by Patrick Zuluaga, PMZ Marketing [Download Article]
As business managers and owners we often ask the question “How can we improve our search engine results listing with Google and Yahoo?” Most of the time web specialists will reply in their own technical jargon that many of us think is some sort of alien language.
I have written this article so that business managers and owners can understand in their own business language what has to be done and how to view the results from your business prospective.
- The first concept to understand is that no web specialist in search engine optimisation (define SEO) can absolutely guarantee that your search engine results listing with Google and Yahoo will be on the top except perhaps with your own unique business name. The reason for this is simple – all major search engines like Google, Yahoo and now Bing keep their search engine results algorithm top secret. Their business model is driven by providing relevant results to web visitors any manipulation of their model would be disastrous for their own business.
- The second concept is that getting your web pages listed on the 1st, 2nd or 3rd search engine result pages (define SERP) is dependent on how relevant or optimised is your web content for the search term and what competition exists for that search term or keyword phrase.
As a business person we now are in a position to develop a realistic expectation for the search engine optimisation effort. Properly optimized and relevant content that web visitors view will move your web pages in the right direction for your business. By the way, this process takes effect over a period of months and does not happen overnight. Your understanding and appreciation of these concepts and expectations will allow you to take ownership of the business outcomes by driving the actions listed below:
- Research and select the keyword phrase/s that your target markets use to search for the products and services that you offer. It is critically important to conduct the proper research and selection of the keyword phrases to be utilized in your optimization effort.
- Whenever feasible acquire a domain name that will include your selected keyword phrase (www.selectedkeywordphrase.com.au) and link this to your optimised web page/site.
- Ensure that the text content for your web page to be optimised employs the selected keyword phrases in a logical and in an appropriate manner to convey your marketing message for your web visitor. Your selected keyword phrase must be utilised in the following sections of your webpage (see screenshot below):
- Main webpage heading
- Sub-heading
- 1st Sentence of each paragraph under a heading or sub-heading
- Within the body of the paragraph
- Break your web page content into logical sections with sub-headings and not more than 4 to 5 sentences in the paragraph with bullet points to list key points.
- Ensure that any photo image used to support the web content (a picture is still worth a thousand words) will use alternative text or “alt-text” behind the image.
- Ensure that your “behind the scenes” web page information is updated with your optimised keyword phrase in the following areas:
- Web Page Title
- Web Page Description
- Web Page Keywords
These “behind the scenes” information is updated in meta-tags that the search engine will pick-up and use in the results listing.
Completion of your optimised keyword phrases in your web pages will improve your search results listing over time as web visitors find and view your content on the Internet.
Keep in mind that in order to get real business results from the increase in web visitors you must provide content that resonates with your target customers and drives them to take the ‘call to actions’ to begin the process of converting their interest into your customer.
Apply these guidelines and you will get Better Marketing Results for your search engine optimisation efforts.
