Last months column focused on “How do Search Engines, (a.k.a. Google) work”? We said that there were two factors which influence how Google finds and ranks your website: Content and Link Analysis and discussed the Content part of the equation. (To read last months column go to www.peninsulawebdesign.com and click Blog.) This month’s column will focus on the second part of the equation, Link Analysis.
A website’s ranking in Google is based partly on the websites that link to it. Both the quantity and quality of websites which link to your website influence your website’s ranking in Google. Google counts the number of links a website receives as part of its ranking assessment, interpreting a link from website A to website B as a vote by website A for website B. Votes cast by websites that are considered important weigh more heavily. [1] For example, a link from the Wall Street Journal’s website to your website would count very heavily towards you website’s ranking.
Google’s algorithms can distinguish natural links from unnatural links. Natural links to your website develop as part of the dynamic nature of the web when other websites find your content valuable and think it would be helpful to their visitors. Unnatural links to your website are placed their specifically to make your website look more popular to the search engines. Examples of unnatural links are links schemes that promise to increase your website’s rank, services that submit automatic queries to Google to boost your website’s rank or any other form of trickery designed to artificially promote you website. A good rule of thumb is would I feel good explaining what I have done to someone else. Another useful test is to ask, “Does this help my visitors?” [1]
There are several ways to find out who is linking to your website. Type “link:www.yourwebsite.com” in the Google’s search textbox or “link:http://www.yourwebsite.com” in the Yahoo’s search textbox. I personally found that Yahoo provided more accurate information.
Don’t wait for the Search Engines to find you, go to them and tell them about your website.
The Big Three: Google, Yahoo, and MSN do provide submission forms for website owners to submit their website for inclusion. It can take some time for the search engines to include your website in their index. If they haven’t indexed your website within a month, try resubmitting your website again.
Search Engines are a very complicated topic. Google and the other major players are constantly tweaking their algorithms to improve service and stay ahead of all the computer hacks who are trying to trick their way to the top of the listings. It is a classic game of cat and mouse. Their algorithms are a closely guarded secret for good reason.
[1] www.google.com/support/webmasters
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Search Engine Basics 101 – Part II
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Search Engine Basics 101
How do Search Engines, (a.k.a. Google) work? A potential web visitor enters a word or phrase into Google’s search box and the results are matched against Google’s database. The “hits” are then presented to the visitor in order of Google’s estimation of their relevance. Currently, there are two factors that influence how Google finds and ranks your website: Content and Link Analysis. We will discuss the first part of the equation, Content, in this month’s column.
Content is the keywords that describes your website to your audience and Google. Content needs to be included in both your website’s verbiage and HTML tags. Content embedded in images or Flash multimedia is ignored by Google. Google’s web crawler is not able to read images or Flash multimedia.
Let’s look into how to determine the best keywords for your website. First, brainstorm and write down any keywords that you think a visitor might enter into Google that could lead them to your website. Good sources for brainstorming keywords are friends, coworkers, and your competitor’s website. Next, narrow down the number of keywords to a reasonable number, appropriate for the size of your website. If you include too many keywords in your website, this is called “keyword stuffing”, your website run’s the risk of being penalized by Google.
Keyword selection needs to be general enough so that potential visitors are actually using them when searching the web, but specific enough so that Google doesn’t return a zillion hits. For example, if you are in the art business, a good choice for some of your keywords may be “art, paintings, Door County sunsets, artist, John Johnson”.
There are many ways to “fool” search engines when designing your websites. Some of these ways, include keyword stuffing, invisible text (white font color on white background), and many others over the years. They may get your website high rankings for a while, but the search engines always catch on and make the necessary adjustments. Once they do catch up to the offender, their websites are penalized or blacklisted completely. Be sure to play by the rules.
Visitor friendly websites translate into Search Engine friendly websites. Provide your website visitors with good, high quality content, especially on your website’s home page. Give your visitors the information they are looking for when they are on the web.
Content is the keywords that describes your website to your audience and Google. Content needs to be included in both your website’s verbiage and HTML tags. Content embedded in images or Flash multimedia is ignored by Google. Google’s web crawler is not able to read images or Flash multimedia.
Let’s look into how to determine the best keywords for your website. First, brainstorm and write down any keywords that you think a visitor might enter into Google that could lead them to your website. Good sources for brainstorming keywords are friends, coworkers, and your competitor’s website. Next, narrow down the number of keywords to a reasonable number, appropriate for the size of your website. If you include too many keywords in your website, this is called “keyword stuffing”, your website run’s the risk of being penalized by Google.
Keyword selection needs to be general enough so that potential visitors are actually using them when searching the web, but specific enough so that Google doesn’t return a zillion hits. For example, if you are in the art business, a good choice for some of your keywords may be “art, paintings, Door County sunsets, artist, John Johnson”.
There are many ways to “fool” search engines when designing your websites. Some of these ways, include keyword stuffing, invisible text (white font color on white background), and many others over the years. They may get your website high rankings for a while, but the search engines always catch on and make the necessary adjustments. Once they do catch up to the offender, their websites are penalized or blacklisted completely. Be sure to play by the rules.
Visitor friendly websites translate into Search Engine friendly websites. Provide your website visitors with good, high quality content, especially on your website’s home page. Give your visitors the information they are looking for when they are on the web.
Check back next month for Part II of Search Engine Basics 101.
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Effective Website Marketing
How can you get more potential customers to visit your business' website? There are many ways which include the obvious to the not so obvious. Lets start out with the so called obvious that are sometimes overlooked.
Include your website's URL (http://www.yourwebsitename.com/) on every piece of printed material you pass on to your customers. The list includes business cards, invoices, brochures, etc. Your website's URL is just as important as your business' physical address or phone number. Be sure to include it on all your business' printed documents.
Be sure to mention your website's URL in all traditional media advertising such as newspaper, magazine, radio, etc. Think of your website as an supplemental source of information for your traditional media ad. Capture your readers attention with the ad, then draw them to your website for additional information or to place an order.
Start asking your customers for their email address when they make a purchase. Before you say, "How am I going to get my customers give me their email addresses", give them a reason to do so. How about emailing them a discount coupon good for there next purchase. Everyone wants to save money!
Now that you have all these email adresses, start sending out emails to your customers promoting sales in your store. If you have an online store, now you have a way to keep in touch with your out of town customers. Your market has now expanded beyond Door County!
Include your website's URL (http://www.yourwebsitename.com/) on every piece of printed material you pass on to your customers. The list includes business cards, invoices, brochures, etc. Your website's URL is just as important as your business' physical address or phone number. Be sure to include it on all your business' printed documents.
Be sure to mention your website's URL in all traditional media advertising such as newspaper, magazine, radio, etc. Think of your website as an supplemental source of information for your traditional media ad. Capture your readers attention with the ad, then draw them to your website for additional information or to place an order.
Start asking your customers for their email address when they make a purchase. Before you say, "How am I going to get my customers give me their email addresses", give them a reason to do so. How about emailing them a discount coupon good for there next purchase. Everyone wants to save money!
Now that you have all these email adresses, start sending out emails to your customers promoting sales in your store. If you have an online store, now you have a way to keep in touch with your out of town customers. Your market has now expanded beyond Door County!
Next Month's Topic: Search Engine Optimization - a.k.a. Tell Google About Your Website
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Build It and They Will Come...Or Will They?
So you have built a new website for your business, but how do you know if anyone is actually visiting your website? And if so, who are your visitors?
Google provides a great new service for monitoring your website which shows you all kinds of useful information. It is called Google Analytics and best of all, the service is provided free of charge!
The information Google Analytics provides you includes:
- Number of Visitors
- New Visitors vs. Returning Visitors
- Geographic Area of your visitors
- What pages of your website your visitors are going to
- How they found your website, and much more!
- Signup for an account with Google
- Configure your account
- Copy and paste some code in your website to allow Google tracking
The complete information for the Google Analytics service can be found at http://www.google.com/analytics
Just as you would want to know the effectiveness of your advertising dollars spent on for example a newspaper ad, you should also know the effectiveness of your website. Website monitoring is critical for measuring the success of your online marketing efforts. By using a product such as Google Analytics, businesses can see how their website is performing and make the necessary adjustments to succeed.
Next Month's Topic: Effective Website Marketing
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