Lately, many people have been asking us what steps they can take to make their website rank higher on search engine listings. The fact of the matter is, if you are selling a product or service online it essential to rank high on search results. If you do these basic steps you will achieve better results.
1. Determine What Region to Target
Search engines are becoming more and more sophisticated, and they are now capable of assigning your website to a specific Country, State/Province, Region, or County/Parish. Lets say you have an online sporting goods store. If you want to rank high for the search queries specific to the state of Ohio it is important to update the text of your website to say "Ohio." (This applies to the names of Countries, Cities, and even Geographic Regions) As you re-write your content it is important to remember that you must write for regular users and search engine robots. This means you cannot write "Ohio" 100 times on one page, because your regular users will find it annoying! However, only having "Ohio" listed once on your entire website will not convince the search engine robots that you are selling goods to the people of Ohio. Once you have re-written your content appropriately, go back through and edit your alt tags. The alt tags allow search engines to read images. This is a good way to load up your website with your target word, in this case "Ohio," but do not rely solely on alt tags. There is emerging research to prove that search engines are moving away from the significance they place on alt tags. After your alt tags are edited, make sure that you are registered with Google Maps. This will alert search engines that you should be associated with a specific location. Finally, wherever possible have links pointing to your website use the word "Ohio" or whatever targeted location you have chosen.
2. Know Your Users
There is nothing more annoying then logging onto a website and realizing that the content was written with only search engines in mind. These types of websites are difficult to read. Your users do not want to be reminded of your "keywords" in every paragraph. It is important to work your keywords into your text in a manner that will not turn away your prospective customer. Furthermore, do not be afraid to use industry-specific terms. Many times internet users know exactly what they want to buy. Use specific verbiage to direct users directly to your product. Research has shown that if someone does not know the exact name of the product they are looking for, they will reference general information websites before making a more accurate search query.
3. Use Free Social Websites
One of the best resources out there for building external links pointing to your site is the use of social networking websites. Facebook, mySpace, and Twitter provide free platforms for you to get the word out about your product. DO NOT PAY FOR DIRECTORY LISTINGS. Some companies will try to sell you listing on website directories. These tactics usually do not convert to sales. The free social networking websites typically have more traffic than paid directories. Some paid directories offer pay-per-click advertising and other gimmicks. Set up a pay-per-click account through Google and manage it yourself. You will save lots of money in the long run. Google offers a lot of FREE tools that will help you keep track of your website's traffic. These tactics alone will not shoot your website up the search engine rankings, but they are a great head start. There are many more things you can do to make your website more search-engine-friendly. Once you are ready to fine-tune your conversion rate, and speed up your search engine rankings, Birdeye Design will be here to help you along.
