Keyword selection for homepages

Do you use this approach?

[biggles]

Reading around the various posts I think there's general agreement that to rank well in search engines individual pages must be content-rich with each page focused on a single topic. This means there should only be 1 or 2 primary keyword phrases that specifically relate to the topic of each page.

However I've always found it difficult to decide on keywords for homepages - especially for large sites with diverse content. Typically homepages are more general in focus and introduce the main concepts of the site, rather than focusing specifically on one. This means they don’t have a single-minded focus and so can be difficult to pin down with a single primary keyword phrase.

I think Brett Tabke made this point in a posting about themes:

[webmasterworld.com...]

your best course of action for the index page, is to focus it towards the users, usability, and speed. Users that hit the home page are sniffing around for other content, not your home page. Don't try to make it something it isn't. It is a beautified site map

At a search engine marketing conference earlier this year the topic was brought up in a writing for search engines session. It was suggested that the one exception to selecting just 1 or 2 primary keyword phrases per page is the homepage. The best approach recommended for homepage optimisation was to apply the 80/20 rule based on search demand. Meaning it should be optimised it for the top 3 highest ranking keyword search phrases for the site. An additional keyword search phrase that does not rank so highly in demand, but which you want to push on the home page can also be included.

I'm currently optimising a very large market portal which couldn't have more diverse areas of content and would be very interested to hear people's views about this.

[edited by: Marcia at 2:14 am (utc) on Aug. 16, 2002]

[Mohamed_E]

[edited by: Marcia at 2:14 am (utc) on Aug. 16, 2002]
[edit reason] made link to thread clickable [/edit]

A big "Thank you!" to Marcia and to all the moderators who help make this site work!

[skibum]

I think the only answer to that is it depends. One big real estate client we work with has a homepage that ranks among the top for tens if not hundreds of relevant keywords. Most of these are not highly competitive but do combine to bring in a significant number of referrals each month.

There are 2 or 3 main keywords that are more competitive for which it ranks well, but by putting a significant amount of regional information on the homepage as well as different types of lifestyles people may associate the various things they offer the keyword universe covered by the homepage expands further.

Generally, the smaller the site, the more focused the home page needs to be.

Stats for the site above and others overwhelmingly show that visitors that enter on internal pages of the site (as opposed to the homepage) register far fewer single access sessions, presumably because they enter the site on a page that offers information more specific to the query. That may be a good reason to hone the homepage in on a select few broad keywords and focus on driving SE traffic to internal pages.

[biggles]

Hi Skibum

Thanks for your reply. Your comment about far fewer single access sessions on internal pages makes a lot of sense. Far better to deliver people directly to a page that addresses the question their search phrase represents, rather than to the home page and force them to figure out site nav to find what they're after. It's too easy to hit the back button and check other SERP results. Give them what they want.

[thejenn]

Remember that not every visitor comes through that front page. Not every link points to that front page.

So...you do the best you can on some phrases that cover the overall strategy of the site, and then you hit it really hard with the optimization on the inner pages.

Also remember that when you build link pop for really large, diverse sites, you can encourage folks to link straight in to the internal pages that deliver the content relevant to their audience. Not every incoming link has to go to your home page. If your site is properly linked internally, then you're still goign to see overall PR benefits, even if all the links don't go to the exact same spot. That really helps you take advantage of all those extra pages for more traffic and more high rankings.

[tyrojds]

if a homepage had a good deal of content would it make it easy or sensible to optimize it for several or more keywords?

[thejenn]

Yes. I would actually suggest that you optimize each page of a web site for 2-3 keyword phrases...not just one.

That's a personal opinion...though one that I've had success with. I'm certain that some folks will tell you not to optimize for more than one phrase per page, or even up to five or six.

You really have to test it yourself and find out what works best for you and for a particular site.

[agerhart]

While you can have a formula for success, SEO is not a cut-and dry process....it is not black and white. You are going to have to evaluate each situation and make decisions on what you think will work best under the circumstances.

[weisinator]

I guess I need an example.

My site is about widgets (what site isn't? :) ). I do rather well with all categories of blue widgets, with my deep content, since not many sites are about blue widgets. Currently my widget home page has "What's New With Widgets", and nothing else.

On the homepage, would one optimise using content that already reels them in? Ex: Using an article that gets lots of traffic, take the article title, two to three keyword-rich sentences, and a "Read more" link? Would I do this for 3-4 traffic-generating articles, and again for one that sinks to the bottom since it's highly competitive? Am I far enough outside the box?

I've also started themeing. I have sub-index pages for Red Widgets, Blue Widgets, Green Widgets, and Yellow Widgets. Would I do the same for the sub-index pages? EX: take high-traffic snippets about red widgets and put them on the red widget page?

[tyrojds]

interesting information. a technical question about keywords on the homepage (or anywhere): if keywords or phrases are linked either to a commercial site, text link, or to a page w/in your own site, do search engines view/rate them differently or even ignore them, or treat them the same as any other?