Reader question: Is it really important for search engine visibility to have my own domain name? Also, would it be better for my site to have four pages (total) instead of three? I want to use the content on two pages for my home page. I heard that the home page should at least contain 400 words so that it is more attractive to the search engines.

Answer: With all of the search engine mythology available on the Web, it is no wonder people get confused about how to build search-friendly Web sites. To help build better sites, I will answer these questions one by one. Search engine optimization should go hand-in-hand with site usability.

Domain names and SEO

For this paragraph, forget about search engine optimization. Just think about your target audience. Every business should absolutely have its own domain name. If a business owner is not willing to spend the $30 per year (or so) on a unique domain name, it communicates “cheap” in a bad way.

By domain name, I mean having one like this: www.companyname.com. The domain name does not have to be a company name. It can be a keyword phrase commonly associated with the company name. Abbreviations? Well, abbreviations do not mean anything to site visitors who have never heard of your company before. Just make sure your domain name is easy to type and easy to remember. That is the best advice I can give any business owner about a domain name.

Okay, back to search engines. Some search engines do not give any weight to keywords in the domain names or file names. Some search engines give a little bit of weight to keywords in the domain name. If you really think everything through to a logical conclusion, if your site sells Honda auto parts, you might name a file honda-parts.html. Savvy webmasters will label subdirectories and files with names that make sense to their target audience. Programmers might tend to name files with nonsensical (to end users) numbers.

Do not obsess over this search engine marketing strategy. I would not change every single file name on a site just to put a keyword in it. I would not buy a domain name just because it has a keyword in it. Plenty of sites rank well over time without keyword-rich domains.

But from a pure business perspective? Buy your own domain name to communicate professionalism.

Word count and SEO

What is very difficult about search engine marketing is that facts are often combined with truth. And the truth is that a considerable number of pages with a word count between 400-800 words tend to rank. Does that mean that every single Web page should contain 400-800 words? No.

If a page can communicate a full thought or idea with less than 400 words, then I would not purposely try to add words just to hit a word count standard. Plenty of pages rank well that contain less than 400 words. In fact, many SEOs recommend that a page have at least 200 words. Where they came up with this number? I don’t know. I do know that a 200-word Web page usually contains enough content to communicate a full thought.

For example, let’s use a clothing ecommerce site’s product page. On a product page, end users want to see price, availability, sizes, material (what is the shirt made from – cotton, polyester, silk), colors, maybe even a few reviews. That is 100 words, easy. The site owner’s primary call to action is Add to Cart. So that call to action should be featured prominently on the page.

But what if site visitors are not ready to make a purchase? A smart webmaster will have related items available on the page. The related items are usually placed in the right column on a page, but I have seen them placed directly underneath the main product descriptions. These related items are also good for upselling in the event that a shopper does Add to Cart.

The related items are usually a combination of a thumbnail photo and a product name. That adds to the word count. Then add in the headings, breadcrumb links, text links at the bottom of the page, HTML title tags – and voila! A page that contains at least 200 words, is very focused (Add to Cart), and has a back-up plan if shoppers are not ready to take the main call to action.

On the flip side, if a site owner needs to communicate an idea in more than 800 words, I would not necessarily try to shorten the page’s content or split it up into multiple pages if the page is performing well. In terms of search engine optimization, a page that contains over 800 words might not be focused enough. A good SEO specialist can fix that by breaking up the text into more “scannable” units with keyword-rich headlines separating the units.

If you find that a 800+ word Web page is not performing well, even though it is fully optimized? Maybe it might be a good idea to divide the content into multiple pages. Remember, usability is very important. If you find that your target audience prefers the longer pages, then give it to them. If you find that your target audience prefers multiple, shorter pages, then give it to them. But do not obsess over word count. It’s a general guideline, not a Holy Grail of search engine optimization.

Web page layout and SEO

How a search engine marketer optimizes a page depends on the page type. For example, I would not optimize a category page the same way I would optimize a product page. I would not optimize a site map the same way I would optimize a home page. An FAQs (frequently asked questions) page is very different from a form page.

Using a textbook as an analogy, a home page should act as a site’s table of contents. It should point to the main sections of a site, the ones that are most important to you (the business owner) and the target audience. What are your best-selling products and services? Do you have a monthly or seasonal special? These features can be more prominent on the page through use of screen real estate (top of a page), use of color and emphasis (HTML/CSS-formatted text), and photos.

A site map is more like an index. Do not put links to every single page of a site in your site map unless you have a small site. With a larger site, site map links should point to the main category pages, with the main category pages pointing to the product pages. I tend to create site maps based on user behavior and site statistics analysis.

Search engine optimization is more than placing keywords on a site. A savvy search engine marketer knows how to work with a variety of Web page layouts.

Conclusion

To be perfectly honest with this reader, a four-page Web site is a brochure site. People do not visit sites to see how wonderful a brochure looks. They visit sites for information. In addition, it might be difficult for a four-page site to get quality link development.

Adding keyword-rich content is not as difficult as it may seem. All sites should have a home page, about us section, list of products/services, FAQs or help section, call-to-action forms (contact us, add to cart, etc.), and a site map. If a site owner wants to utilize search engine optimization as an online marketing strategy? A links/resources page can provide useful information as well as a tips/how-to section.

Buy your own domain name to communicate professionalism, and do not obsess over word count. 400-800 words is a good starting point, and I would even venture as low as 200 words. Think about what your target audience wants to know about your product and/or service. Always create content for your target audience, first and foremost.

Related links:

URL Structure and Search Engine Optimization

Keyword-rich URLs and Search Engine Visibility – Part 1

Keyword-rich URLs and Search Engine Visibility – Part 2

Shari Thurow is Marketing Director at Grantastic Designs, Inc., a full-service search engine marketing, web and graphic design firm. This article is excerpted from her book, Search Engine Visibility (http://www.searchenginesbook.com) published in January 2003 by New Riders Publishing Co. Shari can be reached at shari@grantasticdesigns.com.

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