Google's Own SEO Expert Matt Cutts Interviewed by USA Today

The interview was done in person at Google, by Jefferson Graham, a well known USA Today tech-writer.

Here are the 6 most-important LEGAL web-site optimization tips that Jefferson Graham pulled out of Matt Cutts:

(1) Include the most popular phrases that people would probably type-in to the Google search bar somewhere on your page. Yes, people often forget this. Sad, but true.

Matt tells of attending a user conference recently where a web-site owner asked "How can I get people who search for 'San Diego chiropractor' to find my site?" And, incredibly, when Matt asked him if he had that phrase on his front page, he said that he didn't.

Oooooooooh-boy. Well so we want to "spotlight the most probable search terms on our page" he says. Include them in the page in headlines, top paragraphs, etc. Make the page "about" exactly that phrase.

(2) Be sure to mention the main things people will search for to find you in your TITLE page header tag. "Think about what people are going to want to type to find your site," said Cutts.

I.E. If your customers are most often looking for a San Diego Chiropractor, be sure that you start your title tag with exactly that phrase. This is the title that people will see when and if your page is listed in the search result page after they search:

<title> San Diego Chiropractor </title>

You can do some research on related phrases to find out what is the most popular search term using online SEO tools (click to see my category called "SEO Tools"). Another good way to find out what others think is to ask your customers. "What would you type into Google to find people like me, or businesses like mine?" You may be surprised to hear what real people tell you. Don't suggest anything to them. Just ask the question this way... "If you didn't already know about me, exactly what would you type into Google to find a business like mine?" Then shut up. Listen. Write down exactly what they say.

Writing vs. Saying

A better way would be to have them write it down. So, hand your customer a pen and paper, then ask them the question. That way they may surprise you with different spellings and word choices. People often say one thing, but type another. You want to know what they would type, not say aloud. These will suggest new ways to subdivide your page.

Now back to Matt's suggestions:

(3) Be sure you write a short but accurate DESCRIPTION tag in your page header that also includes the most likely search term that people might use to find use. For the example above, start with the same keyword phrase. Then make the phrase work in a short sentence that uses a couple of other related possible phrases. You can get those other related phrases from the customer list you developed above, or from using online SEO Tools (see my pages on those linked above).

An example DESCRIPTION TAG in your home page header might look like this:

<meta name="description" content="San Diego Chiropractor specializing in nutritional counseling, pain management and sports injuries."/>

You should limit your character count to be below 160, since that is all that Google or most other search engines will display. Smaller descriptions tend to make the main or first few words more important, which may help move you up in the search result listings for that phrase.

The Google Search Results Display

This is the way your listing will show up on the Google search result pages, after someone does a search for something like "San Diego chiropractor":

San Diego Chiropractor
San Diego Chiropractor specializing in nutritional counseling, pain management and sports injuries.
www.yourdomain.com/ - 46k - Cached - Similar Pages

The last line is in green, not italicized.

So, what about the "keywords" tag?

Don't worry that MUCH about the keywords tag," says Matt. "But there are a lot of other tags that you can use..." he adds, but he only mentions the description tag.

Pretty important point. What other tags? Well, fix the description and you've done most of the work, after you've established a great title tag that was based on the #1 most likely to be typed search term.

Notice that he doesn't say NOT to use the keyword tag. So,I'd say use it -- but don't spend "much time" on it. Add a few keyword phrases that come up 2nd, 3rd or 4th on the list you developed, then stop. Do NOT use this to add irrelevant terms, and do NOT add too many of the terms that you think might be a tiny bit useful.

If you over-do this list, Google may actually subtract importance to your main keywords. But that idea is for another SEO article. I think that Matt is hinting here... he's saying not to spend much time on it, meaning that it should not bee too long, and should not delve down too deeply into the less important keywords on our page. Shorter is better. Keep it simple.

(4) Get other sites to link back to you. You probably think that this is the hardest thing to do, right?

Not according to Matt Cutts! He points out one easy, simple way to get backlinks that help you promote your main "San Diego chiropractor" site -- start a blog and post often.

Where to start a FREE blog

He suggests starting a free blog at a free blogging site like Blogger.com (which is owned by Google, interestingly). Of course there are many other similar free blogging sites, like Wordpress.com or LiveJournal.com.

The Most Popular Free Blog Sites:
(1) http://www.blogger.com/
(2) http://www.wordpress.com
(3) http://www.livejournal.com/

These sites give you a real working blog that you can post to quickly and often. Matt suggests building good content on these sites that is UNIQUE and fun to read that relates to the subject of your main site and link back to that site. He points out that you should write new articles on this free blog often, so that others will come and you'll build a community. Then as both sites grow in popularity, the importance of your primary site will grow.

(5) Register for free tools. Matt says there are 2 main tools every webmaster needs: A sitemap and Google's analytics tools. You can get them both free. These tools help Google find your content faster.

Getting a Google Sitemap

Cutts points out that whereas it may take several months for Google to discover and crawl your pages without a Google sitemap, it can happen in only a few days if you merely produce a properly formatted sitemap of all your pages. That way they know which page to look for and where it is located on your site. You can produce a free, correctly formatted sitemap file here:

http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/

Registering with Google Webmaster Tools

You will submit your sitemap file to Google by using their free Google Webmaster Tools, which you can find here:

http://www.google.com/webmasters/

On that page are links to their FAQs pages, the Tools login where you can register for their tools, and links to submit your new contents to Google.

Once you register as a webmaster, you will submit your new sitemap and begin to monitor how Google crawls your pages, which terms people use to find your site, and so on.

(6) Don't overdo it adds Matt. Cutts warns people to avoid so-called "keyword stuffing" techniques. These tricks try to use the same keyword phrases over and over again throughout the page. The phrases are jammed into ALT tags inside images, into hidden text areas that are colored like the background or made very small, and similar tricks. This can get your site actually banned -- removed from the Google index. It may not even show up at all, once it has been banned. So "use the keywords two or three times" and let the copy flow naturally". "Weave the two or three phrases you want to be known for naturally into the page," he suggests.

That's a word to the wise from the guy who leads the team that removes offending web-sites from the Google index. We should pay attention to him when he cautions us about something... he knows what he's talking about. Google pays him -- and you can be sure he's paid well -- to make sure that we don't stuff our pages with keywords.

That's the list! Six easy (sort of) ways to promote our sites. Directly from one of the world's experts.

And, the nice thing is, this is all free to anyone who will take the time to do the work.

Good luck to you!