the key most important factor in good search engine rankings.  If you aren’t going to do anything else, just paying attention to your content will make all the difference in the world.  Content is important because it keeps readers (shoppers and clients) engaged and interested in your site, it gives information for the search engine crawlers to “read” through and it ups your chances of getting quality links from other sites.  You don’t have to be a great or even a good writer to make sure that your content is informative and utilizing your keywords.

The first place to spend time is your home page.  This is the first page people see and you want something on there that is not so long that it’s overwhelming, but long enough to include and target your most important keywords.  Although a popular trend is to put everything but the kitchen sink on the front page, I don’t think super long pages full of content are necesary to achieve your goal of utilizing keywords and attracting customers.  My first task this week will be to take a look at my front page copy.  It’s been awhile since I rewrote it so it could use a little freshening up.

The second thing to look at is your products.  I cringe when I see a site that has a two or three word title for the description and that’s it.  What a waste of a great SEO opportunity, and how frustrating for your customers that want and need information about your products.  Every item on your site should be related to one or two of your keywords.  Instead of “Baby Tutu” as a description, you could write:

Beautiful baby tutu, designed with every little princess in mind.  Yards of tulle, sparkly sequins and bodacious bows adorn this fun and funky baby tutu.  Each tutu is lovingly created in the USA and comes in sizes to fit babies 0 – 3 months, 3- 6 months and 6 – 12 months.  Bitty Baby Bow tutu skirts feature an elastic waist for easy on and off.  Have the most fashionable little tot on the block with this precious tutu made just for babies.  Make sure to check out our tulle tutus for toddlers and big girls too!

I think it goes without saying that the second description is much more interesting and informative for a customer, and it utilizes several keywords more than once – baby, tutu and babies, and throws in a couple of extra words that may be targets as well – toddler, big girls and tulle.

Another overlooked opportunity is having the same content for multiple products.  Although you might not be able to get away from this all the time, try to change up the content just a little bit.  Search engines can overlook pages on your site if the content is the same, so it’s worth altering it even if the item is similar to another one.

The second thing on my list this week is to go over my products.  Although I tend to have descriptions that utilize keywords for every item, I do fall into the trap of reusing content.  A couple of rewrites and I will be able to better utilize my keywords and help my client base understand my products.

Finally, articles are another way to add content on your site that draws visitors and adds keywords.  You can write an article about anything that will utilize your keywords and appeal to your audience, or you can hire a copywriter to write it for you.  Most copywriting services will ghost write an article giving you full rights to promote it as your own.  Pick one or two topics that your shoppers might be interested in, whether it’s the latest trends in dressing baby or invitation etiquette.  If you focus on one article a month, in a year you have 12 pages of great content that is keyword rich and interesting for your customers.  You can also post the articles on your blog and submit it to an article site, like e-zine articles, to get even more exposure.

Once again, I have my SEO work cut out for me.  I try to limit my SEO time, it is easy to get sucked in and spend hours rewriting, tweaking, checking my stats.  I find that if I limit it to 15 – 30 minutes a day I can get through my SEO to-do list and stay focused.  This week I’ll work on rewriting my front page copy, checking and editing my products and getting one article completed and up on my site.  If three “assignments” seems like too much to focus on, pick one task and make it a priority this week.  You will be amazed at how these small changes can really affect your rankings and overall traffic.