A Little Seo Help from the Smarties.

[Mick_Keyou]

OK. Started my first WP website a few months ago. I recently installed the Yoast SEO plugin after getting a list of keyword phrases to target. Now I'm confused on several of it's recommendations. I'm started optimizing the ABOUT US page first.

Keyword phrase example: auto insurance costs

I started optimizing my first page, the ABOUT US page. The SEO plugin lists 13 items to optimize using the keyword phrase. Some are straight forward. Here are some confusing ones:

1) The keyword / phrase doesn't appear in the URL for this page.

Originally my website looked like this: websitesampleURL/about-us. I had to put "auto insurance costs" in the permalink to get this checked off as optimized. Now it looks like this: websitesampleURL/about-us-auto-insurance-costs. Is this appropriate? Good/bad/doesn't matter?

2) "The page title contains keyword / phrase, but it does not appear at the beginning; try and move it to the beginning."

I can't figure this one out. My page was titled: ABOUT US originally. I then edited it to: ABOUT US auto insurance costs. Nothing changed on the optimization setting.

I'll just start with 2 questions for now

 

[Josh]

Best thing for you to do is spend some quality time on BHW and Warrior Forum. There are some pretty smart folks here, but there is a fountain of wealth on those other forums.

 

[scagnt83]

OK. Started my first WP website a few months ago. I recently installed the Yoast SEO plugin after getting a list of keyword phrases to target. Now I'm confused on several of it's recommendations. I'm started optimizing the ABOUT US page first.

Keyword phrase example: auto insurance costs

I started optimizing my first page, the ABOUT US page. The SEO plugin lists 13 items to optimize using the keyword phrase. Some are straight forward. Here are some confusing ones:

1) The keyword / phrase doesn't appear in the URL for this page.

Originally my website looked like this: websitesampleURL/about-us. I had to put "auto insurance costs" in the permalink to get this checked off as optimized. Now it looks like this: websitesampleURL/about-us-auto-insurance-costs. Is this appropriate? Good/bad/doesn't matter?

2) "The page title contains keyword / phrase, but it does not appear at the beginning; try and move it to the beginning."

I can't figure this one out. My page was titled: ABOUT US originally. I then edited it to: ABOUT US auto insurance costs. Nothing changed on the optimization setting.

I'll just start with 2 questions for now

#1. That format is correct.

#2. It means in the actual body (text) of the page/post. Try to have the keyword your targeting in the first sentence, or at least on the first line.


I am not a SEO expert. But I would try to have a keyword for your "about us" page that zeros in more on you and your firm instead of what you do.
Im assuming that most of the other pages/posts of your site are using keywords that are targeting what you do (like "auto insurance cost").
So you will have plenty targeting sales.
But what happens when a person searches for you or your firm? That is when the about hopefully shows in search results.

A person searching for "auto insurance cost" does not want to know about you or your firm when they initially land on your site. They want info first, then if they like the info they will want to know about you.

jmo

 

[JohnWalker]

#1. That format is correct.

#2. It means in the actual body (text) of the page/post. Try to have the keyword your targeting in the first sentence, or at least on the first line.


I am not a SEO expert. But I would try to have a keyword for your "about us" page that zeros in more on you and your firm instead of what you do.
Im assuming that most of the other pages/posts of your site are using keywords that are targeting what you do (like "auto insurance cost").
So you will have plenty targeting sales.
But what happens when a person searches for you or your firm? That is when the about hopefully shows in search results.

A person searching for "auto insurance cost" does not want to know about you or your firm when they initially land on your site. They want info first, then if they like the info they will want to know about you.

jmo

I was also wondering why your trying to use your about us page as a landing page instead of optimizing it as a site link. Its just better user experience.

Like scagent said your strategy will probably result in a high bounce rate and poor conversation rate

 

[Mick_Keyou]

Thanks guys. I'm so new to all of this so I'm probably doing a 1000 things wrong.

Ok, so my ABOUT US page should have keywords that are more appropriate to that page. Makes sense. I just thought that everyone used their target keywords for every page. Which leads me to this.......

Let's say you get a long tail keyword list (Approx 20 long tail phrases). From that list there are 4 phrases that are great and you want to use them throughout your website.

1) Do you only pick the "best" phrase and use only it throughout the page/post.

-or-

2) Do you use the "best" phrase throughout, but also add phrases 2,3, & 4 within the page/post?

 

[Mimic]

Don't forget wickedfire.com... tons of solid info

 

[Josh]

Don't forget wickedfire.com... tons of solid info

That's the one I was forgetting!

 

[ksigmtsu]

Thanks guys. I'm so new to all of this so I'm probably doing a 1000 things wrong.

Ok, so my ABOUT US page should have keywords that are more appropriate to that page. Makes sense. I just thought that everyone used their target keywords for every page. Which leads me to this.......

Let's say you get a long tail keyword list (Approx 20 long tail phrases). From that list there are 4 phrases that are great and you want to use them throughout your website.

1) Do you only pick the "best" phrase and use only it throughout the page/post.

-or-

2) Do you use the "best" phrase throughout, but also add phrases 2,3, & 4 within the page/post?

Using related keyword phrases on the page is a good practice.

I generally target a main keyword, then also target 2-4 keywords or keyword variations that closely relate on the page. This is what is referred to as Latent Semantic Indexing, or LSI. You can also purchase articles already written to LSI specifications on fiverr or by using other article sources available on most SEO forums that are generally a bit better. You get what you pay for in terms of article quality.

Remember, you only put your main keyword phrase in the yoast box.

I'm going to do another video on Yoast showing how that on-page optimization helper with the green circles works, and what those errors mean, I just haven't gotten to it yet.

 

[Mick_Keyou]

Thanks! In the meantime, I've done the elance seo route for on page optimization for some peace of mind. Hired someone for a few months of on page / off page help. Hopefully I can learn as this is being implemented.

I was just getting overwhelmed trying to do everything and didn't want to waste time and still wonder if I was doing it correctly.

Best case scenario is the optimize my on page correctly, start off page, I learn, and scale down the outsourcing once I get a better grasp.

**Quick question, once on page optimization is setup do most of you just focus on your blog seo? Or do you constantly tweak your main pages too?

 

[ksigmtsu]

Thanks! In the meantime, I've done the elance seo route for on page optimization for some peace of mind. Hired someone for a few months of on page / off page help. Hopefully I can learn as this is being implemented.

I was just getting overwhelmed trying to do everything and didn't want to waste time and still wonder if I was doing it correctly.

Best case scenario is the optimize my on page correctly, start off page, I learn, and scale down the outsourcing once I get a better grasp.

**Quick question, once on page optimization is setup do most of you just focus on your blog seo? Or do you constantly tweak your main pages too?

After the main pages are made, I only modify them if something has changed and the article is now incorrect somehow, or if the page never starts to rank.

I still work on SEO by adding to the blogs, and by creating backlinks to the site.