How can customers find you on Google
Understand that Google is there to provide the most accurate, relevant and useful results for the people searching for information. Google goes to great lengths to ensure your website is ranked appropriately against competing websites.
If your business is new and has many existing local competitors, then it is appropriate that Google ranks them higher than your business for equivalent content. Your best chance in such cases is to find topics that those competitors have not covered in their website content and author new content targeting that.
There is one simple rule about being found on Google:
The words being searched in Google must exist on your website.
If you want to be found for 'shoelaces Wellington' then those words need to be on your website. Google won't present a loosely-related website until all directly-related websites have been exhausted.
Put yourself in the shoes of your customers and ask yourself “If I wanted to find this business, what search terms would I use?” Note down key words or phrases but remember that your customers typically do not see your business in the same way as you do. Use layman words in addition to industry terminology. Also consider different words for the same thing - Would you search for ‘vacuum’ or ‘hoover’ or even 'electrolux'?
Check out which terms return your competitors’ websites above yours. The more unique your search is, for example "Wellington ice sculptures", the easier you will be to find. Conversely, the more common the query, such as "Insurance", the harder it will be to get onto the front page on Google.
Ask WonderWebs to have a look at the your website and we can have a chat about your best options.
Content
- Format your content cleanly. Break your content into short paragraphs. Use normal, bold, italics. Use bullets and numbered lists. Use just one Heading 1 on a page, and then increasing instances of headings 2, 3, 4 etc. Do not use variations in colour, font, and font sizes.
- State the obvious. Your homepage should immediately answer the questions: What is this, and is it meant for me? Don’t force people to second-guess you and don't assume everyone will already know what you do – they won’t have the time or patience.
- Add new content. News or blogging is an easy way to add more words to your website for Google to Index. Ask for a blog and write your own entries, or include news feeds from other websites (ask for assistance with this).
- Use sensible filenames. Use complete words (not numbers or unidentifiable acronyms) to define your filenames as search engines will read these. Do not use odd characters such as apostrophes, ampersands and question marks as these will often cause broken or faulty links. Use only letters, numbers and hyphens when naming files.
This is an example of a good filename: Austmine-Member-Directory-2012.pdf
Promote your website
- Become a visible expert in your field. Answer questions on websites such as Facebook, Linked-in or other discussion forums, provide expert and helpful commentary on related blogs and forums, always linking back to your website where applicable. If you do not look like you are spamming, most forum moderators are happy to let you link back to your website.
- Be more social. Post your latest blog entries onto popular websites like Twitter or Facebook. Include social bookmarking button on your pages to encourage sharing - Ask WonderWebs support for this.
- Tell people to visit your website. A website does nothing by itself. Potential customers need to be told to visit your website. And equally important is that they must be told to return again later. This means some form of marketing outside of the website must be carried out. This may include advertising in other channels and also the use of repeat communications such as email newsletters. Get in touch for help and advice with this.
Review traffic
Check your website stats to see what pages are the most popular. Look into search words and referrals and see how users found your site. Ask WonderWebs support for assistance with this.
Metadata
You can't see meta data on your website, but Google will use it when it creates your listings in its index. WonderWebs will have already added a default title and description to your website, but you are able to override these for individual pages through the Meta data editor you can find on the Secrets page.
- Page title - Each page can have a unique title of up to about 8 words.
- Keywords - These are no longer used by all search engines but can be useful for adding mis-spellings without having to write them within the visible page content.
- Description - Ideally provide a unique description for each page and if possible, include a call to action. This should be a maximum of about 30 words and again, this content should closely match the content of your page.
What about SEO services?
All website owners are bombarded with offers to improve their SEO and resulting search engine ranking. These services generally rely on the fact that uncommon combinations of words, that may or may not relate to your business, can be made to rank much higher than common words. The downside, is that the suggested phrases are typically not highly ranked because people are not actually using them.
Remember - Traffic does not equal business
The primary goal of an SEO service is to prove to you that they have increased traffic to your website, thus ensuring that you continue to engage their services. However, traffic is not necessarily business, unless you are an SEO service yourself, or you make your revenue off page impressions.
The field of SEO is rife with scams and hype and our advice is to avoid any business that contacts you randomly and offers this service. Ask us for assistance and advice and save your money, or go with advice provided by other trusted sources.
What about directories?
Web directories can serve two purposes. They can drive legitimate traffic to your website, and/or they can list your website alongside similar sites, and the resulting links may help improve your page rank.
Never pay for a listing in a web directory unless you have ascertained its value. Well known industry-specific directories may provide value, and some even charge high prices for membership. However there are thousands of worthless directories on the internet, mostly started as someone's dream of making it big online. A worthwhile directory has an advertising budget and you will see their presence on the internet.
If you search Google for your service and you find a directory shows up first, then you might decide to get into that directory. Just don't pay to be listed. If the directory is built around customer reviews, then you may want to get involved and make sure people are happy with your services.
Ultimately, the only directory you need to be in is Google.
Google Adwords
Paying to have your website placed alongside others for specific keywords allows you to artificially increase your visibility to Google searchers. It lets you leap-frog other websites by paying for the privilege.
Adwords are priced based on what your competitors are prepared to pay for specific popular keywords. The business offering the highest price will have their site listed first. This can be expensive per click depending on how many other businesses also want the same keyword and how high you bid for placement.
Note that configuring Adwords can be quite complicated for first time users. Visit Google Adwords and It is worth looking at Adword tutorials on YouTube as well to gain an overview of how it works.
Google Business - Recommended!
You will be familiar with Google Business as the little map that often displays alongside your search results. If you have a bricks and mortar business location, then it is extremely valuable to have a valid listing in this index.
Because Google automatically creates places pages for many businesses it finds by itself, you may find there is already an entry for your business. If there is, then you will also find a link to claim the listing for yourself. After verifying that you own the business, you will be able to edit the listing and provide images and accurate information.
Bing Places for Business - Recommended!
This is the same
as Google Business. You can register your business or let it import your
business from your Google account. Go to Bing Places for Business now and get started.
Google Reviews - Recommended!
These reviews are displayed as stars along with your website in Google Business and other Google search results. Having a 4 or 5 star average rating looks good and attracts visitors to your website. This article
explains how to get your customers to review your business. Ask for help to get a Reviews button on your website.
Google News Index
This is specifically for legitimate publishers of original news content. You can request to have your website and news pages submitted to the Google News Index and we'll handle this for you. Read more about Google News here.
Other resources