When we build a website for a business, we do as much as we possibly can to get a site listed in the Search Engines when it launches, and get the ‘ranking’ process to start. It’s extremely unusual that a site will rank highly in the Search Engines as soon as it’s launched. Normally, there is ongoing work required to get your site listing high in the Search Engines.
Let’s look at those terms before I go any further.
Listing in the Search Engines – this means that your website appears in the Search Engines, at the very least for the website address but generally for at least one search term.
Ranking – is the position that your website has in the Search Engine Result pages for a given search term. When someone talks about “Getting on page 1 of Google”, they generally mean they want their website to appear within the first 10 results.
The process of getting a website to rank, generally requires consistent ongoing work. Just because your website is listing well today, doesn’t mean it will continue to do so and we’re often asked “what” a business should do to improve their rankings.
Here are my top tips for Businesses to get their website ranking in the Search Engines and some suggested tools.
SEO Tip 1: Know Which Search Terms You Want To Rank For
Getting your website ranking is one thing, but getting it ranking for terms that will send your Target Audience to you is a completely other story. It’s important to understand what terms your Target Audience are entering into the search engines.
What are these magic terms? Essentially, when someone searches on the Internet they are trying to solve a problem or answer a question. As savvy business owners, it’s our job to know what questions our Target Audience asking – these form the search terms that we want to rank for.
Right here, I’m going to say that it doesn’t matter what terms WE think people are searching for – it only matters what terms they are searching for….
One great tool for discovering what people are searching for is the Google Adwords Keyword Tool – it’s free and shows how many local and global searches are conducted for similar terms and the amount of paid advertising that is conducted for that term. With a bit of interpretation, a business owner is able to determine what terms they should be trying to Search Engine Optimise their website for.
Another tool that I’ve found useful is SEOPRESSOR however, I find this most helpful after I’ve worked out the broad terms I want to target and then use SEOPRESSOR to hone my individual posts for best results.
I also use the WordPress SEO plugin by Yoast to tweak my blog posts and pages for best results.
SEO Tip 2: Write High Quality, Relevant, Content – Regularly
Content is still King, or Queen…. In fact, with the latest changes to the Google algorithms (Penguin and Panda updates), quality content is even more important.
When you think about the purpose of the Search Engines and who their clients are – this tip becomes really clear.
The Search Engines client is someone who is looking to solve a problem. For a Search Engine to retain their clients they need to deliver current, relevant content …. and as Savvy Business Owners, we can help the Search Engines by writing high quality content that is relevant to the Search Terms, regularly.
Blogging is an excellent way to do this – by using a blog that is tied to the website domain, we can provide regular updates to the Search Engines. If our blogs are setup correctly, we can easily notify the Search Engines and invite them to visit our websites …
How often is regularly? That’s up to you. I would recommend adding an update of 400 words or more, every week.
What can I blog about to improve my Search Engine Optimization?
You can provide updates to your Target Audience by:
- Providing product and service updates – and the benefits to your Target Audience
- Discussing issues that are occuring within your Industry or Niche
- Providing Commentary on another update from within the Industry or Niche
- Using the Celebrity Effect… See my post on “What Does Delta Goodrem and SEO have in Common“
SEO Tip 3: Create A Google Webmaster Tools account and submit a Sitemap
Make sure you have a Google Webmaster Tools account and submit a sitemap in a format the search engines can read. There’s a number of ways to do a sitemap that Search Engines can read and I discuss those in my Kindle Book – Get Ranked: The Art Of Search Engine Optimisation.
By having a Webmaster Tools account, you’ll be able to analyze what terms your website is being displayed for as well as tell Google where to find the information on your website.
Improve your Search Engine Rankings
As I’ve said, improving your Search Engine Rankings for a given search term (keyword) is a matter of regular updates with quality content that is relevant to the topic. Bear that point in mind and use my 3 tips above and you’ll be on your way.
Fabulous tips as always Charly. SEO can be tricky, so it’s good to know the basics to get right as a starting point. Thanks for sharing.