Question with SEO

[Aspiring Martha]

I am working on getting my website optimized. I've installed Yoast and am taking it's suggestions to heart as much as I can. (Thanks EN). I've read that each page of the website should have it's own keyword phrase so your pages aren't competing with themselves. I've done my keyword research and came up with some good keyword phrases - though getting some of them into a page enough seems difficult to me. For instance - lets say that I want one of my pages keyword phrases to be "Tulsa bachelorette party". I can easily work this phrase into a page title and into the image names on that page. Depending on the page however, it might not be so easy to get it into a title bar or even into the text.
So keeping with my example - lets say the page I am trying to optimize is the Scissortail Suite which has pics of the suite and a description of it. To put "Tulsa bachelorette party" anywhere openly on that page would be out of place. I don't want to junk up the page with unrelated content. Or do I?
What I am missing here?

 

[Morticia]

Why would you try to optimize the room page for a bachelorette party? The party page should be on its own. Your room pages might focus on different key words (romance, luxury, things like that).
It does stretch things a bit to try to get everything to have it's own special keywords. Says the woman with 40+ pages!
You also want a heading tag with that keyword/phrase in it.
However, if you're going down that road - 'The Scissortail Suite is the perfect gathering room for you and your bridal party during your Tulsa bachelorette party. Sip cocktails, pass hors d'oeuvres as you get ready for your night on the town.'

 

[Aspiring Martha]

Why would you try to optimize the room page for a bachelorette party? The party page should be on its own. Your room pages might focus on different key words (romance, luxury, things like that).
It does stretch things a bit to try to get everything to have it's own special keywords. Says the woman with 40+ pages!
You also want a heading tag with that keyword/phrase in it.
However, if you're going down that road - 'The Scissortail Suite is the perfect gathering room for you and your bridal party during your Tulsa bachelorette party. Sip cocktails, pass hors d'oeuvres as you get ready for your night on the town.'.

Well - the keyword phrases that are used most often when searching for a Tulsa Bed and Breakfast (as provided by the keyword research) don't necessarily fit on any particular page. I wanted the keyword phrase for the big room to be Tulsa Retreat.
The guest rooms are what are hard to come up with keyword phrases for that someone would actually use in a google search.
Your example was what I was trying to figure out how to "fit" into the feel of the page. I was wondering about a banner perhaps mentioning a discount for multi-room rentals - "a perfect location for your Tulsa Bachelorette Party".
But yeah - your first comment is what I was seeing too -- "why are you mentioning a bachelorette party in a guest room description?" - it's out of place.
Am I better off tucking the phrase in the obscure places -page title and image title and alts and being done with it? Does that get me anywhere as far as SEO?

 

[Inn-Nerd]

Food for thought... according to a close examination of Google's indexing algorithm patent shows that an "ideal" web site has an average of *300* content-rich pages-- all of which fit within the theme pyramid of the overall site.
Frankly, forget about keyword density as a "goal"... focus on writing quality content which happens to include keywords. For us B&B folks, that probably means a lot of blog entries, stories, and recipes. (It's SOOOO awesome to be finally able to say "us B&B folks"!!)
But, back to keywords again... please be sure to NEVER exceed 8% density on a page as that same Google algorithm will penalize a page's rankings for "abnormally high density" because it assumes that the page is being black-hatted.
Before we bought the Beach Spa B&B, I have been a tech entrepreneur, business consultant, and CIO for 20ish years and I used to lecture on good SEO practices. I'd be happy to share all I know if anyone wants to pose specific questions.

 

[Aspiring Martha]

Food for thought... according to a close examination of Google's indexing algorithm patent shows that an "ideal" web site has an average of *300* content-rich pages-- all of which fit within the theme pyramid of the overall site.
Frankly, forget about keyword density as a "goal"... focus on writing quality content which happens to include keywords. For us B&B folks, that probably means a lot of blog entries, stories, and recipes. (It's SOOOO awesome to be finally able to say "us B&B folks"!!)
But, back to keywords again... please be sure to NEVER exceed 8% density on a page as that same Google algorithm will penalize a page's rankings for "abnormally high density" because it assumes that the page is being black-hatted.
Before we bought the Beach Spa B&B, I have been a tech entrepreneur, business consultant, and CIO for 20ish years and I used to lecture on good SEO practices. I'd be happy to share all I know if anyone wants to pose specific questions. .

I'm a lil confused here...
So you are saying that a keyword phrase for each page (and trying to get them ON that page a certain number of times (2-3) in an unnoticeable fashion isn't really necessary - that I am better off with lots of pages simply containing lots of verbage talking about my B&B. And that alone will increase my search engine ranking?
The keyphrase goals that Yoast sets up for SEO is no longer relevant?

 

[Morticia]

Why would you try to optimize the room page for a bachelorette party? The party page should be on its own. Your room pages might focus on different key words (romance, luxury, things like that).
It does stretch things a bit to try to get everything to have it's own special keywords. Says the woman with 40+ pages!
You also want a heading tag with that keyword/phrase in it.
However, if you're going down that road - 'The Scissortail Suite is the perfect gathering room for you and your bridal party during your Tulsa bachelorette party. Sip cocktails, pass hors d'oeuvres as you get ready for your night on the town.'.

Well - the keyword phrases that are used most often when searching for a Tulsa Bed and Breakfast (as provided by the keyword research) don't necessarily fit on any particular page. I wanted the keyword phrase for the big room to be Tulsa Retreat.
The guest rooms are what are hard to come up with keyword phrases for that someone would actually use in a google search.
Your example was what I was trying to figure out how to "fit" into the feel of the page. I was wondering about a banner perhaps mentioning a discount for multi-room rentals - "a perfect location for your Tulsa Bachelorette Party".
But yeah - your first comment is what I was seeing too -- "why are you mentioning a bachelorette party in a guest room description?" - it's out of place.
Am I better off tucking the phrase in the obscure places -page title and image title and alts and being done with it? Does that get me anywhere as far as SEO?
.

Create a separate page. Highlight why this is the perfect place to have the gang gather. Personal opinion? I would NOT discount for a bachelorette party!
Maybe offer cheese and crackers, mini cupcakes, but no discount.

 

[Morticia]

Food for thought... according to a close examination of Google's indexing algorithm patent shows that an "ideal" web site has an average of *300* content-rich pages-- all of which fit within the theme pyramid of the overall site.
Frankly, forget about keyword density as a "goal"... focus on writing quality content which happens to include keywords. For us B&B folks, that probably means a lot of blog entries, stories, and recipes. (It's SOOOO awesome to be finally able to say "us B&B folks"!!)
But, back to keywords again... please be sure to NEVER exceed 8% density on a page as that same Google algorithm will penalize a page's rankings for "abnormally high density" because it assumes that the page is being black-hatted.
Before we bought the Beach Spa B&B, I have been a tech entrepreneur, business consultant, and CIO for 20ish years and I used to lecture on good SEO practices. I'd be happy to share all I know if anyone wants to pose specific questions. .

I'm a lil confused here...
So you are saying that a keyword phrase for each page (and trying to get them ON that page a certain number of times (2-3) in an unnoticeable fashion isn't really necessary - that I am better off with lots of pages simply containing lots of verbage talking about my B&B. And that alone will increase my search engine ranking?
The keyphrase goals that Yoast sets up for SEO is no longer relevant?
.

Not really. It still needs to be organized. But, the philosophy is changing and going back to where it used to be, before seo took over - create meaningful pages designed for humans but keep in mind that robots are doing the indexing.
All of your pages have to agree with each other. If your overall theme is bed and breakfast getaway then throwing in a page about the Oscars makes the robot burp. What is this page? Why is it here? Unless you work in that yours is the perfect setting for an Oscars party.
So, you create a framework, your business theme, then work on getting the pages organized in a way that each page builds on your theme. Incorporate the key words that fit with your theme. (Cheap hotel in Tulsa is not your keyword even if it shows up best for Google searches.)
But trying to cram keywords in so that it is not good reading for the human doesn't serve your purpose. Follow the yoast hints and tips but don't wed yourself to getting the green light on every page.
Then, get creative with the blog side of the website, the posts, not the pages. Here's where you can tell the rest of the story and build up the content.

 

[Aspiring Martha]

Why would you try to optimize the room page for a bachelorette party? The party page should be on its own. Your room pages might focus on different key words (romance, luxury, things like that).
It does stretch things a bit to try to get everything to have it's own special keywords. Says the woman with 40+ pages!
You also want a heading tag with that keyword/phrase in it.
However, if you're going down that road - 'The Scissortail Suite is the perfect gathering room for you and your bridal party during your Tulsa bachelorette party. Sip cocktails, pass hors d'oeuvres as you get ready for your night on the town.'.

Well - the keyword phrases that are used most often when searching for a Tulsa Bed and Breakfast (as provided by the keyword research) don't necessarily fit on any particular page. I wanted the keyword phrase for the big room to be Tulsa Retreat.
The guest rooms are what are hard to come up with keyword phrases for that someone would actually use in a google search.
Your example was what I was trying to figure out how to "fit" into the feel of the page. I was wondering about a banner perhaps mentioning a discount for multi-room rentals - "a perfect location for your Tulsa Bachelorette Party".
But yeah - your first comment is what I was seeing too -- "why are you mentioning a bachelorette party in a guest room description?" - it's out of place.
Am I better off tucking the phrase in the obscure places -page title and image title and alts and being done with it? Does that get me anywhere as far as SEO?
.

Create a separate page. Highlight why this is the perfect place to have the gang gather. Personal opinion? I would NOT discount for a bachelorette party!
Maybe offer cheese and crackers, mini cupcakes, but no discount.
.

I don't think I'm explaining my question very well.
The meat of my question is this: I have all these pages I need to optimize with different keyword phrases as per how-to's and instructions and advice I've read on optimizing your website. They say to use the keyword research tools to research phrases that people google when looking for a bed and breakfast in your area (which I did). Then take the phrases most often used and incorporate one per page in each of your webpages.
So I have my list of most oft used key phrases when someone is looking for a bed and breakfast in my area. And I have my website, which, except for the home page has a bunch of unoptimized pages (wasted opportunity to get seen, "they" say). Its the trying to match up the phrases with the pages and have the pages flow naturally that leaves me scratching my head.
I see after posting this that there are different schools of thought regarding trying to use key phrases.

 

[Aspiring Martha]

Oops Mort - I just saw the first (longer) part of your response. Disregard my last post. You do "get" what I was saying.

 

[Aspiring Martha]

Food for thought... according to a close examination of Google's indexing algorithm patent shows that an "ideal" web site has an average of *300* content-rich pages-- all of which fit within the theme pyramid of the overall site.
Frankly, forget about keyword density as a "goal"... focus on writing quality content which happens to include keywords. For us B&B folks, that probably means a lot of blog entries, stories, and recipes. (It's SOOOO awesome to be finally able to say "us B&B folks"!!)
But, back to keywords again... please be sure to NEVER exceed 8% density on a page as that same Google algorithm will penalize a page's rankings for "abnormally high density" because it assumes that the page is being black-hatted.
Before we bought the Beach Spa B&B, I have been a tech entrepreneur, business consultant, and CIO for 20ish years and I used to lecture on good SEO practices. I'd be happy to share all I know if anyone wants to pose specific questions. .

I'm a lil confused here...
So you are saying that a keyword phrase for each page (and trying to get them ON that page a certain number of times (2-3) in an unnoticeable fashion isn't really necessary - that I am better off with lots of pages simply containing lots of verbage talking about my B&B. And that alone will increase my search engine ranking?
The keyphrase goals that Yoast sets up for SEO is no longer relevant?
.

Not really. It still needs to be organized. But, the philosophy is changing and going back to where it used to be, before seo took over - create meaningful pages designed for humans but keep in mind that robots are doing the indexing.
All of your pages have to agree with each other. If your overall theme is bed and breakfast getaway then throwing in a page about the Oscars makes the robot burp. What is this page? Why is it here? Unless you work in that yours is the perfect setting for an Oscars party.
So, you create a framework, your business theme, then work on getting the pages organized in a way that each page builds on your theme. Incorporate the key words that fit with your theme. (Cheap hotel in Tulsa is not your keyword even if it shows up best for Google searches.)
But trying to cram keywords in so that it is not good reading for the human doesn't serve your purpose. Follow the yoast hints and tips but don't wed yourself to getting the green light on every page.
Then, get creative with the blog side of the website, the posts, not the pages. Here's where you can tell the rest of the story and build up the content.
.

I'm sure happy to read this. I think I can write interesting and descriptive content. Its a relief to not have to try to fit stuff in.

 

[dumitru]

Not all of your pages have to try and bring in traffic.
Your room pages have a completely different objective - to finalize the deal, to CONVERT.
I highly recommend that on the room pages you focus only on the visitor and the questions he/she might have. This is the final page in the funnel that is supposed to get you the reservation, it is not the first. People never land on Room pages via search engines.
You have to understand that it is better to have a 10% conversion rate with 10 daily visitors, than to have a 1% conversion rate with 50 visitors. FOCUS ON THE CUSTOMER.
Since ~2012 it has become difficult to play Google and fool them into certain keywords. They are much smarter than that. There's even less of a need to repeat the same keyword phrase over and over again (imo forget about the 8% keyword density). Google is able to pick up synonyms from the context, it understands what every page is about, how it all connects, how something is a crawler bait, etc. IT IS ALIVE.
Take a good look at your website through your own eyes - is the content and structure made for humans or for robots?

 

[Aspiring Martha]

Wow. I am SO GLAD I came out here and asked before I took my "written for guests" text and screwed it all up trying to work keyword phrases in it. What a wealth of information this site is! I read (late into the night) a number of recent articles related to the new google approach as you guys have spelled out to me here and have a much better grasp on it. I APPRECIATE all of you SO MUCH!
What about page titles, image names and alt tags? Is putting keywords in those areas old school as well - or worse, is it seen as trying to "trick" the crawlers? As it stands right now, all of my image names contain the phrase "tulsa bed and breakfast" with a few letter image identifier at the end. Then I copied the image name and used the same for the alt text. Does all of this need to be changed?

 

[EmptyNest]

Wow. I am SO GLAD I came out here and asked before I took my "written for guests" text and screwed it all up trying to work keyword phrases in it. What a wealth of information this site is! I read (late into the night) a number of recent articles related to the new google approach as you guys have spelled out to me here and have a much better grasp on it. I APPRECIATE all of you SO MUCH!
What about page titles, image names and alt tags? Is putting keywords in those areas old school as well - or worse, is it seen as trying to "trick" the crawlers? As it stands right now, all of my image names contain the phrase "tulsa bed and breakfast" with a few letter image identifier at the end. Then I copied the image name and used the same for the alt text. Does all of this need to be changed?.

Page Titles should reflect what the page is about and as you see in Yoast they are limited in characters. Alt text should tell something about the photo. So if is is xxxx bedroom at the treetop mansion. Just a tulsa bed and breakfast won't differentiate it from any other. I use the alt text and description usually the same.
You are way too concerned about things when and I will be blunt here. your current Christmas theme colors are a real turnoff to me. I hope this is not your final design.

 

[Morticia]

Wow. I am SO GLAD I came out here and asked before I took my "written for guests" text and screwed it all up trying to work keyword phrases in it. What a wealth of information this site is! I read (late into the night) a number of recent articles related to the new google approach as you guys have spelled out to me here and have a much better grasp on it. I APPRECIATE all of you SO MUCH!
What about page titles, image names and alt tags? Is putting keywords in those areas old school as well - or worse, is it seen as trying to "trick" the crawlers? As it stands right now, all of my image names contain the phrase "tulsa bed and breakfast" with a few letter image identifier at the end. Then I copied the image name and used the same for the alt text. Does all of this need to be changed?.

Agree with EN, you're wasting valuable alt text space by having everything the same name. Keep in mind that the alt text will show if your picture fails to load. 'Gorgeous, sunny king suite' reads better than what you've got now.
Also, and I may be wrong, I think the alt text is what someone will hear if they have enabled their computer to read to them because of vision problems.

 

[Aspiring Martha]

Wow. I am SO GLAD I came out here and asked before I took my "written for guests" text and screwed it all up trying to work keyword phrases in it. What a wealth of information this site is! I read (late into the night) a number of recent articles related to the new google approach as you guys have spelled out to me here and have a much better grasp on it. I APPRECIATE all of you SO MUCH!
What about page titles, image names and alt tags? Is putting keywords in those areas old school as well - or worse, is it seen as trying to "trick" the crawlers? As it stands right now, all of my image names contain the phrase "tulsa bed and breakfast" with a few letter image identifier at the end. Then I copied the image name and used the same for the alt text. Does all of this need to be changed?.

Page Titles should reflect what the page is about and as you see in Yoast they are limited in characters. Alt text should tell something about the photo. So if is is xxxx bedroom at the treetop mansion. Just a tulsa bed and breakfast won't differentiate it from any other. I use the alt text and description usually the same.
You are way too concerned about things when and I will be blunt here. your current Christmas theme colors are a real turnoff to me. I hope this is not your final design.
.

The green on the current page menu button is not permanent - it just happened to be a color that showed against the bar until I find the color I will stick with. It will be in the red family keeping with a monochromatic color theme.
Minus the green button - do you see the reds and burgundy's as christmasy? I went with the monochromatic reds as that is the overriding color scheme in the decor in my home.

 

[Momma Smurf]

Wow. I am SO GLAD I came out here and asked before I took my "written for guests" text and screwed it all up trying to work keyword phrases in it. What a wealth of information this site is! I read (late into the night) a number of recent articles related to the new google approach as you guys have spelled out to me here and have a much better grasp on it. I APPRECIATE all of you SO MUCH!
What about page titles, image names and alt tags? Is putting keywords in those areas old school as well - or worse, is it seen as trying to "trick" the crawlers? As it stands right now, all of my image names contain the phrase "tulsa bed and breakfast" with a few letter image identifier at the end. Then I copied the image name and used the same for the alt text. Does all of this need to be changed?.

Page Titles should reflect what the page is about and as you see in Yoast they are limited in characters. Alt text should tell something about the photo. So if is is xxxx bedroom at the treetop mansion. Just a tulsa bed and breakfast won't differentiate it from any other. I use the alt text and description usually the same.
You are way too concerned about things when and I will be blunt here. your current Christmas theme colors are a real turnoff to me. I hope this is not your final design.
.

The green on the current page menu button is not permanent - it just happened to be a color that showed against the bar until I find the color I will stick with. It will be in the red family keeping with a monochromatic color theme.
Minus the green button - do you see the reds and burgundy's as christmasy? I went with the monochromatic reds as that is the overriding color scheme in the decor in my home.
.

I don't think those red/pinkish tones are appealing to begin with, and they certainly don't enhance, blend, or co-ordinate with the tones in most of your photos. Sorry.

I agree with the blunt, but knowledgeable EN.

Your photos have themes of deep rich gold, warm browns, some rust, and maybe you could get away with a muted grey-tone green. There are no pink rosy red tones anywhere.
Also the View Details for the ST Suite on the homepage, still goes no where.

 

[Aspiring Martha]

Wow. I am SO GLAD I came out here and asked before I took my "written for guests" text and screwed it all up trying to work keyword phrases in it. What a wealth of information this site is! I read (late into the night) a number of recent articles related to the new google approach as you guys have spelled out to me here and have a much better grasp on it. I APPRECIATE all of you SO MUCH!
What about page titles, image names and alt tags? Is putting keywords in those areas old school as well - or worse, is it seen as trying to "trick" the crawlers? As it stands right now, all of my image names contain the phrase "tulsa bed and breakfast" with a few letter image identifier at the end. Then I copied the image name and used the same for the alt text. Does all of this need to be changed?.

Page Titles should reflect what the page is about and as you see in Yoast they are limited in characters. Alt text should tell something about the photo. So if is is xxxx bedroom at the treetop mansion. Just a tulsa bed and breakfast won't differentiate it from any other. I use the alt text and description usually the same.
You are way too concerned about things when and I will be blunt here. your current Christmas theme colors are a real turnoff to me. I hope this is not your final design.
.

The green on the current page menu button is not permanent - it just happened to be a color that showed against the bar until I find the color I will stick with. It will be in the red family keeping with a monochromatic color theme.
Minus the green button - do you see the reds and burgundy's as christmasy? I went with the monochromatic reds as that is the overriding color scheme in the decor in my home.
.

I don't think those red/pinkish tones are appealing to begin with, and they certainly don't enhance, blend, or co-ordinate with the tones in most of your photos. Sorry.

I agree with the blunt, but knowledgeable EN.

Your photos have themes of deep rich gold, warm browns, some rust, and maybe you could get away with a muted grey-tone green. There are no pink rosy red tones anywhere.
Also the View Details for the ST Suite on the homepage, still goes no where.
.

Well, %$#@. I tried the gold tones and they looked washed out and/or dull (to me).
I've read that the trend for website color is towards the brighter shades.
What to do, what to do...

Arghhh

 

[Momma Smurf]

Wow. I am SO GLAD I came out here and asked before I took my "written for guests" text and screwed it all up trying to work keyword phrases in it. What a wealth of information this site is! I read (late into the night) a number of recent articles related to the new google approach as you guys have spelled out to me here and have a much better grasp on it. I APPRECIATE all of you SO MUCH!
What about page titles, image names and alt tags? Is putting keywords in those areas old school as well - or worse, is it seen as trying to "trick" the crawlers? As it stands right now, all of my image names contain the phrase "tulsa bed and breakfast" with a few letter image identifier at the end. Then I copied the image name and used the same for the alt text. Does all of this need to be changed?.

Page Titles should reflect what the page is about and as you see in Yoast they are limited in characters. Alt text should tell something about the photo. So if is is xxxx bedroom at the treetop mansion. Just a tulsa bed and breakfast won't differentiate it from any other. I use the alt text and description usually the same.
You are way too concerned about things when and I will be blunt here. your current Christmas theme colors are a real turnoff to me. I hope this is not your final design.
.

The green on the current page menu button is not permanent - it just happened to be a color that showed against the bar until I find the color I will stick with. It will be in the red family keeping with a monochromatic color theme.
Minus the green button - do you see the reds and burgundy's as christmasy? I went with the monochromatic reds as that is the overriding color scheme in the decor in my home.
.

I don't think those red/pinkish tones are appealing to begin with, and they certainly don't enhance, blend, or co-ordinate with the tones in most of your photos. Sorry.

I agree with the blunt, but knowledgeable EN.

Your photos have themes of deep rich gold, warm browns, some rust, and maybe you could get away with a muted grey-tone green. There are no pink rosy red tones anywhere.
Also the View Details for the ST Suite on the homepage, still goes no where.
.

Well, %$#@. I tried the gold tones and they looked washed out and/or dull (to me).
I've read that the trend for website color is towards the brighter shades.
What to do, what to do...

Arghhh
.

Are you locked into using color themes, or can you freely designate? Can you use the color picker eyedropper on some of your photos? The font color you are using for the "Our Accommodations" is great, is that the upper menu bar color as well?
Actually, some of the color tones here on this Innspire site might work if you fiddle with their hue and sat. Again, look at your pix and imagine what color(s) you'd want the mattes to be if you were framing them.

 

[Aspiring Martha]

Wow. I am SO GLAD I came out here and asked before I took my "written for guests" text and screwed it all up trying to work keyword phrases in it. What a wealth of information this site is! I read (late into the night) a number of recent articles related to the new google approach as you guys have spelled out to me here and have a much better grasp on it. I APPRECIATE all of you SO MUCH!
What about page titles, image names and alt tags? Is putting keywords in those areas old school as well - or worse, is it seen as trying to "trick" the crawlers? As it stands right now, all of my image names contain the phrase "tulsa bed and breakfast" with a few letter image identifier at the end. Then I copied the image name and used the same for the alt text. Does all of this need to be changed?.

Page Titles should reflect what the page is about and as you see in Yoast they are limited in characters. Alt text should tell something about the photo. So if is is xxxx bedroom at the treetop mansion. Just a tulsa bed and breakfast won't differentiate it from any other. I use the alt text and description usually the same.
You are way too concerned about things when and I will be blunt here. your current Christmas theme colors are a real turnoff to me. I hope this is not your final design.
.

The green on the current page menu button is not permanent - it just happened to be a color that showed against the bar until I find the color I will stick with. It will be in the red family keeping with a monochromatic color theme.
Minus the green button - do you see the reds and burgundy's as christmasy? I went with the monochromatic reds as that is the overriding color scheme in the decor in my home.
.

I don't think those red/pinkish tones are appealing to begin with, and they certainly don't enhance, blend, or co-ordinate with the tones in most of your photos. Sorry.

I agree with the blunt, but knowledgeable EN.

Your photos have themes of deep rich gold, warm browns, some rust, and maybe you could get away with a muted grey-tone green. There are no pink rosy red tones anywhere.
Also the View Details for the ST Suite on the homepage, still goes no where.
.

Oh yeah - that link IS broken. Will get on that. I'll play around some more with the color.

I appreciate your suggestions.
How I would love to have one of Innspiring website pro's do this website but all available funds are needed in getting the house ready to open. This house, a foreclosure, sat empty and in disrepair for almost 5 years. It's taken 3 years (and everything we have) to get the inside in good condition (you should see the "before pics!). Now the outside - mostly landscaping - is going to gobble up everything we make for awhile.
So I hope everyone understands that it's not that I just want to drive everybody with a stubborn refusal to hire my website done. This is just where I am - at the moment.

 

[Aspiring Martha]

Wow. I am SO GLAD I came out here and asked before I took my "written for guests" text and screwed it all up trying to work keyword phrases in it. What a wealth of information this site is! I read (late into the night) a number of recent articles related to the new google approach as you guys have spelled out to me here and have a much better grasp on it. I APPRECIATE all of you SO MUCH!
What about page titles, image names and alt tags? Is putting keywords in those areas old school as well - or worse, is it seen as trying to "trick" the crawlers? As it stands right now, all of my image names contain the phrase "tulsa bed and breakfast" with a few letter image identifier at the end. Then I copied the image name and used the same for the alt text. Does all of this need to be changed?.

Page Titles should reflect what the page is about and as you see in Yoast they are limited in characters. Alt text should tell something about the photo. So if is is xxxx bedroom at the treetop mansion. Just a tulsa bed and breakfast won't differentiate it from any other. I use the alt text and description usually the same.
You are way too concerned about things when and I will be blunt here. your current Christmas theme colors are a real turnoff to me. I hope this is not your final design.
.

The green on the current page menu button is not permanent - it just happened to be a color that showed against the bar until I find the color I will stick with. It will be in the red family keeping with a monochromatic color theme.
Minus the green button - do you see the reds and burgundy's as christmasy? I went with the monochromatic reds as that is the overriding color scheme in the decor in my home.
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I don't think those red/pinkish tones are appealing to begin with, and they certainly don't enhance, blend, or co-ordinate with the tones in most of your photos. Sorry.

I agree with the blunt, but knowledgeable EN.

Your photos have themes of deep rich gold, warm browns, some rust, and maybe you could get away with a muted grey-tone green. There are no pink rosy red tones anywhere.
Also the View Details for the ST Suite on the homepage, still goes no where.
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Well, %$#@. I tried the gold tones and they looked washed out and/or dull (to me).
I've read that the trend for website color is towards the brighter shades.
What to do, what to do...

Arghhh
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Are you locked into using color themes, or can you freely designate? Can you use the color picker eyedropper on some of your photos? The font color you are using for the "Our Accommodations" is great, is that the upper menu bar color as well?
Actually, some of the color tones here on this Innspire site might work if you fiddle with their hue and sat. Again, look at your pix and imagine what color(s) you'd want the mattes to be if you were framing them.
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Yes, the "Our Accommodations" font is the same as the menu bar color. And yes - I can freely designate colors. Using the eye dropper color picker is an excellent idea. Funny you mention this website's color - I was eyeing it too...