What is the best way to optimize a page for a magazine

[ClaireH-184886]

Hi i have a serious problem with a website that i am building http://www.cheapflightsgatwick.com/  with reference to letting the search engines know what the magazine is about.

I am building a holiday magazine which will focus on holiday news, cheap deals and holiday reviews.

I am wanting the home page to feature for the following keywords

holiday news, holiday magazine, holiday ideas, best holiday deals,

but the problem i have is, i have tried putting an introduction on the home page but it looks out of place, so what is the best way for me to let google know about what the site is about and to get it ranking well in the search engines

any help and advice would be great

[RobertFisher]

Diane

I will assume you have done your keyword analysis and that the four keywords here are the best of the best for your purposes. If this is correct, then

Your order based on what you wrote would seem to be - The site is a Magazine. It will provide three things: News, Ideas, and Products at good prices. You want the world to know this all by virtue of your home page -

I would start with Title Tag = Holiday News, Holiday Ideas, Holiday Deals | The Holiday Magazine (I am naming it The Holiday Magazine here)

My H1 would be along the lines of The Best Holiday Magazine for News, Party Ideas, and Unannounced Holiday Deals

I would then have a two to three sentence "why" statement with an ordered list of these three News, Ideas, Products with an example and a link (eg. an outbound link to a great or recent travel deal - if you point out one from this Christmas - "Travel Deal Ghost from Christmas Past...2011" -  that no one could believe, it would lead people to associate you with that great deal - It must be great and even clever) I would bold or italicize each item on ordered list: Holiday News, Holiday Deals, etc.

I would make sure to use good descriptions in alt text of up to about 140 - 150 characters. (Do not keyword stuff)

I would have a meta description that got people to click through.

I would find several holiday links to acquire and I would link to holiday sites, wiki on Christmas, etc. from your home page (two links).

So there is the quick and dirty. Make sure you remember me at Christmas if this works out for you

Edit: Diane, when I wrote this I had not gone to the link to your site (my bad). Your home page is not a Holiday Magazine as it stands now It is a whole lot of content on cheap travel. When I go to the Holiday page, it is better, but if you are just going to fill it with a ton of travel offers, etc. I do not see how you will rank for Holiday News even with the best structure.

[ClaireH-184886]

robert this is amazing stuff thank you. i have always thought that when it comes to H1 that you should just use one or two words, so straight away i have learnt something thank you.

can you give me an example of the three sentences please and where on my home page would you put it.

the site is as you say about holiday news, it is about news from travel agents, airline news, it is also going to display honest holiday reviews, and also cheap holiday deals that we have come across.

these are also the areas we will be covering

cruise reviews, cruise news and deals, hotel reviews abroad and in the UK, travel advice, sun and sea holidays, low cost holiday news, cheap flights news.

many thanks for your help

[RobertFisher]

Thanks Diane,

I would suggest the following: Use your Holiday News page as just that. Put 10 times more Holiday related news, etc. than you do anything with travel. Yes, you can have a couple of links to deals, etc. but really be laser like in your focus on Holiday News, etc.

The minute you start adding cruise reviews, hotel reviews, travel advice, etc. you are going to be a travel site no matter how many times you say holiday. Make this page be about Holiday news, etc. Stay away from the standard travel site format you have if at all possible.

This will help you rank for Holiday news, etc and likely have a higher chance at converting visitors into purchasers.

[ClaireH-184886]

I have left a space between the logo and the main page, would this be a good place to write an introduction, maybe a paragraph to the site and maybe write a paragraph there or each section so when you go to a different menu section on the site, have the info there.

or should i have it somewhere else on the site. at the moment i have no introduction on the site for the search engines to understand what the site is about