We often get inquiries from prospective clients who would like us to build them a new website. They believe that their current website must be “bad” because it's not listed in the search engines. They're convinced that a new website will automatically ensure a top ten Google rank.
If you believe that line of thinking, I have good news and bad news. The good news is, you don't need an entirely new website (assuming your current site is built on W3C standards). The bad news is there is no way to automatically ensure a top ten ranking.
But now here's another bit of good news; there are a few steps you can take to improve your SE ranking. Here are a few of the easier ones:
** Use Your Keywords
This might seem kind of silly, but I've seen it happen quite often… a small business owner spends the time and effort to do the keyword research, create a list of desirable keywords, brainstorm a few longtail ideas, do the competitive analysis… but then it all stops there. I've consulted with more than one business owner who said “My keywords are X, Y and Z” but upon reviewing the website, we'd discover it was definitely not optimized for X, Y, or Z.
Keyword optimization is not simply research with a wing and a prayer sprinkled in. Once you develop your list of words and phrases, you must incorporate those words into your website.
. Add your keywords to your title tags.
. Add your keywords to your headlines.
. Add your keywords to your first paragraph at least twice.
. Add your keywords to your following paragraphs one time.
. Add your keywords to your alt tag (Please note, your alt tags are meant for usability, not SE optimization. Use of your keywords in your alt tags will help the site visitor determine the focus of the page.)
** Add More Text to Your Home Page
There has been lots and lots of information about not using Flash or splash pages as the website home page. Unfortunately, many marketers (and professional web designers) have simply replaced the Flash with large static graphics.
Your home page is arguably the most important page on your site. Since it's the page that most often gets linked to, it's usually the page that the spiders will land on and crawl first.
Remember, the spiders can not read graphics. If there is no text, or not enough text, to tell the spiders what your page is about, chances are it won't get indexed favorably. You need enough text on your home page to convince the spiders that you are the authority on the subject that you are trying to rank for. How much is enough? Personally, I like to see at least 300 words; 600-800 words is ideal.
** Make Sure You Have a Unique Title Tag for Each and Every Page
This step is so vitally important, but believe it or not, it's extremely easy to miss. If you're using a content management system, your title tags might be created automatically; and if you're using a WYSIWYG template-based editor (such as Dreamweaver or Expression Web) your title tag might be written into the template, resulting in the same title for each and every page.
This is bad, bad, bad. Because the title tag is generally the first thing the spiders read, it carries a lot of weight. If you use the same title on each and every page, by the time the spider gets to the second or third instance of the same title tag, it will assume that page has already been indexed.
Use a unique title for each page and place your keywords or keyword phrases as close to the front of the tag as possible.
** Don't Go Overboard with Web 2.0
Web 2.0 technology provides remarkable ways for your human visitors to interact with you on your website. But your human visitors will never find your site if the search engine spider don't index it.
I'm not suggesting that you eliminate Web 2.0 entirely. In fact, I think you should embrace it. But be sure to incorporate “plain text” with the new technology to give the spiders something to crawl. If your top menu bar is written in Ajax, include a plain text menu at the bottom of the page. If your page is nothing more than a video or a downloadable podcast, include a text-based synopsis of the video or audio file. Try to incorporate at least some keyword-rich text on every page for the spiders to sink their teeth into.
** Find a Few Relevant Linking Partners
Remember, we're trying to convince the search engines that your website is the authority. And in Google's logic, if other sites think you're the authority, there's a good chance that you probably are.
Look for a few relevant linking partners (relevancy is key), try industry directories, hub sites, link exchanges (be careful with this tactic!), and other sites of authority. And be sure to use your keywords in your anchor text.
So, in a nutshell, to improve your chances of getting a better search engine ranking, you want to use your keywords correctly, provide enough keyword-rich text, and find a few (or more) keyword-relevant inbound links. It sounds simple enough, but it does require some dedicated time and ongoing effort. So roll up your sleeves and get to work.
