Google Search Optimisation
Optimising web sites is a bit of a black art but there is some science to it. Essentially we mainly talk about optimising web sites for Google because 85% of all internet searches done in the UK are done using Google. How does a new web site get a good search position on Google?
Essentially, the biggest effect on your search rank is governed by your Google Page Rank, this is a number that google calculates and is their attempt to determine how popular your web site is. Wikipaedia has more information about Google Page Rank, read the summary and look at the diagram, after that it gets a bit technical. Page Rank is affected mainly by web links that point to your web site. These links must use the keywords that your web site is focused on. More about this in a moment.
The other thing that Google likes is the Google Keyword Trinity, sort of like the holy trinity because the three together can work wonders on your search position. Ideally, the keywords you wish to target should be in the main heading of your web page, also in the title (appears as the browser window title) and in your domain name. For example, if you wanted people to find your Yak Baby Sitting service, you should register the domain yakbabysitting.co.uk, create a page with the title “Yak Baby Sitting - All you need to know” and ensure the heading on your page is something like “Baby Sitting a Yak - We know our Yaks!”.
Getting a good position in Google for “Yak Baby Sitting” isn’t going to be too hard because I don’t think there will be many competing web sites! The more generic term of “Baby Sitting” would be much more difficult. You would have to spend a lot of time making your web site an authority on Baby Sitting so that other people and (crucially) their web sites think you are an important source of information. They show how important by having a link on their site back to yours using the keywords “Baby Sitting”. If enough web sites do this, Google will think you’re popular and increase your Page Rank appropriately which will boost your position in the search ranking.
Search Engine Optimisation should be part of your monthly advertising budget if you’re in competition with any other web sites, e.g for Baby Sitting. Yak Baby Sitting is quite niche so it probably won’t need any continued optimisation to ensure consistent rankings.For Google, content is king. If you spend a couple of hours each month writing content about your business, ensuring that it’s informative and interesting, will help with Google, so long as the Google Keyword Trinity is maintained.
If you need any help with Search Engine Optimisation or wish to discuss setting up a web site, please phone us on 0161 486 3325 and ask for Julie or Chris. Alternatively, contact us via this web site.