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How can I get the top search engine ranking for my company?
I've been spending the past few weeks redesigning my website and making it more search engine friendly. I think I've done a good job, but we're still not showing up on the first couple of pages... especially when someone searches with location. How else can I get my page to rank up top? Is that something that you have to pay for? Any insight to this process would be great... thanks.
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10 Answers
Though you didn't say specifically, but from what you did say I'm making the assumption that 1) you are a local business relying on local search, 2) this is not a new site, and 3) you've done your keyword research and you know what keywords you want to show up for.
Here are some ways that I would approach your problem:
On-site optimization
1) Research your competitors' sites. Remember, you don't have to be the best site on the block; you only need to be slightly better than the one in first position.
How are they using your keywords?
How does your copy compare to theirs?
How about your site structure? Do you know about siloing? Are you doing it? (Google "Silo+Bruce Clay")
Do you have internal linking on your keywords?
Are you using search engine friendly URLs?
Are your title tags optimized?
Is it better than your competitors in all these areas?
Off-site Optimization
1) Build inbound links, preferably linked on your keywords.
----Research your competitor with link:www.theirsite.com in Google. See who's linking to them. Go after the same links AND MORE.
----Write copy that is remarkable or that deserves to be linked to. Offer free advice is one way to do that.
----Visit blogs, forums and other sites where you can leave comments on your topics and do so. Be sure to have your URL associated with your profile. Make yourself look smart. No, make yourself look brilliant because your competitor is smart and you need to be smarter.
----Write articles and submit them to REPUTABLE article directories. Have them link back to you. Don't forget to sound smart.
----Create a Facebook Fan Page. Post brilliantly. And Tweet too while you're at it. Oh, and while you're at it, post brilliantly in LinkedIn and other social media sites, and make sure your url is associated with your profile.
Ok, so that's some of the standard, run of the mill stuff any site needs to do. You, though are lucky because you are a local business and you have other ways you can dominate that first page in Google. Actually even if you're not a local biz, here are some other tips for increasing your visibility on that first page:
1) Join Google Places (these are the listings that come up by the map). Be sure to add your keywords in your description and if you can, without bribery, get your clients to post reviews.
2) Join local directories like CitySearch, MerchantCircle, Yelp, YellowPages, and others. Links to these often come up on the first page and visitors do click over to there.
3) Create informative videos and then post to Youtube. Use keywords in your titles and descriptions, as well as your URL in the very first part of the description. Google loves video.
4) Send out press releases. Paid are better since you can include a link to your website. Pay even more and you can include keyword links in the copy. Google like press releases too.
All that should be enough to get you on the first page in many positions (organic listing, Google Places, directory, press release, video and article links). But if you've somehow managed to completely flop at this and you're nowhere to be found on page one, there is still one final position you can dominate without fail - and that is in Google's paid ads.
I love Adzzoo for this: http://katandmouse.adzzoo.biz. It's a great service that not only pushes your geo-targeted ads out to the google network and Facebook, and to GPS systems, it also does all the local directory listing, including Google, Bing and Yahoo Local for you. You may not need the ads in Google since you're already dominating that page, but don't forget that these ads go out to thousands and thousands of other sites, and better yet, they're GEO-TARGETED right to your client's desktop, GPS system and smart phone. Best part is they do the work for you, and after all that optimizing, link building, and commenting, letting someone else do the work is pretty enticing.
Is that enough? I hope I've been of some help. Best of luck to you. --Kathy
Scott:
Since you do not tell us what your address is, I cannot be specific. I focus on teaching small business owners do it yourself marketing techniques since I can brag: "been there, done that". I know first hand all the frustrations. And it took about 2-1/2 years for it to finally all come together.
My three basic steps are:
1. Keyword research. Not necessarily using only Google or other SEO tools alone to tell you what is happening. But determining keyword phrases relevant to your business where there are opportunities. Finding a niche market while not going after keywords used where they is a lot of competition unless you have a big budget.
2. Writing your site content based on those keywords and optimizing for free (organic or natural) search engine results. Trying to differentiate pages based on their own keywords. Keep adding new content regularly. The easiest way is through a blog, and most specifically a WordPress blog in my estimation. (Read more about why I love WordPress at http://diywebjem.com/blog/wordpress/)
3. Marketing through social networking which is a life long process of getting involved and sharing with others while attracting visitors and building backlinks.
I have more hints, tips and free pdf downloads (I do NOT harvest email addresses!) at http://diywebjem.com/ I also regularly post ideas and videos on my blog where you can sign up for RSS feed or email notification. http://diywebjem.com/blog/
All the books and all the courses would like you to believe that all you have to do is follow their steps and you will show up at the top. If that worked, wouldn't everyone be at the top?
I'm sorry, but it just isn't so. You can read a book on brain surgery, but I doubt the patient will live if you try to do it. I have 12 books on plants and landscaping, but I still don't know how to do it the way a pro does. No one with a course under their belt, a certificate in SEO, or who has read a bunch of books can compete with 20 years of experience in marketing and success in SEO.
Truth of the matter is that there are very few people in SEO who can perform. And even those who can perform have a tough time explaining it, especially since every case is different. The public doesn't understand it and it is easy to pull the wool over naive business owners.
If it is any help, in my practice I only accept clients that I know from experience I can get on the first page of Google for the important keywords that people actually use to search for their services.
For a professional for whom clients have a lifetime value over a few thousand dollars, it is a no brainer and they know it is the best investment they could ever make. They earn it back in the first dozen clients and the work keeps on performing for years to come.
At $4,000 (and up, depending on the site), it isn't inexpensive, but it is extraordinarily valuable. Every single one of my clients is on the first page of Google and has been for years. And, I don't charge a maintenance fee. There is no need.
Find a professional with a similar track record and let them do their magic. The time you waste trying to do it yourself will more than cover the cost of doing it right in the first place.
Your question hits the nerve of millions of enterprises around the world. Matching the keyword phrases you define for your metadata (you need to do that from the backend) with the content is important. I just wanted to turn your attention to couple other issues that might be missed by many. LINKS! You need to create as many links as possible to your site becuase that's how the search engines view your website as an authority on the net. Also, don't forget that appearing at the top spots in Search Engines doesn't have to be in relation to content on your website; it can be in the form of video, voice recordings which sometimes could be so powerful and achieve results in a relatively short time. Finally, you need to create your Social Media presence becuase that is important for SEs... Good luck and let us know how it goes
Excellent, Kathy.
I've found that many people don't select the most appropriate keywords. They tend to use what they think people will use to search, instead of what people really do use to search.
Well, this is the million-dollar question! Kathy pretty much has it covered, but it's a never-ending process. Here are a few additional notes:
You can start your keyword research using Google's Keyword Tool: https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
This will tell you what keywords have the highest search volume as well as their seasonal nature. Landscaping terms online are highly season in temperate climates with peaks generally in the spring, so be prepared for fluctuations in traffic as a result.
You should also check that your domain name is registered for at least the next 5, preferably 10 years. One of the markers of illegitimate sites is that the domain name is registered for less than 1 yr. Spammers will burn and churn domain names, so you want to look as legit as possible in that respect. (I'm assuming that you do have your own domain name rather than yoursite.wordpress.com or similar. Make sure you have a top level domain: yoursite.com)
In my time as a landscape architect (before moving into web marketing full time) I created http://LandscapeArchitectureResource.com a site dedicated to helping landscape architects and designers communicate and promote their work. You can create a free account there with links that point back to your website.
Any quality, relevant links that point to your website help educate the search engines on the nature and importance of your site. So look for other sites like this as well. In addition to increasing your inbound link popularity, you'll be engaging with others in the industry and it's one more place for potential customers to find you.
Landscape Leadership http://bit.ly/9gitaZ is a paid member site focused on marketing for the green industry. They also have a good book written specifically for landscape marketing and some webinars on industry-specific web marketing which you may find helpful.
One final note: none of this will happen overnight. It can take months for your site to appear in Google's indexes, after you submit it (http://www.google.com/addurl/?continue=/addurl) and the web is constantly changing. This is not a job that gets done and then forgotten about, it's a continual process. lol for some of us it's a lifestyle!
Keep an eye on your progress using Google Webmaster Tools (www.google.com/webmasters/tools/) and by searching site:http://yoursite.com to see what's actually in the index. And be sure to use an analytics tool, such as Google Analytics to see what's working and what's not.
Best of luck!
My experience is that Google has picked up new domains within a week if they are properly prepared.
Short term PPC. Buy your way to the top.
Long term organic. Two things you have to do. 1.) Structure your site properly to be crawlable and pound your keywords; 2.) Get a linkback strategy going. The more "authority" (a.k.a views) the referring site is, and it's relevancy to your topic are important.
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