Onpage SEO Tip
Just thought I’d share with you a little onpage SEO technique that has improved my rankings a little. Over recent months I’ve noticed a small bump in the SERPS when I implement this small change. It literally takes a minute to do and can be done on any number of your web pages and articles.
I’ll keep this short as it is REALLY simple, although effective. Although it is important to optimize your pages using your title tags, H1 tags and alt tags etc it can be really beneficial to place your main keyword / phrase at the VERY start of your body text. This is generally an article or the main content within your page. I have mainly tested this on index pages although it can be implemented on any page.
To show you an example I have included a screenshot below of one of the sites which I have imlemented this technique. I have circled the keywords, ‘Promotional pens’ which is that sites main keyword. You will notice that it is at the very beginning of my main content.
Obviously there is much more to ranking your pages such as backlinks, site structure, and LSI (I’ll go into that in another post) along with other factors but this little technique can give you a small but solid nudge up the rankings. Why not give it a try?!
Feel free to leave a comment 
Tags: keyword placement, onpage seo tip
April 23rd, 2010 at 11:01 am
Good idea, i need to try this one.
Thanks!
April 23rd, 2010 at 11:13 am
Yes I always try to get my keyphrase into the text as soon as I can without it effecting the sales copy. Underlined and bold is also a good idea.
April 23rd, 2010 at 11:25 am
Thanks for the tip-anything helps when you are starting out.
Jacalyn
April 23rd, 2010 at 11:43 am
interesting idea … i usually seek to have my targeted keywords in the first 25 words of my optimised pages … i guess this is a variation on the same idea
serge
April 23rd, 2010 at 12:06 pm
Andy,
Thanks for the tip. I’m working on fine tuning SEO on my sites, so I’ll check it out. Have a great weekend.
April 23rd, 2010 at 12:13 pm
A great tip Andy. Thank you for this. It is amazing how often simple little things like this can have an impact. Another thing I have seen being a factor is to have the keyword or phrase included in the last sentence of the main content on a page so maybe Google weights both the beginning and ending in tandem with the other important more regular elements you mention.
Thanks again
April 23rd, 2010 at 12:38 pm
Very interesting observation. I also make sure that my keyword or phrase is in the first paragraph. There is so much we can do or change our techniques to be more effective but takes time to test. It is when tips such as these are so helpful when someone takes the time to share.
Thanks again,
Con
April 23rd, 2010 at 12:46 pm
I have been doing that lately as well but also bolding the keyword. It does seem to give you a boost especially with low competition keywords
April 23rd, 2010 at 12:49 pm
Do you really think it matters whether it’s the first word or just in the first sentence? Have you tested this? Seen actual documented results based on these types of changes? Thanks!
April 23rd, 2010 at 1:27 pm
hi Andy
interesting and useful tip allways on the look out for small changes that can add up to a lot more visitors
thanks
peter mcgrath
April 23rd, 2010 at 1:30 pm
Great tips as always. This is very true, I just changed the title tags of my site and it got a bump in the SERPs.
April 23rd, 2010 at 1:35 pm
Great tip I have used a different type face for the first words of the paragraph in a slightly higher point to set off both visually and seo wise. It seems to work.
All the best
April 23rd, 2010 at 1:44 pm
Thanks for the tip…so much to learn about SEO and every tip helps.
April 23rd, 2010 at 1:57 pm
Thanks for the tip Andy. I am going to check all my blogs and pages immediately. Every little bit helps right?
April 23rd, 2010 at 2:27 pm
Hey Andy, great tip and contributions from the above commenters as well
I’ve always tried to include the main keyword in the beginning of our content as well as bolding and some underlining as suggested above.
Never specifically tested it to see if our rankings were effected much if we moved the keyword further away from the beginning of the first paragraph so I appreciate your insight.
Have you tested if also linking the keyword to the same page to further increase internal linking reference makes a difference? We’ve done it a few times and it seems to have helped with some sites however I would appreciate any insight from you or others here on their experiences.
As always, appreciate your stuff!
Mark
** Note from Andy **
Hi Mark, thanks for your comments. To answer your question, yes, I have found that just ‘including’ a link on the ranked page that uses the keyword phrase to link to another internal page does help increase rankings. I was going to write a blog post about this a few months ago and run a case study but I didn’t have the time back then. Basically, if you want your main index page to rank for ie - ‘promotional pens’, you would link to another page using an anchor like, ‘history of promotional pens’, and then write content on that other page relating to ‘the history of promotional pes’. You could then do the same for ‘Types of promotional pens’, ‘Brands of promotional pens’ etc. What this does is creates a strong theme on your site that tells Google, ‘Hey, this page is REALLY about promotional pens and it links to other content packed pages ‘related’ to promotional pens. It’s important to keep your link density to a certain level though so it doesn’t come across as spammy. Of course, you would also want to link ALL these other related pages BACK to your index page using the anchor ‘Promotional pens’.
Hope that all makes sense.
Andy
April 23rd, 2010 at 2:34 pm
I try to do that in all my sites and posts. As you stated there is more to ranking but this is a plus. I also enter the keyword one more time in the last paragraph too.
April 23rd, 2010 at 2:50 pm
HA! Andy likes playing “just the tip.”
I do appreciate the SERPS hint. I WILL be returning each time you have a new good one… unless you stop or I deem the utterly useless. Keep up the good work.
April 23rd, 2010 at 2:55 pm
I try to use keyword phrases in the first paragraph of content or the first fifty words.
April 23rd, 2010 at 3:20 pm
Andy,
That an interesting idea. I also have never tried the serp at the beginning. I will give it a whirl.
Thanks for the tip!
April 23rd, 2010 at 3:38 pm
Yes, I’ve been trying to stick to the “First 50 words” rule, but the beginning of the first paragraph is even better. Thanks for the tip.
April 23rd, 2010 at 4:42 pm
I usually put my keyword in the first sentenance of the article or post. But I will try this from now on. Thanks for the tip Andy.
April 23rd, 2010 at 5:34 pm
Hey Andy
Thanks for the great tip. I always wondered about putting keywords in the first sentence byt never knew if it would make a difference. I will try implementing this in all my sites. Thanks
Craig
April 23rd, 2010 at 7:08 pm
Ahh I think that might be an improvement on the “include it in your first 100 letters of your webpage rule)…..
Thanks for the tip
April 23rd, 2010 at 8:26 pm
Right! Website content, article, blog post, anything you are putting out there should have the keyword or keyword phrase listed in the first paragraph.
April 23rd, 2010 at 8:28 pm
Well, certainly worth trying although I’m getting somewhat weary of all the SEO tips that are sure to lift one’s Google rank. Mine just seems to droop consistently despite all the SEO “tricks” I dutifully apply
April 24th, 2010 at 12:57 am
Great tip, Andy. Thanks for the nudge.
MT
April 24th, 2010 at 10:25 pm
Thanks for the tip, every little bit definitely helps!
April 25th, 2010 at 3:06 am
thanks, Andy
for the great tips on SEO. I need to learn more about it, it seems like seo is part of a marketer’s life. if we need search engine luv we need to learn it and use it too.
April 25th, 2010 at 2:28 pm
I like this tip and will most definitely try it. It is a fact that page ranking variables and Google rules changes all the time. It follows therefore that anything that we can share to improve our website rankings, is surely most welcome.
April 26th, 2010 at 2:03 am
Hey Andy, thanks for the great tips and yes it does make sense. You have helped me to understand the internal linking structure and the importance of doing so. Thanks again and I really appreciate all you do!
April 27th, 2010 at 3:46 am
Thanks Andy - I enjoy reading your tips as they are clear and easy to implement. Keep them coming.
May 2nd, 2010 at 8:52 pm
An excellent tip. I am just getting started in SEO, and I am currently working on my second site that uses SEO for its traffic, and I really need to learn stuff like this.
May 15th, 2010 at 11:08 pm
Tanks Andy for good advice ! Always good hint here
Especially for beginners like me 
May 17th, 2010 at 2:29 pm
Hey Andy,
I just want to thank you for helping me sort out “MY” problems with your index-checker app. I was getting ‘false positives’ and couldn’t understand why. You’re prompt response to my email pointed out that I had overlooked a recent email you sent out with an upgrade to resolve the problem. So not only were you prompt in responding to me, but you had actually solved the problem and sent a solution before I even encountered it! Now THAT is killer customer service (especially when you consider it is for a $7 product!)
Keep up the great work Andy. All your subscribers appreciate it very much!
All the best,
Kendrick
*** Note from Andy - Thanks Kendrick, you’re more than welcome!
June 11th, 2010 at 4:37 pm
Hey Andy cool stuff i also do this on all my sites and do some lsi keywords aswell your software finds all the keywords that you need
cheers mate the software saves me hrs of time
thanks colin