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What I'm saying is once I've stuffed my page, title tag, alt tags etc with 'fuzzy blue widgets' surely there is no need to do the same to another page to catch the 'blue widgets' searches is there?
(I'm pretty new to all this and still a little confused about keywords, as you can probably tell! :) )
Wait and see what your server log files tell you about search terms people use to find you. You should get some ideas for more pages based on those.
Good luck ;).
For Google, it's not only what's on the page, but the relationship with other sites on the web - for links, keywords in link text and Page Rank. Then also, it's the relationship of the site's pages to each other, both in the internal file naming, internal link text and relationship between the links and relevancy of pages linked to.
If you do those with Google in mind, and then optimize the individual pages - at least a few of them - with Inktomi in mind, you can do well with more than just Google.
Things change, and there are no absolutes that stay exactly the same, but here's a little post I did specifically for MSN/Inktomi with regard to on-page optimization. Keyword densities vary, and so do opinions and other factors, but right around 5-10% is fine, a bit higher for Ink:
[webmasterworld.com...]
You don't have to actually "stuff" anything. Moderation is always the best, safest route. And yes, when you've optimized for a 3-word phrase you can rank for two word phrases. It depends on whether they're used in exact phrases in the title, page text and other elements. Use keywords and phrase so they seem natural and not stilted, which excessive repetition tends to do. Read the text out loud. If it sounds like too much, cut back a bit.
It's hard when you start because you have to think over every detail, but once you get used to it, it kind of flows naturally and actually becomes a lot of fun.
Re looking in my logs for search phrases people have found me with - is the idea to (a) build more pages based on those phrases (or very close variations of those phrases) or (b) should I leave them alone as they are obviously working for me already, and instead concentrate on optimizing other pages for totally different phrases?
Re looking in my logs for search phrases people have found me with - is the idea to (a) build more pages based on those phrases (or very close variations of those phrases) or (b) should I leave them alone as they are obviously working for me already, and instead concentrate on optimizing other pages for totally different phrases?
The idea is your "a" above.
If you're focusing on "fuzzy blue widgets" and optimizing for that, yet you find a fair percentage of your referrals are from people searching for "blue widget repair", then you can use that to your benefit. Do a page about blue widget repair and you're providing answers to more of your visitors, as well as potentially bringing in new visitors since you now have more content optimized for that theme.
If you are getting people to your site, who searched for "blue widget repairs", then yes you should build content for them.
This is just good customer service.
But, the fact that people are arriving at a certain page, for a certain term, means that you rank well on that term. So all that may be needed is minor tweaking of the page (jump from no 3 to no 1).
The majority of your work should involve optimising for other phrases that you dont do as well in.
IMHO, anyway! :)
JOAT