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[RyanKent]

the term is used as the name of the page in the URL.

Can you please show where that is occurring? The full URL to the page is "http://theboardgamers.co.uk/". In Google.co.uk you rank #1 for the term "the board gamers". You should recognize "board games" is a different keyword.

the H1 tag at the top of the page is an exact match

I believe you are mistaken. You are using an image in a H1 tag. Please refer to this Q&A: http://www.seomoz.org/q/would-you-use-images-inside-h1-tags. Even if Google was to consider your ALT tag as the H1 text, it would not be an exact match. An "exact match" is exactly as it sounds, a perfect text match. Any changes, includes the change of tense, plurality, spaces, etc. would affect the search results.

Any advice on this one? As an eCommerce homepage I obviously can't go writing paragraphs full of information about board games. The people visiting aren't looking/needing that (on my site).

There is a variety of methods to improve your relevancy in this area. Just a few to consider:

• you have a rotating banner at the top of the page. You could replace it with a banner that is helpful to your users and search rankings. One possibility would be a background with the following HTML text "All your favorite board games in one place! The Board Gamers"

• your image names and alt tags should probably be reviewed

• you can focus your home page on your brand, "TheBoardGamers" and provide a "Board Games" page

• You can offer a short snippet of text describing your site

I clearly need to add a block of text/content somewhere but I find it hard to think what to write without doing it for the sake of getting keywords in there.

It is great you are including your users in the thought process. They should be first and foremost in your mind.

[RyanKent]

Hi Rhys,

What is the URL of the page you are trying to rank for the term? I could not locate any page on your site optimized to rank for the term "Board games".

I will guess you are trying to rank your home page for the term since it's title is "Board Games | The Board Gamers". First let's take a look at the wiki page which ranks #1 for "board game" and #2 for "board games": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Board_game

This page ranks #1 for the term "board game" and is very well optimized for the term. Specifically:

• the term is used as the name of the page in the URL

• the H1 tag at the top of the page is an exact match

• The very first words of the first sentence on the page are "A board game is..."

• The term "board game" is used 58 times on the page. To be clear, I am not referring to keyword density, but rather keyword focus. The page is clearly focused on discussing this topic. The use of the term is natural and not stuffed in any way.

Now let's look at your page.....

• the term is used ONCE on the page, at the bottom of the left sidebar which is not even above the fold. It is part of a community poll asking people if they play board games.

• the term is used in your title tag

Why would you feel your page should rank for the term? How are you establishing any relevancy? Answer that question and you will begin to help improve your rankings.