Posted: 11th May 2015
It isn’t rocket science, says Susan Hallam of Hallam Communications, but it helps to know where to start. Here she offers a few tips…
Research your key phrases
Find out what phrase people type into the search engine when they’re searching for your service. Ask your clients how they search for you – what they say might surprise you. And remember, hardly anybody types just one word into a search engine; we’ve learned to use a three or more word phrase to get good results. Make use of keyword research tools to help you understand searching behaviour.
The Title of every web page plays double duty: first of all, it influences the page’s position in the search engine rankings and, secondly, it is also the clickable link to your site in the search engine results. Get your key phrase in your Title Tag, and avoid dead words like Welcome or Home. Every page should have a unique Title Tag describing what the page is about.
Other sites need to link to your web site – but you don’t want just any old links. They have to be from quality sites that form part of your business’ topical community. Links from professional associations, government or education bodies, directories or other expert sites are probably the most important factor in boosting your credibility and your search engine rankings.
The search engines can’t watch Flash movies, can’t see your pictures, and can’t pull down menus. Think “text.” Search engine friendly websites have text links to all the content on the site, with descriptive text on your images and links.
Create great copy about your products and services, and you’ll be using your key phrases naturally. There isn’t any magic formula or percentage for key phrases. Just focus on your customers, not the search engines.
Don’t cheat
“Black hat” optimisation techniques try to improve your rankings in an unethical manner. Keyword stuffing, buying link packages, doorway pages, invisible text are all ways to break the search engine rules. If Google was serious enough to ban BMW from its index for cheating, then it will certainly ban you if you do the same.
To find out more about search engine optimisation or to subscribe to Susan’s internet marketing blog and factsheets, visit www.shcl.co.uk or email her at Susan.Hallam@shcl.co.uk
