One of the most common questions that clients ask us when reviewing their current web marketing is “why doesn’t my site rank well in Google, and how can I improve it?” The first thing to understand is that SEO isn’t an exact science, however, there are some pretty standard things that your web developers should be doing to give your site the best possible chance of receiving a decent ranking. In my experience search engine optimisation is something which is usually an afterthought if your site is being developed by an in-house IT department, whereas using an external design agency can be a real bonus as they will likely be more aware of the best tactics.
There are some commonly used and highly regarded techniques which can be utilised to achieve better results for a particular keyword or keywords. It should also be noted that there are many other external factors which contribute to a satisfactory search engine ranking of which you are unlikely to have any real control but can also make a huge difference. It is estimated that several hundred criteria are taken into account by Search Engines when indexing a site. The most important ones are thought to include: Anchor Text, Site Popularity, Link Context, Topical Links, Title Tags, Keywords, Site Language, Content, and Site Maturity.
Different Title Tags on each page
It is believed that Google matches the words within a document to the words in the title in order to see if the content is relevant to the title and therefore genuine and worth a higher ranking. Therefore having every page with simply the website name may not be as effective as having a unique title for each page
Content / Word Density
It is understood that one of the ranking criteria used by Google is linked to word density. In recent years it has become more obvious that search engines are looking much more closely at the content rather than the tags as this provides search results that fit more closely with the patterns of users searching for content. In short all web pages should contain content that is refreshed often, relevant to the pages, punchy with a good keyword density and with enough content to gives pages some weight.
Use of <h> Tags
Another commonly used tactic is the use of the <h2> and <h3> tags in order to give a higher priority to key words and phrases within the site. Use of sub-headings and key areas of interest highlighted via the above mentioned tags will provide better results for the particular keywords contained within. This gives the search engines a clearer picture of what your site is actually about and makes it much easier for them to server up your site as a result to a query that doesn’t exactly match with your pre-defined keywords. It can also be the difference between your site and a competitor site.
Site Links
Site links are essential in SEO. When indexing a site search engines look for the links into and out of your site in order to traverse your site and collect data on each URL. However, they also look for those links to be in-context, meaning that the link must come from or lead to a site that is relevant to the page that is being indexed. Getting the site listed on as many local business directories and any other relevant portals will improve the search engine ranking and give the site a more mature appearance to the search engine. This is improved even further when the link is reciprocated so providing a page with links is also likely to help in the longer term.
Site Map
A site map will help the site to be more accurately linked. The site-map should not be the sort of site map that helps users to find their way through the site but rather an XML-based document at the root of the HTML pages which contains information regarding each of the pages within the site. The site map usually contains some or all of the following: URL, last updated date, relevance to surrounding pages and so on. Keeping this document accurate and up-to-date will ensure that search engines always have the latest information on the site and ensure that the site is indexed correctly.
Popularity
Many search engines include a criterion for the number of times users click on web sites that are returned in search results. The more often a site is selected from the results the higher the ranking it receives. There is no easy answer to this problem as you want to achieve more visits to your site to improve the ranking but in order to receive those additional visitors you need your site to appear higher in the search rankings! The best way to tackle this is to try and create a buzz about the site – even if only on a small scale by sending email announcements to lists of potential customers, sending newsletters or by hosting events at the site in order to gain some local media coverage.
URL / Domain Name
The question of what to name a site is always an important one. When selecting a name it is most common to think in terms of the business name or a word / phrase which has meaning to the project in hand. In this case the name of the development was selected for the primary URL. Spend some time could searching for an effective domain name which will not only be more memorable but also closer to the likely search criteria of the potential customers for the development. When choosing a name you should always put yourself in the shoes of the end user – are they ever going to think to search under the name you have in mind?
Achieving good SEO can be time consuming and laborious process however it can be very effective when it comes to improving the ranking of your site. However organic SEO will NEVER be as effective in the short term as a good targeted campaign including both organic and pay-per-click methods. This is the only way to even come close to truly controlling the position of a site within Google.