Expert: Look further than keywords to boost SEO

Search engine optimisation operations can be undermined by a site that offers a substandard user experience, according to one expert.

Osric Powell, head of business development at SLI Systems, wrote in a guest blog post for Econsultancy that hoarding SEO friendly terms into website content was not the way to improve performance, since the use of such concentrated keywords could potentially ‘confuse’ your site search solution. Moreover, this approach could attract the attention of search engines – and for the wrong reasons – if not executed with due diligence and thought.

”Instead, use strong descriptive language that is accurate and supports the merits of the product as well as buying it from you. Use clear and relevant titles for the product and above all keep the descriptions concise enough to get the main points across in a sentence or two”, said Mr Powell.

Businesses can adopt further, inexpensive steps to ensure better online performance. Using high quality images to boost the selling potential of products, thoroughly checking the data from site reports and checking, cleaning and maintaining data are all areas of online presence that can be strengthened with some work.

Regarding the regular maintenance of data, Mr Powell said: ”Done once and done properly a structured and well organised set of data will provide additional benefits beyond site search such as creating feeds for partner organisations and expanding the capability of your site.”