Who Am I?
My name is Kelly Ifrah and I have been a Search Engine Optimisation Consultant for more than 4 years. In these tips I will be covering all of the aspects of search engine optimisation so that you can ensure your website is doing all the things it should to give it the best chance of achieving page 1 rankings in the search engines.
Tip 1:
What Is Search Engine Optimisation?
Search engine optimisation, otherwise known as SEO, is a service that is offered by consultants, like myself, to help your website rank on page 1 of the search engines for the keywords related to your business or service. It covers a lot of aspects of websites. From what is done on the website itself with regards to necessary bits of code and files, to what is done off the website with regards to building links and popularity.
In this first SEO Tip I want to explain that Website Design and SEO must to go hand in hand, but often don't as they are both specialities and it is hard to be an authority in more than one sector. This means that when planning a website you should have an SEO Consultant present to ensure that the needed files and bits of code are included as well as search engine friendly URLs (a URL is the link you type into the search bar i.e. http://www.onthenetdollars.com). You also need to do, or have done for you, a complete analysis of the niche that your business is in to ensure that you have utilised the best keywords. Missing these bits out at the beginning can be costly to fix at a later date.
Tip 2:
The Files You Need ...
Whether your site is up and running or still in the planning stages there are certain files you need. I have provided a list below together with an explanation of what they are and why you need them. If you do not have them you should get them organised as soon as possible. I can do this for you, just click here, or you can ask your webmaster.
robots.txt - this is a simple text file that allows or disallows all the search engine spiders (the software that the search engines use to read your site and decided where it should show up in their results) access to your sites files and folders. It should provide access to all the files and folders on your website except for any admin folders as these do not need to show up in their index.
sitemap - this sitemap should be in the same format/language as your current website files i.e. .html or .htm or .asp. This file should be linked to from every page of your website, which ensures that your visitors can find the information they need from your website even if certain other links are not prominent, like the contact link.
sitemap.xml - this is a copy of the sitemap mentioned previously, but in a different format/language, which is used only by the search engines. This allows them to see all the pages you have on your website at a glance. It also tells them how often your site is updated so they know when to come back and check for changes and new content.
privacy policy - this file should be in the same format/language as your current website files i.e. .html or .htm or .asp. This file just explains who owns the sites, how they can contact you if they need to, what information you collect from your visitors and how you store it. If you are using a code of any sort to track your visitors, i.e. google analytics, then you need to have this file in place.
Next week I'll cover the pieces of code you should have on your website pages.
Tip 3:
The Bits Of Code You Need ...
Websites are built using different computer languages like html, asp and php. These languages tell the browsers, like Internet Explorer how to show the page to the visitor. Search engine spiders (the software that the search engines use to read your site and decided where it should show up in their results) read the languages themselves as they cannot see pictures and colours. A large part of the content of a web page is not seen by the visitor, but is important to the spiders.
Again, whether your site is up and running or still in the planning stages you need to have quite a few bits of code in place. I have provided a list below together with an explanation of what they are and why you need them. If you do not have them you should get them organised as soon as possible. I can do this for you, just click here, or you can ask your webmaster.
the title tag - this is one line of code/language ... <title>This Is The Title Tag</title> ... that displays in your browser window, in the open tab and is also the blue text that links to your website in the search results (see images below). This should include your main keyword.
the meta description - this is some code/language ... <meta name="description" content="This is where you put your 250 max character description."> ... that is displayed under the blue text that links to your website in the search results (see image above). This should include your main keyword and should have a call to action to entice people to click your link over the other links on the page.
the meta keywords - this is some code/language ... <meta name="keywords" content="keyword 1, keyword 2, keyword 3, keyword 4, keyword 5, keyword 6">. This bit of code is not displayed anywhere. It is solely for the search engines. It has been said that this tag is not really taken into consideration, but in my experience it is better to have it than not to have it. If for any reason the spiders cannot decide where to place your site they will look at them. You should use the top keywords that are relevant to your site and use no more than 6. You should also vary these keywords across your site as they should be relevant to the page itself rather than the site as a whole.
Next week I'll cover the importance of tracking your visitors.
Tip 4:
Track your visitors and why ...
It is very important to track your visitors using a tracker like google analytics. Using a tracker like this gives you a unique insight into what your visitors are doing. It shows where they came from with regards to keyword and search engine or referring page. It is also shows you how long your visitors stayed on your site for and what pages they looked at.
From a conversions point of view this information is invaluable, as you can see which visitors are following your calls to action and which are not.
I recommend google analytics over the other options as it gives you a lot of data and goes into a lot of detail. Also as you are adding a piece of google's own code to your website you are giving them full permission to scrutinize your visitors, so they can see how many and how long they stay. This is not said to affect rankings, but has in my research.
Once the tracker is installed you should keep an eye on your statistics every month next to where you are ranking for your chosen search terms. This ensures that your visitors are getting the best from your website and that the largest percentage are following your call to action.
If you don't already have a visitor tracker in place you should get this done as soon as you can. If you are familiar with the language/code of your website then you can do this yourself. If not, I can do this for you, just click here, or you can ask your webmaster.
Next week I'll go over website layouts.
Tip 5:
Website Layouts & Conversions...
Believe it or not your website layout plays a huge role in your conversions. You could be selling the best product in the world, but if your website looks crappy you won't sell a thing.
The most important things are to have a clear call to action and to not distract your visitors with too many options.
A call to action is what you want your visitors to do, whether it be buying your product/service or calling you for a quote or leaving their e-mail details. Just editing your website to have your call to action near the top of your site before a visitor has to scroll down, known as above the fold, can increase conversions immediately.
Try not to clutter your website and ensure that you have a clear and easy to see site navigation (the links to pages of your site) so that your visitors can easily find what they are looking for, especially the 'contact us' link. Do not link to all of the pages of your website in the main navigation menu as your visitors will get confused. Link only to the most important ones. You should also ensure that you clearly link to your sitemap in the footer of your website. This way if people can't find what they are looking for in your main navigation they can easily find it on your sitemap.
Colours are also an important factor. Having a dark background is hard on the eyes, as is a light colour text on a white background. You also don't want too many main colours on your website, three maximum.
If you would like someone to look over your website for a free conversion analysis, please click here.
Next week I'll go over the importance of keywords and content.
For a free analysis of your website and a free keyword analysis, please click here.