Customer-centric keywording 'essential for SMEs'

23rd April 2008

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) should ensure their search engine optimisation (SEO) practices do not alienate their customers, one expert has said.

Addressing an audience at the Small Business Marketing Unleashed conference, Heather Lloyd-Martin, president and chief executive officer of SuccessWorks Search Marketing Solutions said that customer retention should drive every decision.

"Search engines don't pay your bills, but your prospects and customers do," she said, according to WebProNews.

Inserting two to three keyphrases per page in a subtle manner should ensure SEO is achieved and consumers are kept happy.

Site designers should consider how things work from a consumer perspective, couching key terms within how-to articles, information pages and newsletters, she said.

Homepages are reportedly a good destination for general keywords, while inner pages are ideal for more specific terms and phrases.

Meanwhile, a new Search Engine Watch post recommends that SEO is build into the architecture of a website from the early stages of its design.