How can I get my site to come up higher in the search engines?

This is one question that is asked most frequently and is the most difficult for me to answer. There is no basic answer because each search engine works differently and it seems that what works today may not work tomorrow. My advice is to make sure that the content on your site includes the search terms that people are looking for. I still recommend having a Title meta tag and a Description meta tag because these tags are used for various purposes besides just search engines. Some search engines still look at the Keywords meta tag.

Find out what search terms to use on your site

First you need to find out what terms people are using to find the type of product, service, or information you provide on your web site. There are various tools to help you find the keywords and search terms people actually use. Go to one of these tools and type in a keyword you think people would use to find your site. The results will show you related terms that people have actually used in recent months as well as how many times those terms were searched for. Some tools provide more information than others. I have also found that there are huge differences in the numbers between some of them. I use these tools as a guideline, not as gospel truth. They will give me a fairly good idea as to what terms to target in order to get the desired traffic audience.

Include most important terms in your web site content

Once you know what terms to target, you need to include these in your title, description, and keywords meta tags as well as the content on your site pages. If you have a variety of information I suggest separate pages for individual content. Optimize the pages for one specific item.

Check your site for proper optimization

When you have found the terms to target and have included them in the content of your site and the meta  tags, use one of these online checkers to make sure the site has been optimized properly. Optimize all of the pages of your site - not just the Home page. Some search engines crawl all of the pages linked from the Home page. Note: to see if your site (and interior pages) are indexed in Google do a search for site: yourdomain.com.

Site Map

Link every page in the site using a logical order. You want the links to "say" the right thing about the pages in your site.

Create Content Pages

Create separate pages that target 2 or 3 specific keywords.

Submit your site to the search engines

Some of the search engines have started charging a fee for submission. There are still quite a few search engines and directories that allow you to submit without paying. For your convenience I have listed the major  Search Engines and directories with links to the submission pages. Just click on the link, submit your site, close the window and continue to the next one. The search engines change the submission page links periodically so you will want to check to make sure you are in the right spot. You will also want to check submission policies since each has different requirements.

Obtain links from other web sites

The next thing you will want to do is obtain links to your site from other related web sites. Some of the search engines look to see how  many incoming links you have to your web site. This is called Link Popularity. You will want to find sites that your target audience would frequent. Provide a Link To Us information page on your site. Only allow quality links from your site.

Be Patient and Wait

You won't see results overnight. Some search engines may take a few weeks to a few months to index your site. Others may show up in just a few days. Sometimes it seems that there is no rhyme or reason with the search engines. I have seen sites in top results that seemed to break all of the rules while others who have done everything conceivable for a top position don't show up in the first 10 pages. Go figure!

Make frequent changes

When the search engine spiders crawl a web site they are looking for changes after the site has been indexed. If there have been no changes for awhile to the site, the spiders discontinue crawling since there isn't anything new to index. Try to find something that can be added or changed on a regular basis that would be beneficial to your site visitors. "Change" with the search engines is approximately a few hundred words.

Don't depend solely on search engine placement for the success of your web site

Search engine positioning is important, but it isn't necessarily the most important to your site's success. There are so many other factors to consider besides just being found in the search engines. You can have a top position, but if your site sucks your lack of success may not be due to lack of traffic.

Other ways to get traffic to your site are:

• Make sure your web site is listed on everything you do (company literature, advertising, newspaper articles, etc)

• Use an email signature in every email message you send out

• Joint venture with other web sites

• Advertise in larger online publications to bring traffic to your site

• Start a newsletter and build your own mailing list (very important)

• Get involved with discussion and message boards that attract your target audience

Review your site regularly

If it has been awhile since your web site was developed, there may be changes in what the search engines are looking for. Take a good look at your text and meta tags and run your site through one of these web site analyzers.

Don't have time to do all of this?

You may find that this whole process is confusing, way out of your league, and/or just plain time-consuming. It is none-the-less a very important part of the success of your web site. If you find that these tasks are just too much for you to bear, feel free to contact us. We will design a package to meet your needs.