Search Engine Optimization
Writen by Thomas OKeefeWhen Yahoo went live in 1994 it was purely a directory of websites. Until the late 1990s Yahoo’s directory was still the most popular way to find information on the web however with the massive amount of new pages being added daily it was becoming extremely inadequate.
Then along came Google which indexed the massive amounts of new pages being added to the internet. So now instead of praying that Yahoo will include your site in their directory the focus has now shifted to search engine optimization – the art of enhancing your website to increase your listing on search engines for various keywords.
To get a greater feel for how Google and Yahoo index the internet I’ve included a few simple tips on how to optimize your site for maximum traffic in an effort to understand how information is indexed.
Check your Title Tags and your Description Tags
For search engine optimization your website’s title and description tags are essential for free traffic.
The Title tags should be short, to the point and different for each page on your site. Creating unique titles for each of your pages will enable the search engines to direct traffic to not only your main page but also to these back pages. Allowing searches to be directed to these pages will result in visitors finding exactly what their looking for without getting lost via your homepage. The fewer clicks a visitor has to perform to get the information they need the more satisfied they’ll be with your site.
Please Note: Resist the urge to create long winded Title tags. Numerous keywords or phrases will dilute their effectiveness and quality.
The description tag should be more descriptive and also repeat the main phrase of your Title tag – in this case “market research.” It is also very important for this term to appear in the body of your website for that particular page.
Both the Title tags and the Description tags appear in search results for Google (and other search engines) and have become far more important these days than the tag. Do not limit your title tag to just your firm’s name since chances are it’s not one of the more popular search terms on the internet. However for branding purposes it’s a good idea to start your Title tag with your firm/site name.
Keyword Ranking Tool
To view the popularity of any word on the internet I recommend using Overture’s (Yahoo) Keyword Selector Tool at http://inventory.overture.com.
Please Note: The most popular terms will not always send the most amount of free traffic since they are highly competitive terms.
Include Keywords in the Body of your Website
Search engines such as Google index every word (and link) on your site so it’s very important to include descriptive keywords and phrases in the body of your site. In the case above the phrase “market research” from the Title and Description tag should also be listed in the body of your page. Unique descriptions, words or phrases are especially important to include on your site since they are less competitive and will drive a targeted audience to your site – however they’ll probably send less traffic.
Add a Site Map
Search engines index the web by moving from link to link and therefore giving them a map to your site is extremely important. A site map should contain the Title of every page on your site and links to those pages. This will ensure that every page on your site has been indexed.
To view an example of a site map please visit Research Connect’s at:
http://www.researchconnect.com/site_map.asp
Please Note: Don’t forget to create a link to your site map from the main page of your website. The search engines need to be able to find the map before they can follow it.
Submit your Site to Google
Once your Meta Tags have been updated, your keywords have been added and your site map has been created it’s a very good idea to submit your site to Google. You can do this by visiting http://www.google.com/addurl/?continue=/addurl
It may take a few weeks to a month for the Googlebot to visit your site but please remain patient and don’t submit your site again for a number of months. The Googlebot will eventually get to your site. Pages that have a page rank of 5 or greater automatically get updated on a more frequent basis.
Please Note: Don’t over submit your site to Google and only submit the main URL. Over submitting will not expedite your listing and could potentially be harmful.
There are other search engines (Yahoo, MSN, AOL) that you can submit your site to but Google is king. For example, on any given day ResearchConnect.com receives approximately 700 visitors from Google whereas the other search engines send under 10 each.
Increase your Google Page Rank
Google ranks every page on a scale from 0 to 10. To view the page rank for any site on the internet download Google’s toolbar at http://toolbar.google.com/.
One way this PR is determined is by the quality and quantity of websites that link to your site. If your site has a PR of 1 and a similar site with a PR of 7 links to your site then that increases the quality of your site in Google’s eyes. The higher your PR the better your placement will be on their site and thus the more traffic you’ll receive.
To increase your PR scour the internet for websites and search engines that will link to your site all while paying attention to their PR. I would stay clear of sites and search engines that require you to pay for that link. The only site that you might want to consider paying for is Yahoo but please note that none of these links will send you a lot of direct traffic. What they’ll do for you is increase your site’s quality in the eyes of Google and thus lead to more traffic via their search engine.
Please Note: Google consistently keeps people on their toes and no one is truly able to figure out how they rank websites. These suggestions will definitely help over time but are not the only criteria Google uses for ranking websites.
** O'Keefe works with new and established websites to maximize the amount of free traffic they receive from search engines such as Google.
For an evaluation of your site please contact O'Keefe at 617-947-8071 or via tom[at]tomokeefe.com.
Tom O'Keefe is an internet business consultant and the founder of Research Connect, Inc., a market research database. O'Keefe works with small businesses and start-ups to help develop an affordable and effective online strategy to maximize traffic and exposure via search engine optimization, internet marketing and web development.
For a website evaluation of your site please contact O'Keefe at 617-947-8071 or via tom[at]tomokeefe.com.
Research Connect is an integrated market research database and research service which connects leading researchers and consultants with the corporate and investment community.
