Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Improving Your Search Engine Placement Using These Top Six Tips


Most people searching the Internet these days have no idea when they place a keyword or phrase in the search box how Google, or any other search engine, choose what sites to show as results.  It may seem like a mystery however, there is a lot that goes into determining what ranking a website is.  When looking to get your company’s website on the front page of any major search engine it is wise to have an understanding of what it takes to get it there. 
The world of search engine placement is complex.  Optimizing your website for the best search engine placement takes an understanding of exactly what search engines are looking for in websites on the front page.  If you hire a professional search engine optimization team of experts that promises instant results turn the other way.  Top search engine rankings come from a well designed website, a backend with supportive Meta tag, link building and time.
Here are some key elements to help companies in the quest for optimal website search engine placement. 
·         The first aspect I will begin with is the website itself.  A company must focus on building an easy to use, informative website.  Text within the website must contain accurate information containing keywords specific to the websites topic. 

The next element of the website that must be in sync is not even a visible element.  The Meta tags used to describe your site must be accurate and contain key terms that you are looking to be ranked for.  It is important to include cities, states and different ways to paraphrase your topic coded into the backend of the site.  This makes the site relevant to the search engines and in term helps to index your site.

·         As mentioned above key anchor text linking back to your website is important.  The words used to promote your site should be terms that will continually be linked back to your site.  Your site should contain the chosen keywords as will the links outside of the site used to drive traffic to your site. 

·         The more “popular” your site is the better it will do in search engines as well.  This being said, what does that really mean?  What this tells us is that if your site is mentioned or linked on other well ranked pages throughout the Internet than their ranks link to you bring the popularity of you site up as well.  Pages are ranked using a system of 1-10.  The higher the page rankings you have and your site is linked to the better search engine rankings you will have.

·         Time also helps in ranking your website.  With time and keeping the information on the website relevant you will improve your search engine rankings. With time and patience this will work to improve your web presence.

·         When building a site take into consideration that adding a link back to the home page from each page within your site.  This will also help with search engine placement.

·         Keywords are a one of the most important elements to have high search engine rankings.  When choosing keywords to focus each page of your website around ensure ultimate success by also adding all of these into the home page of your website.  The home page is your website summary and therefore should act as one.
There is a lot that goes into having a website place well amongst search engines.  Your searchengine placement is key to the growth of your business online.  People don’t look past the first page to find what they are searching for.  If your site is good however missing elements in any way you can find yourself on the fifth page of the search engine.  This will do nothing for the growth of your business online.  The goal in search engine rankings is to land on the first page.  Follow the steps above or look for professionals who specialize in search engine placement and see growth, with time, in your websites rankings. 

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Search Engine Placement Increases Traffic To Websites


What is SEO? Search engine optimization is the process of getting your website ranked on the front page of major search engines.  The process takes making a website that is easy to maneuver with relevant content so that it is easily recognized by search engines.  As you guessed there is a lot more to it than that but in general that is what it takes to get your website on the front page of Google, Yahoo or Bing.

You may ask yourself why it is in your best interest to rank on the front page.  Why is this important?  How often are you searching Google and find yourself looking at the results on page five? Never!  That is because the most relevant information to your search has come up on the front page.  Within the top ten results you have an answer to what your search was.  It is proven over and over again that ninety-five percent of all traffic to a website comes from front page search results.  People are impatient.  They want to get the information they need without searching any further than they have to in order to get it.

What does this mean to you, a business owner with an ineffective online presence?  You must work toward a long term SEO solution.  Many times this involves working with a search engine placement team of experts to analyze, fix and maintain your website and develop an online marketing plan.  The forefront of the plan involves making sure your site is functioning optimally.  This means looking into the content, the back end, the website design and the overall ease of maneuvering through the site.  Look at it from a customer’s point of view not as a business owner.  Sometimes too much information can be as off putting as too little.  

It is helpful to go into any new business venture with eyes wide open.  The same is true when hiring a search engine optimization team of experts for your online marketing presence.  There are some key terms that get thrown around a lot that can be confusing to someone just entering the search engine race.  Below you will find terms and definitions to help you come out on top when finding a search engine placement team to work with for your SEO needs.

·         SEM – This acronym stands for search engine management.  This entails the process of designing and marketing your website for the best online presence possible.  The goal is to position your website in both search advertising and paid advertising.  Paid advertising is a whole other beast we can talk about at another time.

·         SEO – This is the acronym that represents searchengine optimization.  This is what we talked about earlier, making the sites content and design relevant for search engines to index and appeal to users.

·         PPC – This acronym is all about paid advertising and stands for pay-per-click.  This is, in very general terms, when someone places an ad and pays each time someone clicks on the ads.

·         Natural Rankings – A term that is used for any listing that your site comes by in the free or unpaid sections of the web.

The following terms are used for the design element of the site that really is not relevant to the visual aspect of the site however is needed for indexing purposes. 

·         Meta Tags:  This is the information that is seated in the back end of the website.  The Meta tags are not really relevant to the person searching in any aspect other than they help with the indexing of your site within search engines.  Many people will never even have knowledge that such tags and back end info exists.  

·         Title Tags: This is a Meta tag that briefly describes what the page is all about in short.  This is a perfect spot to use the keywords you are aiming your search engine results towards.

·         Description: This is a description found on each page that describes the content in detail.  

·         Keywords: These are the exact terms in word or phrase form.  These keywords will be entered in the text as well as the back end of the site in an effort to improve your search engine rankings.