It’s important to note that these on-page elements actually play a very important role in creating a great user experience. This is not by coincidence: Google rewards sites that are able to convey their site’s content in a simple and concise manner.

Let’s take a closer look at the individual elements you can use for both SEO and user experience benefits.

Header tags (H1, H2, etc…)

Traditionally, header tags are used by copywriters to organize content within a page. These tags allow the author to break up content and make it more palatable for visitors’ scanning eyes. From an SEO perspective, header tags, often referred to as H1, H2, etc., further emphasize the topics conveyed in the META tags to the search engines. While still important, header tags used to be a bigger deal to search engines. These days, as reiterated recently by search reps at the recent SMX West conference, they are of relatively minor importance, though they still said it can make sense to use them as originally designed.

Header tags are represented in source code in the following format:

<h1>This is a header tag</h1>

They often appear in a slightly larger and boldfaced font than surrounding body text, acting as the “subtitle” of a given content area.

From an SEO standpoint, header tags rank in descending order of importance starting with the H1 tag as the most important, followed by the H2, H3 etc.

Boldfaced content

While less important than header tags, strategically bolding terms within your content can help emphasize the importance of terms to the search engines. Bolding content also assists in drawing attention to important terms and phrases while users scan your site’s pages, promoting a better user experience when used properly.

To bold terms on your page, enclose them with the tags:

<strong> This is important content that should be bolded!</strong>

Anchor text

Anchor text works in a slightly different manner than the elements previously discussed. While it is technically an “on-page” element, the SEO benefit is largely passed on to the page the anchor-text link points to (see Google Now Reporting Anchor Text Phrases for details of how Google uses this in its ranking algorithms).

For example, if I am selling “red widgets” on my generic widgets retail site, I may select and link an instance of the keyword phrase “red widgets” to my “/redwidgets.html” page. Let’s stop and think about the message we are conveying when doing this.

Essentially, we are telling the search engines or visitors that if they follow this link they can expect to find information on red widgets on the following page. Technically speaking, this text link is now considered a “vote” in the form of an internal link and should pass a portion of the parent page’s PageRank on to the receiving page.

Many site owners unknowingly forgo the potential benefit received from this simple technique by using more action-oriented text such as “click here” or “click me” to drive traffic to other pages within their site. While I applaud their effort for drawing attention to the link and insisting that the link is worth clicking on, “click here” does not describe the content on the linked-to page, thereby creating a less-than-perfect user experience.

The missed opportunity here is twofold: From the SEO perspective, keyword rich anchor text is not passed to the page that follows, and from a usability standpoint, “click here” is not conveying the topic on the linked-to page effectively.

Image alternative (alt) tags

The image alt-tag is yet another overlooked on-page SEO element that can assist in getting your site (or at least your images) properly indexed by Google. When appropriate, Google will use the alt-tag within its image search results if the search query matches your alt-tag.

An example of a well-executed and effective alt tag is as follows:

<img src="/images/EiffelTower.jpg" width="79" height="62" alt="The Eiffel Tower at night" /></a> </div>

Notice how the image filename “EiffelTower.jpg” and the text contained in the alt-tag “The Eiffel Tower at night” are contextually similar.

While no single on-page element will determine your success or failure in organic rankings, using these key variables in a search-friendly manner can help get you closer to your goal of ranking supremacy. It’s important to note that while the search marketer’s goal is to gain user traction via search engines and ultimately convert those visitors, you cannot ignore the role that usability plays. All of the on-page elements discussed above make it easier for not only the search engines, but for users to find and understand the meaning of your content and site’s pages. So remember, organizing and presenting content with your user in mind will actually also help you in search engine rankings in the end.

In the first part of the series I’ll take a look at important on-page HTML elements that can influence your SEO rankings.

Unloved, but very important META tags

The META tags are arguably among the most important on-page HTML elements when it comes to SEO. META tags consist of three tags that reside in the <head> of your HTML code and should be found at the very top of your page.

META title tag. Technically, the Title tag isn’t a meta tag. But it appears in the head area of your HTML code and so should be considered along with meta tags that reside there.

The title tag acts as, you guessed it—the title of the page in question. This tag helps the search spiders understand the theme of your page. For those that are unfamiliar with search spiders, spiders are essentially scripts of code that the search engines use to crawl and identify web pages that exist throughout the Internet. In the search engine results pages (SERPs), the title tag is the topmost hypertext link for each search result.

Notice how the spider was able to identify the presence of the keyword “macbook.” Having keywords present within your Title tag helps associate relevance between your page and the search query. Having strong keyword density in your Title tag will also boost your ability to rank for your targeted keywords. When writing your Title tags be sure to be concise and speak directly to the content contained within the page.

Keep your Title tag to around 65 characters. There’s no penalty if you go longer, so don’t worry! But Google will only show about the first 65 characters of your title. Anything beyond that typically won’t be visible to searchers. That also means to pay close attention to what is within those first 65 character.

The Title tag should be uniquely customized for every single page within your site.

Title tag code example:

<title>Apple - MacBook - The $999 notebook, completely redesigned.</title>

Be aware that in some cases, search engines might ignore your Title tag and create their own title for your pages, such as using how they are listed in the Yahoo Directory or the Open Directory. Our Meta Robots Tag 101: Blocking Spiders, Cached Pages & More explains more about how to prevent this.

META description tag. The Description tag also resides in the <head> tag of the HTML code. This tag surfaces in the results directly under the Title tag and offers you a space to elaborate on the page’s theme. Ideally, the Title and Description tags should follow each other thematically.

There is no official limit to how many the characters can be contained within the Description tag. However, Google will only display the first 150 to 155 character, so pay close attention to this portion of your description.

Using the meta Description tag does NOT guarantee that the search engines will use your description. To increase the odds, make sure the description includes key terms you hope the page will be found for. If your page ranks for a particular term — and that term is in the meta Description tag — that will improve the chances of the tag being used.

The Description tag should also be customized for every single page within your site. However, for larger sites you can opt to use a schema to strategically build out your Meta descriptions.

Description tag code example:

<meta name="Description" content="The MacBook laptop features an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, amazing NVIDIA graphics, a large hard drive, and support for up to 4GB of memory for $999.">

META keywords tag. The meta Keywords tag was a method back in the 1990s that allowed site owners a way to suggest to search engines the most important terms they hoped to be found for. Because of spamming issues — some people would stuff their meta keywords tags with hundreds of terms, sometimes not even related to their page content — the meta description tag lost support over the years. Google never supported it at all.

Should you bother with it. That’s up to you. Currently, none of the major search engines say they support it. Yahoo pulled back from the tag in 2009, as our Yahoo Search No Longer Uses Meta Keywords Tag covers. However, despite Yahoo’s official stance, it still seems to continue supporting it. Our Sorry, Yahoo, You DO Index The Meta Keywords Tag article has more on that.

Even more meta tags!

That covers some of the most important meta tags that play an important role in your site’s success with SEO. But that’s not all. There’s also the meta robots tag, which offers different “flavors” to control how your page appears — or is even blocked entirely — from the search engines. See our Meta Robots Tag 101: Blocking Spiders, Cached Pages & More article for an in-depth look at those.

Early days of mobile advertising

Before smart phones hit the market, mobile advertisers were confined to the small screens of traditional mobile units. Web access on those phones was painful and expensive”web pages” on those phones often consisted of nothing more than several hyperlinks. Needless to say, the technology never really took off. The iPhone changed all of that in late 2007, by offering a full touch screen HTML browser. Suddenly web-on-mobile devices started to make more sense for both phone users and advertisers.

AdWords and mobile

Soon after the iPhone launch, Google introduced a new feature in the AdWords “Settings” tab. This feature enabled online advertisers to syndicate AdWords ads to mobile phones. With the flip of a switch, online ads could be displayed on browser-based handsets around the world.

Sounds great, right? In theory yes, allowing online advertisers to syndicate pre-existing ads to users on a new type of device with little-to-no work sounds great. Except that these ads were originally designed for users accessing the web from a relatively fixed location on a screen ranging in size from 10 to 20+ inches.

Why does this matter? Users accessing the Internet via PC (laptop or desktop) are in a totally different mindset from their mobile counterparts. Generally, PC users will spend large chunks of time in a fixed location and may spend hours searching and researching.

The PC experience is much more tolerable, searching from the comforts of your home or office is much more enjoyable than trying to navigate a 2-4 inch touch screen while walking down a busy street or riding on a bus.

Additionally, PC users have more time on their hands—when you are on the go you probably have a task to accomplish and you are usually in transit. Mobile users “snack” on the internet in small browsing sessions, and generally access the web when they need a quick answer.

Now you can start to imagine why ads that you have strategically set up with PC users in mind may not be as effective in AdWords’ mobile version.

AdWords mobile optimization techniques

1. Turn off your mobile ad syndication if you haven’t done so already. You will turn it back on when you are ready.

2. Make a copy of your AdWords campaign and append the word “mobile” or another designation to differentiate the new mobile campaign from the standard campaign.

3. Adjust your bids to a lower value. At this point, few advertisers have enough data to clearly suggest how effective mobile ads are versus their traditional AdWords counterparts. Additionally, few advertisers are opted in to the AdWords mobile option. Why risk a higher CPC if you don’t have to?

4. Review your ads. You want to ensure that your ads are clear and to the point. Remember, most mobile users are accessing the web on 2-4 inch screens. The goals of these ads should be relatively similar to those of your traditional AdWords ads. However, there may also be additional opportunities for geo-modification due to enhanced targeting capabilities of mobile devices. Also, be sure to take advantage of Google’s new in-ad phone feature. This will allow users to call your business directly from the SERPs for the price of a standard click.

5. Review your landing pages and optimize them to be more mobile friendly:

• Remove non-essential images; these take up space.
• Be sure to include your phone number. Many smart phones have a tap-to-call technology built in that will allow your visitors to call your company directly with a simple touch of the screen.
• Use contrasting colors and simple fonts. A clean design is even more important on mobile devices.
• Organize your content in short lists, and bold important terms if possible.

6. Review your current keywords. Certain keywords may work better than others in the mobile space and testing will reveal their value.

7. Revisit your goals and manage your expectations. Mobile advertising is a great way to stay connected to your audience when they are away from their PC. Reduced expectations for your mobile campaigns should be set as users will be less likely to make a purchase on a mobile device. Lower CPCs should help offset the difference in conversions.

Calls to Action to consider monitoring:

• Direct calls to your business
• Clickthroughs to specific links
• Sharing features (email a friend, tweeting, SMS sharing)

8. Test and monitor your campaigns on an ongoing basis, just as you would with any AdWords campaign. As more consumers switch to smart phones and our lives become increasingly mobile, expect online advertising to follow suit.

With more people using advanced devices and with advancements in mobile technology, opportunities to market to mobile users will increase as well. I’m not suggesting that mobile advertising will become a staple in every advertiser’s marketing mix in 2010, but if you don’t test the new advertising opportunities your business might be missing out. Before launching your first AdWords mobile campaign adhere to the best practices listed above to minimize your risks and increase your ability to control your campaigns.

Generally, setting up an account with only phrase or exact matched keywords is a safer tactic than setting all keywords to broad match—broad match, as it implies, generally serves up far more keyword variations in an ad than the other two narrower types. However, we’ve found that a mix of keywords, leveraging multiple match types, coupled with strategic bids, can significantly enhance your account’s performance.

The problem with relying on a single match type is that no single match type offers a perfect solution and each presents its opportunities and risks. Let’s look at the pros and cons of each.

Broad match type

• Pros: Allows for the widest and most varied contextual reach
• Cons: Susceptible to over-exposed keywords, broad match “masks” CTR for terms that may have triggered an ad for a phrase or exact matched query.

Takeaways: By leveraging search query reports, broach match can be a great source for generating new keywords (as well as negative keywords)—but if not monitored closely can lead to excessive spending on irrelevant keywords and suggest misguided CTRs during analysis.

Phrase match type

• Pros: Offers additional control over when your ads are triggered (contextually speaking)
• Cons: Limits your ability to attract clickthrus on slight variations where search query order is not consistent with your phrase-matched term.

Takeaways: Offers more control over keywords and ads, opportunity to discover new keywords, however variations are restricted to the order of the keyword phrase in the AdWords account.

Exact match type

• Pros: Offers precise contextual control over when keywords and ads are shown
• Cons: Most limiting of all match-types, keywords will show only when query is searched on exactly as specified in your AdWords account.

Takeaway: Offers more control, though the possibility of generating clicks on varied search queries is almost entirely nullified, which limits contextual reach substantially.

Now that we understand the pros and cons of each match type, let’s look at a hypothetical example where using a single match type vs. multiple match types can have an effect on your account performance.

Let’s imagine we operate an online guitar store and (for simplicity’s sake) we are bidding on the keywords “acoustic guitar” and “acoustic guitars.”

According to Google’s keyword research tool, there were over 2.6 million searches for these two keywords in August.

Obviously there is no shortage in traffic, but it’s more important to understand what type of traffic you may be exposed to if you bid solely using broad match.

Under the broad match setting, all of the keywords listed above (plus many other variations including conceptually related terms like classical guitars and perhaps banjo) may trigger your ad. Some are potentially relevant and others are not. This introduces a significant account-management problem. No longer is our CTR based on the keywords “acoustic guitar” and “acoustic guitars,” but rather we are managing to an aggregate CTR for all variations triggered by these keywords.

By adding a phrase and/or exact matched version of “acoustic guitar” & “acoustic guitars,” you reduce your exposure substantially—only queries containing the words acoustic & guitar(s), in that order, will trigger your ad for these variations. In doing so, we were able to create a more efficient channel for tracking our keywords without compromising the broad-matched terms.

Won’t multiple match types for the same keyword cause confusion in AdWords auctions? No. According to Google’s help documentation:

“…the more restrictive match type will always trigger the ad, regardless of CPC bids. For instance, if the broad-matched keyword ‘apple’ and the exact-matched keyword ‘apple’ both existed in your account, the exact match would always trigger an ad.”

You may still consider bidding higher on phrase and exact matched keywords in order to rank more competitively. These keywords are naturally better targeted to your audience’s search query and may result in higher conversion rates.

In addition to adding phrase and/or exact matched versions of your keywords you should also constantly monitor your broad matched and phrase matched search query results and supplement your campaigns with appropriate negative keywords. This will help fine-tune your broad and phrase matched keywords and limit irrelevant spending.

By following these simple tactics, over time you will be able to rely to a lesser extent on broad matched terms, decrease overall costs and better target your campaigns via phrase and exact match keywords.

To learn more about negative keyword phrases and keyword research tools see my blog posts on negative keywords and keyword research tools.

Based on Matt’s description of the algorithm changes, we shouldn’t expect to see vastly different search results in the short run. However, it sounds like Google is putting infrastructure in place to index web pages more quickly, be more effective in ranking real-time updates (from blogs and social media) and to provide more accurate local search results. These changes will remedy some of Google’s current shortcomings and put them in a unique position that over the long term could change the user experience significantly.

We all know that Google’s organic and paid search listings are two completely separate entities and your performance or lack thereof in one does not impact your standing in the other. While the upcoming update will directly impact organic search results, paid search managers should not completely write-off the update as insignificant to the PPC world.

Any change to Google’s algorithms, whether on the organic engine or in the AdWords platform, in one way or another will effect the user experience over time. In this case, as with previous algorithm updates, Google is pushing forth changes that may alter the mix of organic results.

Many have speculated that the Caffeine update is geared directly towards competing with recent moves made by Facebook (acquiring FriendFeed) and the rising popularity of Twitter’s real time search capabilities.

As a PPC manager, what should I do?

In almost all situations, any change brings some level of uncertainty and the Caffeine update is no exception. Thankfully for PPC managers the upcoming update should only affect the organic listings and will not directly alter cost-per-clicks in anyway. This however does not mean that PPC managers should ignore the “Caffeine Update”.

Most SEM managers have multiple responsibilities, including maintaining the SEO and PPC programs (not to mention affiliate and email marketing duties, etc..). A well-balanced SEM campaign often includes a strategic mix of SEO visibility complemented by PPC listings and vice versa. In some cases, SEM managers don’t feel the need to bid on certain terms due to outstanding organic visibility. Over the next few weeks, do yourself a favor and

Monitor your SERP positions closely

No one is 100% sure how the latest update will shakeout, so your best bet is to run a position report on key terms and watch for any fluctuations – not to mention the fact that it is a generally smart idea to track your SEO positions from time to time. If you are one of those mangers that have shied away from bidding on keywords (because you’ve felt that your SEO visibility is sufficient) you may want to start supplementing your organic efforts with PPC listings.

Google is responsible for the Lion’s share of traffic for many online businesses. While it’s great to have a reliable traffic source, it’s also extremely risky to rely so heavily on one source. To mitigate this dependency and in the spirit of reducing risk, diversify your SEM campaign (create campaigns on Yahoo, Microsoft adCenter as well as other niche vertical search engines like Business.com).

The next tip should go without saying, but paying attention to your competitors is also very important. I’m not suggesting that you increase bids simply because your competitor has (you should base bid-management decisions on CPA and ROI metrics). However, it is always useful to know how your competitors are reacting to changes in the market.

To summarize, with every change to the Google algorithm comes a level of uncertainty, and by taking proactive steps to monitor and minimize your risks, you will be in a better position to make smart decisions for your PPC accounts.

Basic keyword research

Keyword research generally begins with one of the popular keyword-research tools. These include-but are not limited to-Google’s keyword tool, Wordtracker and Keyworddiscovery. These tools allow marketers to research topics, identify search-volume data, and find additional permutations of their “seed keyword.” To illustrate my point, a search in the free version of Wordtracker for “dog training” produces the following:

This list is a great starting point for anyone promoting a dog training service. It includes several highly searched keywords relating to “dog training” as well as a vast number of less searched terms as you move down the “tail.”

While basic keyword tools help marketers generate keyword ideas for their pay-per-click campaigns, they also create a huge problem. As most keyword tools are readily available to the public, there is nothing prohibiting your competitors from including the same highly trafficked keywords in their campaigns. Naturally, as more and more competitors enter your niche, the costs-per-click begin to rise. Following this keyword research methodology will undoubtedly leave you with a long-but thin-list of keywords, not to mention that you will be paying too much for “overbought” keywords.

So what is a PPC marketer to do?

As competition increases, intelligent PPC marketers realize that it is imperative to not only build out long keyword lists, but to also “widen” those same keyword lists. What do I mean by “widen?” Let’s revisit the dog training example from above:

Traditional keyword tools suggest that you include terms like:

• dog training
• dog training tips
• dog obedience training

In general, these potentially useful keywords speak directly to your target audience’s needs. But these are also keywords that are most likely to be bid on by your competitors.

What if we dissected this keyword list and expanded on the term “dog?” Think about how many breeds of dog exist: Golden Retrievers, German Shepherds, Beagles etc. Now, lets replace the word “dog” with specific breeds:

“dog training” and “training a dog” become “Golden Retriever training” or “training a Golden Retriever.”

By incorporating breeds and replacing the term “dog,” we were able to exponentially increase the size of our keyword list.

Some simple math to consider

If you choose to focus on 10 dog breeds and combine those with 50 seed dog-training keywords, the result would be 550 unique keywords! 10 unique dog breeds * 50 seed keywords = 500 + 50 original seed keywords, for a total of 550 keywords. Additionally, the new breed keywords probably have less competition and are much more likely to convert with a targeted landing page (a topic for another time).

New tools from Google can help

Google Sets and Google Squared are amazing free tools that will allow you to quickly identify elements of a set.

Here are examples of both in action:

To summarize, basic keyword tools are excellent for exploring generic topics and developing a set of keyword permutations. However, in order to differentiate your keyword list, and to avoid complete reliance on highly competitive keywords, I encourage all PPC marketers take steps to widen their keyword lists by utilizing Google Sets and Google Squared. This approach will increase the likelihood that you will find less competitive, and more targeted keywords that ultimately produce conversions at more cost-effective rates.