This article is a continuation from the last Business View entry where the most important ingredients of a successful website were discussed. So in case you missed it, feel free to go back and take a look at the last issue.
This month we’ll discuss easy tips that you can use on your own website to raise its ranking in search engines!
#1: Be Easy To Find (continued) – Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
If the only way people can find your website is entering the address they find on your business card, well you’ll have a ton of networking to do and even fewer visits to your website. Today there is a better way to get found called Search Engine Optimization! SEO is a range of techniques that are used to improve your websites ranking in search engine results and can be one of the most useful marketing strategies available today.
As I’m sure you’ve found in your own home, few people u
se the phonebook these days. In fact, 70% of adults “rarely or never” use their phone book while 60% of them use the Internet to find contact information (Harris Interactive Survey 2011).
While I’m sure few find this surprising, the real surprise comes when you hear that some businesses are still paying lots of money advertising in the Yellow Pages. However, for consumers, they would rather pull out their laptop, tablet or smart phone and search for whatever they need at that moment. That is why Search Engine Optimization has arisen as such a useful marketing tool.
So here are some easy to implement tips on how to increase your websites ranking in Search Engines that don’t cost anything and will increase the amount of calls your business receives!
1. First choose your main keywords for your business. Imagine yourself in your potential clients shoes and try to understand what words they would type into a search engine to find your business. They may be things like, “marketing Saskatoon, welding Warman, etc.”
2. Pick yo
ur main keyword for every page and focus on using that word in many places throughout it. Be careful though, if you use this word too many times you run the possibility of the page losing importance, as it will confuse Search Engines. Essentially write for humans first, search engines second.
3. The placement of your primary keywords is also important. Make sure to have your main keywords included in not only your body content but also your headline and sub-headline.
4. Include keywords in images and URL of the website. When you have a picture on your website, make sure the file name has your keyword in it (ex: mykeyword.jpg). Also, it helps if your website address has your keywords in it (ex: www.stealthwd.ca/saskatoon-web-design).
5. Creating links for other web pages to your website. This has been the trump card of getting your website to the top of search engines since the dawn of the Internet and is still one of the most important elements to SEO today.
Search En
gine Optimization (SEO) is a science in itself so it’s difficult to include everything but hopefully these tips will get you started. If you need any assistance with this
please feel free to give me a call and I’ll walk you through it.
Have a great month and be sure to check out next months article where I’ll give you tips on boosting your business with Social Media!
Cheers and talk soon,
Ryan S. Yedersberger
Having trouble with your current website? Need someone to talk to regarding a website idea? Contact my team at Stealth Web Designs located on 8th Street East right here in beautiful Saskatoon.
