Where can I find this code and..

zoomer

can I edit it?
I finally figured out why my site is not showing up in searches but I need to edit this code to fix it.

<title>Advanced Site-wide Customization</title>
****** http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
****** name="description" content="The ultimate in photo & video sharing. Easily create online photo albums. Share, store, organize and print.">
****** name="keywords" content="online photo albums, photo sharing, photo hosting, photo storage, video, videos, online video, video sharing, albums, photo albums, photo, sharing, picture sharing, share photos, photo galleries, photo gallery, photos, photographs, online gallery, picture gallery, picture galleries, online galleries, smugmug gallery, smugmug, smug mug, smugmug photos, images, image galleries, image gallery, gallery hosting, galleries hosting, hosting">

jfriend

In your control panel, go to the Settings tab and find the SEO option near the bottom.

Andy

And more, here: http://www.smugmug.com/help/search-engines

zoomer

Sorry none of that helped.
I read through the code on the CSS page in advanced customization but cannot find anywhere that it says Keyword Content, that is the section I need to add to.


I know it is there somewhere because I copied this code from the View Source code for my site.

jfriend

zoomer wrote:

Sorry none of that helped.
I read through the code on the CSS page in advanced customization but cannot find anywhere that it says Keyword Content, that is the section I need to add to.


I know it is there somewhere because I copied this code from the View Source code for my site.

The option I pointed you to lets you set exactly what meta "description" will be present for your homepage. The description is what Google displays in the search results page. I am not aware of any way to control the meta "keywords". Google says that meta keywords are not used for much - they'd much rather go by what's in the actual page.

zoomer

All I know is that when I looked at the source code for all the first page top sites for my search term keywords, that search term was present in each of their keywords content sections and that was the only place I saw them.
I am pretty sure once I add it to mine I will right there on the first page with them.
Just need to figure out how to do it.

I already changed the SEO meta description a few weeks ago...it had no effect.
Thanks

Andy

We link this on our search engines help page:
http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2009/09/google-does-not-use-keywords-meta-tag.html

Google doesn't care about those meta words, they're in the source of your homepage because they're used by some directory services. They aren't hurting or helping your SEO.

zoomer

See this line of code:
****** name="keywords" content=" Boise wedding photographer,Boise wedding photography, boise photographer, Idaho, Idaho photography, wedding photography, wedding, weddings, Ada county, wedding photography, portrait photography">

I copied this from the number 1 listing which comes up from the search term Boise Wedding Photographer.

All of searches on the first page have this in their Keywords Content section, and listed nowhere else in their code that I could see.

My site does not have this as you can see from the code I copied in my OP.
I would like to add this information to the code on my site,
I am trying to find out how to do this.

Sound like you folks are saying it will not help me to do this.
I would like to try it anyway and find out for sure....if it does not help then I have lost nothing.

At present my site does not show up at all when I search Boise Wedding Photographer and it should.

zoomer

Can I copy and paste it into the CSS code on the advanced customization page without blowing anything up???

Andy

zoomer wrote:

Can I copy and paste it into the CSS code on the advanced customization page without blowing anything up???

Do not do this. Please read the google blog I linked just above.

You should add captions to these images, too. Also, why force thumbnails style, just curious?

http://alloutdoor.smugmug.com/Wedding-galleries/Boise-wedding-photographer/2492581_sUk9W#607035673_wjAHt

Andy

Hi Zoomer - got your PM, on Dgrin we do it all publicly - if you want to converse in private - you're welcome to write ATTN: Andy at our help desk - http://smugmug.com/help/emailreal

But to quickly answer your question - Google itself says they don't use those meta keywords. Do all the things that we suggest on our Search Engines help page, and we're sure your findability will improve. It does take time, and some effort -but it does work

jfriend

Andy wrote:

Hi Zoomer - got your PM, on Dgrin we do it all publicly - if you want to converse in private - you're welcome to write ATTN: Andy at our help desk - http://smugmug.com/help/emailreal

But to quickly answer your question - Google itself says they don't use those meta keywords. Do all the things that we suggest on our Search Engines help page, and we're sure your findability will improve. It does take time, and some effort -but it does work

Similar topic in previous thread here: http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=164263.

jfriend

If you aren't already, I'd suggest setting your site up with Google Webmaster Tools and see what this page looks like for your site. I'm not claiming my site is good for SEO, just showing you the kind of info it will show you.

zoomer

Thanks Jfriend,
I actually signed up for google analytics just a few days ago. Lots of good info.

Here is my dashboard page.
https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/?reset=1&id=24205994&pdr=20100313-20100412

jfriend

zoomer wrote:

Thanks Jfriend,
I actually signed up for google analytics just a few days ago. Lots of good info.

Here is my dashboard page.
https://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/?reset=1&id=24205994&pdr=20100313-20100412

We can't see your Google page because we'd have to be logged in as you to see it. If you want to share it with us, you'll have to post a screen shot like I did.

zoomer

Sorry didn't know that.
Well anyway I am getting some good info from it.

richpepp

zoomer wrote:

Sorry didn't know that.
Well anyway I am getting some good info from it.

Hi Zoomer.

Just in case you didn't spot it John was referring to webmaster tools rather that analytics (which is also has great information). You can get to the webmaster tools stuff here: https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/home?hl=en

Apologies if you had already spotted that

Rich

zoomer

I have tried to sign up for that before and just tried again.
Just can't quite figure out how to do it.

Will it give me something google analytics doesn't.

richpepp

zoomer wrote:

I have tried to sign up for that before and just tried again.
Just can't quite figure out how to do it.

I can't quite remember how I initially signed up as it was some time ago but I think that all you do is go to www.google.com/webmasters/tools/ and log in with a gmail address (the same one that you use for analytics I guess). Once you are there you will need to add your site but there is a button there to do it. You will get a bit of code that you have to paste into the header (I think) for your site and thats it - your site will be verified and off you go.

Will it give me something google analytics doesn't.

A lot of the information isn't so useful as it is out of your control and in smugmug's control. However useful stuff is what keywords it finds on your site and which searches your site has appeared in but people haven't necessarily clicked through on. Another good piece of info. is the number of external links to your site although you can of course get this straight from google anyway.

It's not strictly necessary to sign up so don't go mad trying to do it but it is another source of useful information.

Rich

zoomer

Thanks Rich,
This whole SEO thing is driving me nuts.
All the stuff you mentioned I think I am already getting with google analytics.

When I look at the keywords people are using that they are finding me with from the search engines it is none of the words I am pushing on my site.
The worst is that several of the people showing up on the first two pages of the boise wedding photographer search are really just beginners.

If my website showed up anywhere on the search at all I could live with it...but for my site to show up nowhere on the search when I have boise wedding photographer pasted EveryWhere on my site is making me crazy!

If I punch in senior pictures boise or engagement photos boise I pop up first on the search....crazy stuff...or if I punch in boise wedding photographer outdoor I am right there at the top again.

jfriend

zoomer wrote:

Thanks Rich,
This whole SEO thing is driving me nuts.
All the stuff you mentioned I think I am already getting with google analytics.

When I look at the keywords people are using that they are finding me with from the search engines it is none of the words I am pushing on my site.
The worst is that several of the people showing up on the first two pages of the boise wedding photographer search are really just beginners.

If my website showed up anywhere on the search at all I could live with it...but for my site to show up nowhere on the search when I have boise wedding photographer pasted EveryWhere on my site is making me crazy!

If I punch in senior pictures boise or engagement photos boise I pop up first on the search....crazy stuff...or if I punch in boise wedding photographer outdoor I am right there at the top again.

I wonder how much it matters that you don't have a custom domain and you're using http://alloutdoor.smugmug.com? When I search for "Boise Wedding Photogher", every result I see is a custom domain.

You need to also remember that a HUGE key for Google ranking is how many relevant sites link to you. That is at least as important for how you rank and what words you rank for. I would suggest that you figure out how to get your site listed on other relevant Boise sites (chamber of commerce, directory listings, photo clubs, local bulletin boards, wedding discussions/boards, etc...).

zoomer

jfriend wrote:

I wonder how much it matters that you don't have a custom domain and you're using http://alloutdoor.smugmug.com? When I search for "Boise Wedding Photogher", every result I see is a custom domain.

You need to also remember that a HUGE key for Google ranking is how many relevant sites link to you. That is at least as important for how you rank and what words you rank for. I would suggest that you figure out how to get your site listed on other relevant Boise sites (chamber of commerce, directory listings, photo clubs, local bulletin boards, wedding discussions/boards, etc...).

Google says I have over 900 links to my site.
I am signed up in all the wedding photographer directory websites I could find that were free ,I will look into the ones you mentioned as well.
I am a member of several large internet forums and linked back to my smugmug site. I just started a blog a few days ago but have not linked it to my smugmug site as I don't like the look of it yet.

I will look into changing the domain name.
I have been using the smugmug name for years do you think changing it to a new domain name will negatively impact my other searches where I am showing up on top?

richpepp

Hi Zoomer

With the usual disclaimer that I don't really understand this stuff, here is what I can see:

zoomer wrote:

Google says I have over 900 links to my site. I am signed up in all the wedding photographer directory websites I could find that were free

That is possibly one of the problems. As John said, search engines really care about quality and relevancy of links, not just number. If the directory website is starting to look like it is just being used to create links rather than quality links then maybe you are being penalised for trying to hard . Take a look at the pagerank of the sites that are linking to you. If it is very low or not ranked then maybe the links aren't worth it.

I am a member of several large internet forums and linked back to my smugmug site. I just started a blog a few days ago but have not linked it to my smugmug site as I don't like the look of it yet.

My guess is that that is one of the areas that you need to work at. If I look at the top 5 sites that come back in a boise wedding photography search, 4 of the 5 are running blogs! Blogs are often mentioned by Google in their SEO vids.

I will look into changing the domain name.
I have been using the smugmug name for years do you think changing it to a new domain name will negatively impact my other searches where I am showing up on top?

I confess that I would be a little scared too but if you aren't getting a huge amount of traffic from searches at the moment then now would be the time to do it.

You might want to work on your home page as it doesn't saying wedding anywhere on it. As I understand it search engines want you to click through to what you searched for. If they click through to your home page then it doesn't say weddings anywhere on the page. The photos are wedding photos but google can't see that. Even if the next click doesn't get to anything that is wedding specific. Most of the other sites I looked at said wedding on the first page (remember that I probably won't see the same search results as you). Take a look at the people who are top of the search and how their site looks to visitors who want to find out about wedding photography. How much clicking around do they need to do to get to where they want to go to.

Not all of your wedding gallery descriptions mention wedding. You sometimes have stuff like 'xxxx bridal shoot' or a description of the day but it doesn't mention wedding. I would be tempted to put it into the sentence rather than simply adding 'Boise wedding photographer, photography' at the end.

Who knows .

Are you signed up for AdWords? It won't make any difference to your regular search results of course but it is a great way of getting up at the top of the page

Good luck

Rich

richpepp

Oops. Not trying to bump this but just spotted something else.

You have both 'Boise Wedding Photographer' and 'www.alloutdoor.smugmug.com' in your sig but they aren't really linked (my guess is that you have done similar elsewhere). You should really have 'Boise Wedding Photographer' as a clickable link instead - Google say they like that.

And while you are at it drop the 'www' from the link as you don't really need it. You gallery links don't have it so it makes everything a little more consistent (again a recommendation from Google)

denisegoldberg

zoomer wrote:

When I look at the keywords people are using that they are finding me with from the search engines it is none of the words I am pushing on my site.

Something just jumped out of your page at me. I wonder if your use of Boise Wedding Photographer in gallery titles and gallery descriptions is triggering some kind of overuse algorithm. It looks like you have tacked that on to most of your gallery titles and gallery descriptions in four categories. It looks like many photos bear several variations of the same as keywords.

This could be a false memory, but if I remember correctly I have read that you shouldn't repeat keyword phrases over and over again.

--- Denise

richpepp

denisegoldberg wrote:

This could be a false memory, but if I remember correctly I have read that you shouldn't repeat keyword phrases over and over again.

Yep, as far as I know you are correct. There was info. in one of their videos recently where they said not to just stuff keywords onto the bottom of a page but rather to work them naturally into the page in a way that would be appropriate for people who were looking at the page. You might be right in that they may just bin keywords that look as if they are just tacked on as keywords rather than as text that is an integral part of a document

zoomer

It just gets better...so it isn't what you do it's how you do it, is what I am hearing.

I do get a ton of traffic at my site already and a lot of them do come from google, and other keyword searches.

Maybe I should just forget about Boise Wedding Photographer....it just drives me nuts that I have to pay for an add to put me at the top of a page for a search that I should already be on the first page for.

I will incorporate some of the suggestions you folks have given.
I think it looks dorky having all those keywords in the descriptions anyway.

I had not noticed that it didn't say weddings anywhere on my title page..will check it out.

By the way almost everywhere I have looked to research this it says the keyword phrases I wanted found by the search engines should be in my Keywords Content section of my site code, which was my original request but was told I could not do and that it would not help.

Thanks to all!!

richpepp

zoomer wrote:

I think it looks dorky having all those keywords in the descriptions anyway.

The way it is currently done perhaps but you might be able to put them in in other ways

I had not noticed that it didn't say weddings anywhere on my title page..will check it out.

It is often there in the page title, just not in the gallery description which is partly what search engines will use to identify the photo along with other stuff on your page.

If you're getting lots of traffic already then I'm very jealous

If you're interested then Google have just done a change to webmaster tools to improve the information you see about which searches your site appeared on, where on the page they appeared and how many people actually clicked through (which is all that you will see with analytics). It's very interesting to see that sorts of things that people actually search for.

Good luck and I love your pictures

Rich

zoomer

denisegoldberg wrote:

Something just jumped out of your page at me. I wonder if your use of Boise Wedding Photographer in gallery titles and gallery descriptions is triggering some kind of overuse algorithm. It looks like you have tacked that on to most of your gallery titles and gallery descriptions in four categories. It looks like many photos bear several variations of the same as keywords.

This could be a false memory, but if I remember correctly I have read that you shouldn't repeat keyword phrases over and over again.

--- Denise

Well that could explain why I am invisible to that search...definitely something weird going on????

FrankC

zoomer wrote:

By the way almost everywhere I have looked to research this it says the keyword phrases I wanted found by the search engines should be in my Keywords Content section of my site code, which was my original request but was told I could not do and that it would not help.

Thanks to all!!

Straight from the source :

http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2009/09/google-does-not-use-keywords-meta-tag.html

zoomer

Thanks Frankc,
I have read that a couple times but my eyes tell me different when I look at the sites listed on page 1 and 2 of google has the keyword phrase right there in the meta keywords...

I have made the suggested changes to my site regarding keywords and title page wedding addition. We will see.......

On a slightly different note:
In doing my keywords search it tells me that the word Bull is listed on my site like 100 times. As far as I can see the word Bull is nowhere on my site.
Can anyone see where that is and steer me towards how to remove it.
Thanks