The major search engines are currently looking at three key areas of your website for information to classify your site properly so it can be included in the results to search queries:
- Your website title
- Your description meta tag
- The first 250-300 words of text on your site.
Search engines may also look at your keyword meta tag, but this is less commonly used by search engines now compared to the past. You should place all of your keywords in the keyword meta tag, but do not expect them to help you obtain placement in most search engines.
Website Title
Your website title is what is displayed at the very top of your browser. Because the website title is used by the search engines to “file” your site in their index, it is the most important part of your site. A poorly chosen title will put you in an inappropriate search engine “file,” making it difficult for potential clients to find you. For the real estate industry, a good title will include your geographical location and your business specialty, i.e. Chicago Commercial Real Estate.
Description Meta Tag
Your description meta tag is a brief narrative description of the content of your website and your business. The description tag helps the search engine determine whether your site is relevant to a search query. Your website description should describe where you do business and what type of business you do. This tag is only read by the search engines, so it does not have to be in “perfect” English. Your site description should be no more than three sentences; generally, only the first 250 characters of this tag are read by the search engines.
The First 250-300 Words of Text on the Page
Search Engines rely heavily on the first several lines of html text it finds on a web page to classify that page. While text first and foremost should be written to effectively communicate with your website visitors, it can also be edited with the Search Engine in mind. Try to reflect your major Keywords in the first paragraph of text.