OMG – this article is the next to last in the Top 10 Search Tips! I’ll keep this short: I’ve provided these search tips during some recent presentations and they were well-received by the participants. I thought it would be beneficial to post them here. I hope they’re able to help you in your search efforts.
Top 10 Search Tips – Tip #9 – Do What Google Recommends. Sorry if that sounds too apparent but it’s true. I’ve been on consulting engagements where the client regularly tests, adjusts, measures, budjets, uses analysis websites and utilizes all the scientific and advanced forms of SEO while their image tags remain blank and the titles to all of their pages are exactly the same. I’m not saying they’re anything less than great people and do an awesome job at their work. It’s just that sometimes, in the rush to the finish line, some of the basics can get overlooked.
Relevance – Again, not to beat one word into anyone’s head but the relevance of your website in relation to your keywords is important. This might also sound pretty basic but keep it top of mind whenever there’s copy to be written for the web. Keyword inclusion should come right after grammar and getting the point across.
Sitemap – Submit a sitemap for your website and update it regularly. There are a slew of free sitemap generators out there – just google “sitemap generator” and voila, choices galore. Make sure the sitemap is in XML format, upload to the root of your website and let the search engines know it’s there (google “submit sitemap google“, “submit sitemap bing“, “submit sitemap yahoo” for instructions).
Web Page Structure – This may be over the technical heads of some people in terms of remedying this issue but the basics remain the same:
- Make sure title, description, keyword and image tags are populated
- Ensure title and description are at the top of the page and definitely above any scripting
- Keep words per page between 300 and 600
- Make sure all links are active and point to something real (Googlebots HATE 404 errors)
- Make sure each page links back to your main menu pages (home, about, contact us, products, services)
Submit Website – All search engines have a way to submit your site for crawling. Chances are excellent they will find your site anyway but this is a good excercise to ensure they find it sooner than later. Each time you update your sitemap is a good time to resubmit.
Analytics – Take your pick but Google is the 800 pound Gorilla as of this writing. Unless there’s a serious upheaval in the search world, this trend should continue for the foreseeable future. If it’s not installed already, get it. If it’s installed, it doesn’t work unless it’s checked regularly and analyzed.
404 Pages – Don’t let your browser take control when there’s a broken link – incoming or from within your site. Make sure the site has it’s own 404 page and that it works.
Google happily suggests about a billion other areas to attend to in order to keep site structure up to par. It’s a never ending job but one that pays dividends when done right.
Good Luck and Happy Webbing.
Tags: Search Marketing, Search Marketing Activity, Search Marketing Testing, Top Ten Search Marketing Tips