A successful website requires more than a pretty design. This article describes SEO (search engine optimization) steps required to make your website dominate in search results for successful website promotion. We focus our efforts on page rank and search results in Google because it is our experience that getting good results with Google will eventually lead to good results with the #2 and #3 search engines, Bing and Yahoo. Of course, there are other search tools you will want to learn about but we will focus on Google for this article.
What Google looks for in order of priority:
- Page Title – the words you see at the top of the browser when you visit a website.
- Supporting written content within the first 1/3 of the page. This content can be found in the articles/text on the page as well as on the image title and alt tags (alternate text which is also used to allow someone that cannot view the image to know what the image is showing).
- How many websites with related content link to your site.
- Meta Keywords – this is hidden in the code on your site but read by the search engines.
- Meta Description – this is hidden in the code on your site but presented as a summary of what your site is about when your site is listed on a results page.
How to meet these objectives and optimize results for your website:
Page Title: if you have chosen to manage your own website make sure you have taken this step. If you hire a web designer make sure they understand how to optimize a website during the development process. It is more cost effective to do this while your site is being built than to hire someone to do it later. Remember, a “pretty design” is not what gets results, content is.
Supporting written content: Make sure that the first 1/3 of your web page uses your keyword phrases at least 3 times in a manner that is also going to make your visitors feel welcome and meet their objectives for visiting your website. Use your images as part of this process. For example, on our logo image we may put the title and alt tag as “Web Marketing Consultant Vancouver WA – SiteBuilder Now Logo”. Newsletters archived on your site that can be accessed by non-subscribers are another great way to add related content. Additionally, offering “opt in” newsletters is a wonderful way to invite loyalty with your customers – but you will want to be sure to send news that matters and send it often enough without being so often that they put you on their blocked senders lists. Newsletters should contain things like new products added to the site, subscriber only coupons or sale announcements that will invite your readers back to your website and let visitors that read previous newsletters see the benefit of becoming a subscriber.
Related websites with back links to your site: We used to build our businesses by “networking” in person through local clubs and associations. Now we do it online. Getting relative links on other sites is one of the most challenging aspects of promoting a website. It takes a lot of time and effort but is probably the single most important part of building your sites page rank and coming up when people search for your product or service. The top 4 ways to make this happen are:
- Social Networking: have a public profile on Twitter, Linked In and Facebook as well as a Blog. You will need to keep the content fresh, interesting and related to what your followers want to read so plan on spending a minimum of 2 hours each week posting to your blog and social network sites. You can use these mediums to share insights, product releases, funny stories or anything else but don’t just spam your readers! Additionally, you will want to make it easy for your customers/friends to follow you on these networks by offering the “follow me” type links on your website. You will also want to join “groups” within these social networks where people that you have valuable information to offer may go. Take the time to explore your market and find out how they use social media and match your offerings to their interests.
Finally, make sure to carry your “brand identity” into each of these mediums. Each of these tools offers the ability to “customize” your look and feel. Use the tools and bring your logo, tag line and important contact information into these sites and always make sure your “friends” can find your website easily.
- Provide free information: Send news releases to online publications in your field. Offer articles that help your customers in some way.
- Blogging: Blog is short for Web Log – in essence an online diary. A successful blog invites conversation by offering to allow registered readers to make comments on your posts. Therefore, you will want your posts to be something that will encourage a response such as a product review, a personal experience, a call for ideas etc etc.
- YouTube Videos: You can make quick videos of your service in action, demonstrations of selected products you offer or just share a clip of an event you attended. Once you’ve posted your video on YouTube you can embed it in your website too!
Meta Key Words: if you are managing your own website make sure you know where to enter this content. If we build your site for you it will be included in our services.
Meta Descriptions: if you are managing your own website make sure you know where to enter this content. If we build your site for you it will be included in our services.
Due to the number of requests we are getting from our clients we have decided to offer to take these steps for you starting at $250.00 per month. We know that this type of commitment to a website will guarantee first page dominance in any given geographic market and can substantially increase first page results on a national level. If you are interested in learning more about this option and discussing whether or not your Return On Investment would make this worth doing, please call Harmony at 888 595 3098.