Getting to the first page of Google can have a tremendous impact on your bottom line. With a dominant share of all internet searches, meeting Google’s requirements for good site design is very important. These design factors are the hallmark of great SEO. There are literally hundreds of things you need to do to command a top internet position in today’s hypercompetitive business world. Knowing where to start can often be overwhelming. So here is a checklist of 5 high impact design elements which can help your seo efforts.
Google Looks For Keywords In All Parts Of Your Site
Getting ranked by Google starts long before a reader gets to the first paragraph. Google begins to index your site based not just upon relevant content, but multiple uses of a keyword in prominent parts of the site like your domain name, your title, and your headings, and in links pointing to your site pages.
Google evaluates these factors to see how specific a hit your site will be to fulfill the user’s data request in the search engine. The fact that a keyword is found in headings, in the name of the site, and domain increase the chances Google will evaluate your site as a relevant search result.
Here is an example. Put the word “Philly” in the search box. You can put Philadelphia, or Philadelphia web design but this phrases is the best example I could find since it is used to reference both terms
Notice how Googel highlights the first six hits that have “Philly” in the name. Not to say that every hit returned will have the keyword in the domain or title, but it can give you a boost. In this case, it does.
In fact the first site listed is actually called “Philly”.
Meta Data Will Help Google Find Your Site Faster
Meta data is still an important ranking factor. Meta data, which is nothing more than identifying tags in the computer source code, helps Google determine what your site is about. While it is not as important as it once was, the meta description is still a component in SEO optimization. These short 60 character sentences should read like an advertisement that includes the dominant keywords for each page. I put a sample below.
<meta name=”description” content=“Philly.com is your source for all Philadelphia. 24-hour breaking news, sports, weather, entertainment and more.”>
Focus on Content, Specific Content
Google provides content to billions of searchers, by indexing millions of sources including everything from documents, blogs, pictures, reports, or anything that can be digitized and put online.
Google prefers original content, original images, original material to draw the audience to their search engine. Adwords, which is Google‘s primary source of revenue appears at the top of almost all searches. Copying makes your site less credible to Google, thus putting you at risk of a lower page rank. Building good content will require a disciplined daily plan but here are a few simple ways to get you started:
- Feature customer stories on your subject
- Write commentary on existing news stories in your industry
- Post links with opinions to useful articles and make sure they link back to your site
Pictures Can Help Bring Traffic To Your Site, But Google Sees Them Different Than Readers Do.
Google views everything as information. How that information is viewed is different with different types of media. Non-conventional information like pictures, sounds, etc have to have keywords for Google to index them. Here is an example of tagging on Google Blogger account.
A reader sees a picture as a picture
But Google references the same picture by the tags
The benefits can be huge. I serched “success” on Google and midway on the search result page Google displayed a picture.
Google picked up the image related to this query and added it to page one to enhance the user experience. The picture is valuable because when a user clicks the image you have the option of going to the site it came from. This can greatly improve your search results and traffic volume.
Promote and Link
This final tip relates heavily to social media and the impact it can have for you in ranking on Google. There are two primary points to remember when you decide to use social media impact to help your SEO results with Google. Keep in mind:
- Social media is a process that takes time to influence your long term positioning on Google
- Social media is a critical part of a good SEO program
Consistent posting and linking to sites like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Google Plus, Orkut, Linkedin (and more) can have a very positive impact on your web marketing. It represents thousands of dollars of free advertising to businesses in Philadelphia alone. It also provides a low pressure method to follow up with contacts and find new sources of business. Googlelooks for sites that are heavily linked from other sites and social media engines. Make sure social media is a part of your online program.