Get Found Online

Over the last ten years the Internet has fundamentally changed in the way people shop and search for product information. Before the internet businesses used newspapers, TV, billboards and other traditional methods to reach potential clients. Nowadays consumers are more likely to begin their shopping online, using search engines, Facebook and blogs. So it is very important for a company to get found online for keyword terms relating to their products and services, otherwise they risk losing a big segment to the market to their more Internet savvy competitors.

There are two distinct ways for your business to get found using search engines, Pay Per Click (PPC) and Natural Results (organic).

What is Pay Per Click Advertising?

Pay Per Click (PPC) online advertising affords the small & medium business the best bang for their advertising buck. With online PPC advertising you only pay when your ad is clicked and you are able to see all of the figures/statistics about how your campaigns are performing. The PPC ads appear on search engine results pages and are matched to the search terms that the visitor is searching for.

The position of your ad is determined by:

• Your bid amount for the search term (what you spend on the ad)
• The search engine quality score calculated for your ads
• How visitors engage with your website after clicking on the ad

PPC advertising takes the guesswork out of calculating the Return on Investment (ROI), offering clear and easy to understand reports.

What are Natural Results?

Google is constantly crawling websites on the internet and analyzing them. Google uses over 200 signals in determining the order of pages shown in the search results. Some of these signals measure quality of the content on the web page, while other signals are used to determine how relevant a pages is for the keyword terms being searched for. Obviously the better the position a website has in the search results, the better chance it has of attracting potential visitors.

Search Engine Optimisation

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of a website in search engines via the "natural" or un-paid ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results. There are five  5steps in optimising a website for search engines

Step 1: Keyword Research

Keyword research is the art of finding keywords terms that people use when searching online for goods and services. The challenge here is to find keywords that are attainable. This is particularly problematic for new websites, especially if they have few resources at their disposal. When doing your research it is good practice to look for keyword terms made up of several words. Targeting keywords such as "ipods" or "holidays" will prove impossible for small startup websites as these search terms are too competitive. Chose your keyword carefully and do your research.

There are several free tools available to help you with this research:

• https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
• http://www.wordstream.com/keywords
• https://freekeywords.wordtracker.com/

Step 2: On Page Optimization

"On page" optimisation is all about making it as easy as possible for the search engines to understand your content on your web page. While this will not guarantee a good position in the search engine results, when combined with "off page" optimisation it will definitely increase the probability of you website getting found through the search engines.

1. Page Title

This is by far the most important "on page" element. A page title tag needs to be short (max 60 characters) and describe the content of the webpage as efficiently as possible.  But remember it is important not to force it, make sure the title is appealing and reads well. The title is the first thing potential visitors will see in the results page, and should encourage them to click through to your website.

Things that are important to include in you title tag are:

• keywords
• brand name
• direct call to action

2. Meta Tags

The most important meta tag is "description". While this is not used directly in determining position in the results page,it is still extremely important. In the results page the meta description is displayed underneath the Page Title tag. A good meta description will increase the click through rate (CTR) and this in turn will encourage the search engine to promote your position in the results page.The optimum length for meta description  should be between 150-160 characters.

Things that are important to include in the meta description:

• Brief description of product or service
• Call to action
• Keywords relating to the webpage

3. Important HTML Tags

It is important to highlight the sections of your web page that are important and to use informative header tags emphasize these sections. The general practice is to use a h1 tag for the main content title and then h2 tags for sub sections. As a rule of thumb this is a good standard to follow, although there is some talk recently that the h1 tag importance has been reduced because of over use by webmasters. Bolding or emphasize important key phrases, will also indicate to the search engines that these phrases should be considered important. Again it is important to remember that over using these tags on a web page will probably lead to penalties being applied by the search engines, so use sparingly.

4. Image Optimization

“A picture is worth a thousand words”. It is always good practice to include at least 1 image on each web page if possible. This will help make you content more appealing to visitors and offers you some possibilities for further on page optimization. While it is very easy for people to interpret and understand images, search engine are still only in their infancy when it comes to understanding rich media. There are however things we can do to help them and benefit your rankings as well.

These include the following:

• Alt text attribute: This is the text display by the browser if it has problems rending the image, and is also used by tools for the visually impaired. This text should be short but meaningful, including your relevant keywords for the page.
• File name attribute: This is the name used for saving the image. Use a name that includes the keywords being targeted by the page and keep as short as possible.

5. Link Optimization

It is important to include both internal and external links in your web content. Unless all pages on your website are linked internally you are running the risk that pages not linked may never be found by visitors or search engine crawlers. Therefore it is important that all pages are included at some level in the site navigation. Outbound links to third party website are also important. Both for visitors to your website, by providing them with additional information on the topic. And for search engines, so they can decide on the context for your web page. Outbound links are also important as they are viewed as a vote by you on the quality of the content you are linking to. “Links beget links”

The following should be included in links:

• Anchor text: This is the underlined text, which is clickable. Including a good description is important and is viewed as a strong signal by the search engine. For example if the link is to an application page for a bank loan, then the anchor text should read “Bank Loan Application” not “Click Here”

6. URL Optimization

How you construct your URL's (universal resource locator) and page name is very important and can be used to send a really strong signal to the search engines about your website page. It is very important to include the keywords being targeted in the URL. For example if you are a search engine standing outside the website “www.mysite.com/123/456.php?q=89&=10” you will really have no clue as to what is on the inside of this URL. Now take this example “www.travel.com/ireland/cork.html”, first impression; this is a travel related website and I am looking at a page about Cork in Ireland. From the search engines point of view you are sending them a strong signal about the website page and they will reward you for this. However it is important to not over do this by stuffing too many keyword into the URL. Also the URL must reflect the content within the website page. Otherwise the search engine is likely to penalize your website.

Step 4: Off Page Optimization

This is the most difficult and time-consuming part of SEO. As it suggests, "Off Page" SEO, deals with getting a presence for your website on other websites, which are generally outside your control. What does that mean? The Internet is a network of interlinking documents, the more links you have to your website, the stronger the signals the search engines are receiving about your website. As the search engines crawl the Internet they record who is linking to who. Then using some smart algorithms they determine and assign values to those links. Not all links are created equal; a link from The New York Times is going to be more valuable than a link from www.directory-of-free-links.com.

“Links are the currency of the Internet”

1.Social Networks

You should create an account with Facebook (add a company page) and Twitter.

2. Blogging

Any company website without a blog is missing a golden opportunity to communicate with customers, engage them in conversation, get a feeling for which way the wind is blowing in their space and most of all to get links. In my opinion a blog should take a casual style, and avoid corporate speak. Speaking in plain, easy to understand language and being personable will be rewarded, and will get linked to. 

3. Forums

Every industry has their online forums these days. Although they may not be as important as they used to be, with social media stealing a little of their space, they are still worth watching. Monitoring conversation threads and adding your two cents worth is a good way of getting attention to your website and will help garner some worthwhile links.

4. Directory Submissions

Avoid the www.directory-of-free-links.com style of directory. They will deliver no value to your website what so ever. There are some worthwhile directories still out there, though. Here is my list of the most important directories.

• Dmoz.org – This is one of the oldest online directories, but it can take a long time before your listing is added. Submit and forget is the best policy here.
• Yahoo! Directory – This is must have for all websites. However it will cost you $299 per year and there is no guarantee that your application will be accepted.
• Business.com Directory – Similar to yahoo! Directory, it will cost you $299 per year, but again worth getting listed, as it tells the search engines you are serious, and willing to spend a bit of money to show this. Obviously spammers will think twice about submitting to these directories, as they may have their listing rejected at a cost of $299.

5. Associations

Check out what associations there are for your particular business. Do they have a website? Do they have a membership list? Do they link to member’s websites? If the answer to the above questions is YES, then it is probably worth while joining the association. Getting a link from an association in your particular space will be seen as a powerful signal by the search engines. However you must ensure that the association is  respected and legally registered as such.

6. Local Listings

Never underestimate the value of local listings. Google is all about “Local” these days. Search engines are actively prompting local results on their localized versions of their search. Theses results are being blended with mapping and reviews. Ignore at your own risk.

7. Website Content

This is one of the most important Off Page factors in optimizing your website. How can this be? Well if the content on your website is of good quality then this will encourage others to link to your website. This kind of deep linking into your website is very valuable, and is a great way of prompting content in the search engine results.

Step 5: Reporting and feedback

You can’t manage it, unless you can measure it. There is no point in expending your limited time and resources on something unless you can measure the results. Getting feedback will encourage you to continue or to rethink your strategy. There are plenty of tools available these days to help with marketing websites online and measuring your success.

Here is a list of my favorites:

1. Google Analytics – This is a free tool offer by Google. Simple signup for a free account and add some JavaScript to each page on your website. Google Analytics offer many useful reports on how your website is performing and how visitors are interacting with your website. You should never start a project without having this installed and measuring where you stand currently. There are also many different reports available and they can be customized and segmented to suit your requirements. Also you can define goals to measure the performance in terms of real world events like sales.

2. Webmaster Tools – Again a free tool offered by Google & Microsoft's Bing. Sign into your search engine account and search for webmaster tools. Following the simple setup instructions and add a small piece of code to your website and away you go. Why do I need Webmaster Tools when I have Analytics? Good question and a simple answer is, with Analytics you are on the inside looking out the window and with Webmaster Tools you are on the outside looking in. With Webmaster Tools you open a direct line of communication with the search engine. They can send you messages about any problems they have with your website and vice versa. Also you get to see the searches your website is included under and the click through rates. All very important stuff when you are trying to mold and shape your website.

3. OpenSiteExplorer - Ever wondered who is linking to your website? What are the values of those links? Look no further. OpenSiteExplorer.org is a free tool (some limitations, full access requires seomoz.org pro account), allowing you to analyze the links to your website and that of your competitors.  This is a must if you want to seriously compete on the Internet, and is one tool I could not live without.