12 Steps to a Successful Website - OurChurch.Com

Description. The description Meta tag is important because it may be used by search engines to describe your site in search results. It's also used to help summarize Web sites when indexing. Your description must be compelling and relevant to attract potential customers to your page. It should also contain several of your highest priority keywords to help influence search engines. This is the sentence shown in the search results that tells what your site is about.

Don't be too wordy because search engines only show about a line and a half at most. For example, if you are "PreschoolBibleLessons.com" you might want to say something like: "Christian preschool curriculum supplier offers teaching tips, personal stories, and an active community for children's ministry leaders. Free shipping!"

Notice how few words are wasted in that sentence. That's important because you only have one chance to snag a web surfer. Will your description provide enough information to compel a click-through?

Keywords. Include your entire list of 50-100 keyword phrases in the keywords Meta tag separated by commas. Avoid using the same keyword more than once, but it is OK to use the same word as a part of several phrases. For example, including "childrens ministry, childrens games, childrens activities" is OK. Start with the most important search term and end with the least important.

Each keyword should be specific and relevant. Some people have tried to draw extra visitors to their website by including very popular but unrelated keywords in their Meta tags. Search engines have caught on to this trick, so don't bother. If Billy Graham's ministry has nothing to do with your site, don't list him in your keywords, no matter how important he is to the world of church ministry. Another tip is to purposely include misspelled words. For example, "Christain" is a common typo for "Christian." You might capture a few visitors that others may miss, but these would be low priority keywords and placed at the end of your list.

One other thing you can try is to figure out any search words or phrases that are less frequently used by your competition. Even if these terms are searched less frequently, you may rank higher for having them when your competition doesn't.

Content. When writing the text for the body of your web pages, try to include and repeat your 3 to 5 highest priority keywords as often as you can in the natural flow of the text. You may not win any Pulitzer prizes for good writing, but you'll still be able to get your point across. You will also stand a better chance of bringing visitors to your site. Don't go overboard, though, as search engines can penalize a site for "keyword stuffing."

Images. If you have a picture of Reverend Jones on your site, and your site name is Elm Street Church, consider naming your image this way: Elm_Street_Church_Jones.jpg. That gives search engines another mention of your organization's name. It's also a good idea to include keywords in the "ALT" attribute for your images. For example: <img src="Elm_Street_Church_Jones.jpg" alt="Reverend Jones of Elm Street Church">

Getting Help with Your Keywords and Meta Tags

Now that you understand how important keywords and Meta tags are to the listing and ranking of your website in search engines, you might consider having a website marketing professional develop your Meta tags for you. After all, if you get this wrong you could severely reduce and even unwittingly bypass targeted search engine visitors. OurChurch.Com will analyze keywords and optimize your web page for the best keywords as a part of our Guaranteed Search Ranking service.

Order website promotion services from OurChurch.Com today!