Improve your Google Visibility and Increase Traffic

Top Ten Tips: Improve your Google Visibility and Increase Traffic

The key thing to remember about Google and other search engines is that their role is to provide the best information available from a choice of millions of websites. When thinking about optimising your site for search engines, use the following list as a guide to check against. There is no quick and easy way to compete for a place on the first few pages of a Google search , but through hard work and a little bit of technical know how, you can raise the profile of your site and increase traffic as a result.

1. Analyse your keywords - Use a web analytics tool and look at your stats to find out what keywords your target market are using to search for you with. Use these keywords throughout to optimise your site.

2. Add regular content - If Google can’t find much content on your site they won’t recommend it to users as much as your competitor who adds daily content. Google likes to offer websites that are rich with content and regular updates as their reputation as the number one search engine relies on finding the most update relevant and useful information out there. Add regular content such as news articles, product reviews, company news and useful information relevant to your target market.

3. Don’t duplicate - When you start to add content to your site, don’t be tempted to use free articles or product reviews. If content is not original, Google will mark you down and you will disappear faster than it takes to write a press release. If you don’t have time to write regular content for your website find someone who does, the results will speak for themselves.

If content is not original, Google will mark you down...

4. Clean up your code - Make sure your website has been written in clean, readable, html. Cleaner coding is much easier to search and therefore your site will be easier to find and recommend if it is clear and tidy. If you designed your site go back and check the coding, if you didn’t ask the designer or agency to do it as part of the design and development process.

5. Title tags are more important than you think - Remember that the title of your page is what will appear in the search results. Give your users a reason to click on your site with a very informative title tag. Use no more than 60 letters and include a keyword.

6. Make sure you have a site map - A simple guide to the content of your website will improve your listing. Make sure you upload it to Google and they will index all your pages. This is a quick and easy way to ensure you are visible on Google and other search engines.

...it would be beneficial to have links from influential sites such as trade bodies and review sites...

8. Clean up your links - Your inbound links should come from good quality websites that are relevant to your market. For example, if you are an automotive retailer, it would be beneficial to have links from influential sites such as trade bodies and review sites. If content is not original, Google will mark you down as these will do more damage than good.

9. Keep up with Google’s ever changing algorithms - Google made over 450 changes to it’s search criteria last year. This means that you have to stay ahead of the game when it comes to making sure your site gets listed and stays where you want it to be. Assess your activities on an ongoing basis and make changes where necessary.

10. Play by the rules - If you spam the search engines, use duplicate content or fill your site with thousands of inbound links, Google will penalise you. Making your site Google friendly and keeping it that way takes a great deal of hard work and some technical know how. If you put the effort in to your website, it will pay you huge dividends.