Have you ever wondered how your competitor's website always seems to appear higher up the major search engine webpages than yours? What are they doing to get there that you are not?
When I launched my first website, I thought I could just sit back and watch my inbox fill with enquires or that the telephone would never stop ringing. How wrong I was.
You may be thinking, I've paid a lot of money to get a great looking website, so why isn't it getting on the first page. I'm afraid that just having a great looking website isn't enough. If your website isn't being found then you are throwing away hundreds of pounds worth of business by not attracting potential customers.
It's a bit like having a shop or business and then not telling people your address. How will they find you without a postcode? Thankfully there are some simple tactics that you can employ to make your website get ranked by search engines.
Search engine optimisation tactics
Optimising sites for search isn't hard, but doing it well can be a challenge, especially if you're making changes to an existing website, rather than creating a new one.
The following steps will help your website become more search friendly.
- Picking your target keywords. Use descriptive phrases rather than generic terms. Search engines are more likely to give sites offering 'Microsoft Word Training' a higher rank than one offering just 'training'.
- Keyword Placement. Place keywords on your pages - generally the higher in the page, the better. Put keywords in the page title and introductory paragraphs. Keywords should also be used as part of sentences, but avoid 'keyword stuffing' - the practice of using keywords indiscriminately.
- Simplify page layout. Complex layouts don't work well with crawlers. If it's easy for a human to read, it'll be easy for a search engine to work with.
- Attract incoming links. Good quality, relevant content bringing in links from other sites.
Avoid attempts to manipulate indexes
Avoid certain activities which attempt to manipulate search engine rankings - often referred to as 'black-hat' techniques. Attempting to use any of these techniques will make your website look bad, and may lead to your website being de-indexed by search engines.
The best way to avoid this is to remember that websites are for visitors. Things to avoid include:
- websites that automatically redirect visitors to pages
- hidden text on pages
- pages with nothing but keywords and links to other websites - eg link farms
- content intended only for search engines
- links from websites that replicate content belonging to other sites
These are just some of the strategies you can use to increase your websites position and generate more business.
Wishing you success.
Neil W Mason is an expert in computer training. He has been providing training on all the major software programs for over 20 years. He has helped businesses and individuals increase their skill levels and their profits. For a Free "How to increase your profits" report, go to http://www.in2-training.com
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