In the first three parts of this series, I've shown why I want a
theme-based site and how I've prepared (and you can, too!) to
make one. I chose a theme and found lots of related keywords. I
have ideas for content and found merchants that I want to
represent as an affiliate, whose products fit with my content.
Now, I'm ready to build my site. It's going to be pretty easy
since I have my content and merchants organized by keyword. And
I'm keeping these two thing in mind: 1) I want each page to be
focused on only one keyword. Remember, I'm doing this to please
the search engines, but it also keeps things clear for my
visitors. 2) From experience and research, I know it's best to
keep things clean and simple. I want a straight forward site
that's easy to navigate and with minimal distractions.
I'm going to start with my homepage, which should only tell my
visitors what my site is about and how it will benefit THEM.
Links to my merchants should NOT appear on the homepage - too
soon. My homepage should link to 5-10 "keyword focused" content
pages. These pages should offer valuable content and links to my
best merchants for my most profitable keywords. Each of these
pages can then link to 2-10 other pages. Every page should have
a link back to the homepage, but not necessarily to every other
page on the site. I need to think about where I want my visitors
to go and what I want them to do, which is click through to my
merchants, of course!
Ready for construction. Each page will have 1) a TITLE tag, 2) a
META keyword tag, 3) a META description tag, 4) header
tags(headlines), 5) and the body copy.
My TITLE appears as the link in search engine listings, so it
needs to be honest and attractive. I'm going to use the specific
keyword for each page in it's title, as well as a general
keyword and perhaps synonyms if possible. For my Italian cooking
site, for the keyword "lowfat Italian cooking", the page title
could be "Lowfat Italian Cooking- Healthful Italian Traditional
Cooking, Naturally Lowfat".
My META KEYWORD tag is going to start with my keyword for that
page, in this example "lowfat Italian cooking". I'll also add a
general keyword or two, like "cooking" and "lowfat". And perhaps
a synonym like "healthful". I don't want to dilute the META tag
with too many words.
The META DESCRIPTION tag will be the rest of what the search
engines will diplay along with my title. This will also be
honest and attractive. I'll state the benefit my page offers,
using the specific keyword once or even twice, if possible, and
also general keywords and synonyms.
The headlines are more important than my regular body copy, both
for the engines and my visitors. And some engines don't use the
META description tag to form the second part of their listings.
Instead they will usually use my H1 tag (first headline), and
the first words in the body copy after that. So, I'll be sure
that my headline contains my specific keyword for that page at
least once. What I can do here is take my META description tag
and chop it into two pieces... part for the headline and part
for the opening paragraph of my body copy.
Next, of course, comes my valuable, OVER-delivering,
"keyword-focused" body copy. I provide great content that meets
the needs of my visitors who have searched for this page's
specific keyword. I also work keywords into the copy to please
the engines. And I seamlessly work in my recommendations,
complete with in-text links to my merchants.
Repeating this process for each page, I build a great site,
filled with valuable content to please my visitors and deliver
them to my merchants in a ready-to-buy frame of mind. Each page
is focused on a specific keyword which is closely related to my
overall theme, creating a site that the search engines will
love. And that will bring me lots of targeted traffic. Well,
just as soon as I submit to the engines. I'll cover this, and
other ways to promote my site in the 5th and final part of "A
Theme-Based Website".
About the author:
Julie Georg is a consultant to individuals and small businesses
interested in establishing a web presence. She offers assistance
at.. mailto:yourhelpline@mail.com Step-by-step directions for
building a theme-based site can be found in the excellent, free
Affiliate Masters course. Blank email
mailto:tamsassist3@sitesell.net
