How to influence Google Part One. Your actual website.

The purpose of any search engine, is to collect and present the most relevant results (or websites) when someone is searching for something online. The more relevant a website appears to the search engines, the more likely it is to appear at the Top-Of-The-List.

The first part involves making your website more relevant. This is achieved in a number of ways.

1. The words on your website. The search engines can “Read” all of the text within your website using this to help assess a websites’ relevance. Example: If you want to rank for “Pest control Caboolture” you need to have this mentioned within the words on your website to even have a chance of appearing in the search engines.
2. The search engines cannot read what appears in images. If you have a website which is all photos, graphics and very little text, this can limit the likelihood of ranking on the first few pages (if at all).
3. Make sure your web designer/developer has added the necessary code into the background of your website. These are called Meta Tags.

The more competitive the industry, the more important all of this is.

In past articles, I have covered topics like spelling, fonts and colours and layout. The trick is to find the right balance between a great visual impact and great website relevance to ensure a successful and profitable website.

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Another topic (that I will cover more in-depth in my next article), is Link Popularity. This refers to how many other websites link or “point” to yours. E.g. Like when a Sensis Yellowpages listing features a website link back to their website.

Go to www.hotfrog.com.au (an online business directory) to create a listing for your business with as many details as possible. The more detailed you are, the more likely the search engines will deem your Hotfrog listing as relevant. Remember my first point about the text within your website…treat Hotfrog like you are writing the words for your actual website. Once you verify your listing, you can add images, opening hours, service/product summaries and more. A must have for every small business (even ones without a website).