Top 5 elements that you need for high rankings on Google

March 10th, 2010

Getting listed on Google’s first result page is the goal of many webmasters. Unfortunately, many webmasters still do the wrong things to improve their rankings.

It’s not possible to get top 10 rankings on Google by focusing on a single strategy. Getting listed on Google requires you to work on all elements of your website. Here are the top 5 factors that influence the position of your website in Google’s search results:

Ranking factor 1: website accessibility

It doesn’t make sense to optimize your web pages if search engines cannot access your web pages:

  • Your robots.txt file should allow search engines to visit your web pages. If your robots.txt file contains errors then many search engines won’t list your website.
  • The HTML code of your web pages should be error-free and your web server should return the correct response code. The contents of your web pages should be readable to search engine spiders.

Ranking factor 2: site architecture

Google wants to show relevant websites in the search results. Your website shouldn’t be a collection of random web pages. If you want to get top 10 rankings on Google, the pages of your website should be related.

Your web pages should show Google that your website is relevant to a certain topic. All pages of your website should be linked. If possible, web surfers should reach any page of your website with a maximum of three clicks.

The links and the directory structure of your website should make it easy to search engines to categorize the contents of your website.

Ranking factor 3: keywords

Choosing the right keywords is one of the most important steps. If you choose the wrong keywords, you won’t succeed with your campaign.

  • Optimize different pages of your website for different keyphrases. The more pages of your website you optimize, the better.
  • Start with very targeted keyphrases that consists of many words, for example “find inexpensive hotels in brussels“.
  • When you have top rankings for these targeted keyphrases, proceed with more general keywords such as “hotels in brussels“.
  • When you have top rankings for these keyphrases, you can proceed with very general keywords such as “hotels“.

In general, targeted keywords have a much higher conversion rate than general keywords, i.e. you will get more sales per visitor with “find inexpensive hotels in brussels” than with “hotels“.

Also think about the type of visitor that you attract with a keyword. Are these people interested in information or do they want to buy?

Ranking factor 4: content

Your website won’t get high rankings on Google if it only offers articles and affiliate links that can be found on dozens of other websites.

Separate your website from the rest by creating unique and trustworthy content. Write your own articles about the topic of your website, publish them on your own website and make your website a useful resource.

Ranking factor 5: links from other websites

It is not possible to get high rankings on Google without having links from other websites.

The more links point to your website, the more likely it is that your website gets good positions in Google’s search results. The links to your website should be from trusted websites.

If a web page that links to you is related to your own website then the effect of that link on the search engine rankings of your website is higher than the effect of an unrelated link.

It also helps if social bookmark websites link to your website. If many people bookmark your website on social bookmark sites, then this is a sign that your website might deserve high rankings.

A small error in one element can destroy your effects in all other ranking elements. For that reason, it is important to use the right strategy when optimizing your website.

Posted in Google Tidbits, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization | No Comments »

How to change the titles of your web pages to get more visitors

March 6th, 2010

The titles that you use for your web pages are very important. They are an important factor for the ranking algorithms of search engines and they are the first thing that web surfers see when they find your website in the search results.

 

Depending on which kind of traffic you want to attract, you should use different title formats on your web pages:

1. News titles (not so good for SEO)

This kind of title is often used by bloggers and news websites. Here are some examples:

  • Beat the ‘overqualified’ tag
  • Parking fees spark meter madness
  • Nominate your hero
  • Karl Malden died

The problem with these titles is that they are not good for search engine optimization. These titles usually don’t contain relevant keywords and they don’t look very attractive in the search results.

There won’t be many people who will type “Parking fees spark meter madness” in Google’s search box so it’s not likely that the page will get many visitors through search engines.

2. Shopping titles (good for SEO)

Shopping titles usually contain a product name that is used by web surfers. If they also contain a call to action, you can get targeted visitors with these titles. Here are some examples:

  • ASUS Eee PC 1000HE 10-Inch Black Netbook – 9.5 Hour Battery Life
  • ASUS Eee PC 1000 – Buy it now for only $249.95
  • Buy an ASUS Eee PC 1000 with extended guarantee
  • Free shipping: ASUS Eee PC 1000 – $249.95

The first shopping title is rather descriptive because it only lists the features. The other titles contain a call to action (buy now), prices and additional benefits (free shipping).

People who want to buy an ASUS Eee PC probably will click on the title with the call to action while people who are looking for product information might choose the first title.

3. Information seeker titles (good for SEO)

Information seeker titles won’t attract buyers but people who are looking for information about a special topic. Here are some examples:

  • How to lose weight as fast as possible
  • How to repair a broken chair
  • 12 mistakes most parents make when choosing a school
  • How to find the perfect golf club
  • 5 ways to find the perfect partner

These web page titles are good because they will attract visitors over a long time period. People are always looking for “how to” articles and solutions to their problems and you will get long term, constant traffic with these pages.

Action plan: how to change your current web page titles

Good web page titles can make a huge difference in the number of visitors that your website gets. For that reason, you should check the titles of all web pages of your website now:

  • Make sure that the titles of your web pages are descriptive. It should be clear what to expect on the pages.
  • If possible, add a call to action and benefits in your web page title.
  • Put the most important information at the beginning of the title. Search engines might shorten the title in the search result pages and people might not see the complete text.
  • If you’re not a major brand name, avoid your company name in your web page titles.
  • Do not use the same title for all of your web pages. This is a mistake that many beginners make.

People judge books by their covers and search results by web page titles. If you want to get as many website visitors as possible, you should develop engaging titles for all pages of your site.

In addition to the title of your web pages, many other elements influence the position of your pages in Google’s search results. You can get a full analysis of all elements of your web pages here.

Posted in Google Tidbits, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization | No Comments »

Expand Your Business With Blogging

March 1st, 2010

Statistically speaking, you’re likely reading this outside of normal business hours. Am I right, or am I right?

Why? Because if you have a life (okay… admittedly many people don’t) the majority of your time is spent away from the office and outside of normal business hours. Usually, when the sun goes down you are already out the door. Frazier has left the building.

But the sun never sets on the internet. It operates 24/7/365 for online and offline businesses both. There are no doors to unlock and no lights to turn on. The doors are always open and the lights are always on. No brick; no mortar; no time clocks.

There are so many important online tools for both marketing (presenting your company and product to the market) and sales (trading that product/service for revenue)… if you’re not using them you’re soon to be extinct.

Even the US government figured that out. Filed any corporate taxes lately? Most companies now do it online (it is called EFTPS, if you’re at all curious).

Low-to-No Cost

Many of the online resources available for your business are usable with no cost and can offer great results. Calculate the ROI on that: small investment (mostly in your time) and great results. Infinite ROI? No, not quite. But as a business owner if you use these available tools correctly it will make a difference in your business.

Put another way, if you are not using online tools for your business, the wolves are at the door and your house is made of sticks. Not brick and mortar; sticks.

Blogging is increasingly being used to effectively to present businesses and products to the market. Websites like Blogger and Wordpress make it possible to share value – your knowledge and experience – through blog posts.

Helpful blog posts on relevant content establish you as a leader and creates a relationship that your consumers don’t normally get from just visiting your website. Just today in a phone conversation a client said, “I was so glad to see you are a real person!” The personal touch works.

Need a great example? Go look at 3PAR’s company blog called “StorageRap” (www.storagerap.com). No, I’m not associated with 3PAR in any way. But Marc Farley is awesome at what he does for the data storage industry. Take special note of the value that he delivers. Yes, it comes with a heavy dose of opinion, and more than a bit of controversy, but that is the whole point of blogging! Ever read a boring blog post… more than part-way? I rest my case.

If you are venturing into a company blog, ensure it has a clear objective. Brainstorm with colleagues on ideas of what to write and how to represent the company. Then just to it.

Don’t be stingy. And don’t be a twit.

Contribute to the communication in meaningful ways. A terrific way to increase your network is to be active and to comment on others’ posts. Respect the poster; comment on the post. Remember that a single post could be read by thousands, some of whom may take great interest in you and the products you represent.

Don’t Abuse the Blog

If you use your blog correctly, clients and consumers will appreciate your information and insight. But consistency is key. Deliver value to your business community by remaining active in blogging and in social networking forums. Don’t hold back. Give more, and you will receive more.

Posted in Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media | No Comments »

Do Search Engines Understand Your Web Pages?

February 24th, 2010

You have a beautiful website with great products, great guarantees, many comprehensive pages and great customer service. Unfortunately, Google and other search engines won’t give your website high rankings.

There are several reasons why search engines do not list websites although they look great and offer quality content:

1. Your web pages are meaningless to search engine spiders

Search engines use simple software programs to visit your web pages. In general, search engine spiders won’t see anything that is displayed in images, Flash elements, JavaScript (except for a few exceptions) and other multimedia formats.

If the main content of your website is displayed in images or Flash then your website can be totally meaningless to search engines. If your website navigation is pure JavaScript then chances are that search engines won’t find the pages of your website.

Your website will look like a single page site although it consists of many different pages.

2. The HTML code of your web page contains major errors

Most web pages have minor errors in their HTML code. While most search engine spiders can handle minor HTML code errors, some errors can prevent search engine spiders from indexing your web pages.

For example, a tag at the top of your web pages could tell search engine spiders that they have reached the end of the page although the main content of the page has not been indexed yet.

3. The HTML code of your web pages doesn’t contain the right elements

If you want to get high rankings for certain keywords then these keywords must appear in the right places on your web page. For example, it usually helps to use the keyword in the web page title.

There are many other elements that are important if you want to have high rankings. All of them should be in place if you want to get high rankings.

4. Your web server sends the wrong status codes

Some web servers send wrong status codes to search engine spiders and visitors. When a search engine spider requests a web page from your site then your server sends a response code. This should be the “200 OK” code.

Some servers send a “302 moved” or even a “404 not found” response code to the search engine spiders although the web page can be displayed in a normal web browser.

If your web server sends the wrong response code, search engine spiders will think that the web page doesn’t exist and they won’t index the page.

Solution: Use the search engine spider simulator mentioned above to find out which response code your web server returns to search engines. If the response code is not “200 OK”, the spider simulator will return a warning message.

5. Your robots.txt file rejects all search engine spiders

If your robots.txt file does not allow search engine spiders to visit your web pages then your website won’t be included in the search results. Some robots.txt file contain errors and search engine spiders are blocked by mistake.

Solution: Check the contents of your robots.txt file. In general, it is not necessary to use a robots.txt file if you don’t want to block certain areas of your website.

Search engine spiders must be able to understand your web pages if you want to get high rankings on Google, Bing and other search engines. The tips above help you to make sure that search engine spiders see what you want them to see.

Posted in Google Tidbits, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization | No Comments »

Social Media Business Plan for Small Business

February 17th, 2010

Every day I can guarantee that you will be impacted in some way by social media, there will be experts telling you, you need a profile on social networks like Facebook, and that Twitter is the best thing since sliced bread was invented.

So you create a profile and you start to tell everyone and anyone who will listen about your latest product or service, but is that really the way to approach social media, doing the same thing you do every day on more traditional mediums?

Taking this approach to your social media strategy will do nothing more than waste your precious time, time that could be spent prospecting for new business opportunities and working with your clients face to face.

I know some younger business owners who think that social media and the Internet will replace face to face contact, the reality is it won’t.

However the very same principles you use face to face, apply to social media, the only difference being the method of delivery.

I know of some major companies who have launched their social strategy with profiles on this site and that network, yet their sites are full of their staff members or franchises congratulating themselves on such forward progress. But where is the consumer?, where is the engagement factor?, where is the interaction with the people that count the most, your customers.

This should be the reason you create your social media strategy in the first place. To create the local expert, the trusted advisor role, create and engage your community and to provide information and advice for the long term.

One question to ask yourself is, why do people interact within social network sites in the first place? Is it to get your latest product or service? No, No, No, they are there to connect, to engage and interact with other like minded people, to share experiences, to share activities and create a sense of community and to stay in touch with family and friends.

You as a business person need to understand this motivation and work with it to really maximise the return on your investment of time in creating a social media strategy for you and your business.

So what is the best way to approach a social media strategy?

First you’ll need to work out why you want to have a presence on social networks, is it because everyone else is doing it? Is it because your competitor down the road is doing it so you should as well right? Well wrong actually. Do it because it gives you another advertising medium to capture the attention of prospective customers, do it because it is a huge billboard of opportunity to take your message to the masses, do it for you and the exposure it can bring you and your brand, do it because you are an expert in your field and do it because people are looking for an expert to advise, coach and motivate them.

Start by doing a business and digital media strategy and look at ways in which you’ll start to build an audience. Do you start a blog first? Do you jump on Facebook and MySpace or do you start using Twitter and on what network sites do you create a profile.

How do you declare your brand identity? Remember, you should be focused on how you and your team help other people, being the business to call when requiring a service or product and raising the profile of you and your business on the web.

The first step, is create accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and YouTube. Check in and see where you fit in to the community, upload or add all of your contacts into Facebook and start a routine of regularly adding “friends” to your page.

The goal is to get your personal contacts engaged and to start to follow and engaging with other local businesses. Also, build a schedule so that you can allocate time each week to this, otherwise you will find yourself becoming overwhelmed with trying to keep up with all the conversations that happen.

As you become more familiar with the sites you learn that Linkedin or Twitter may not be for you, that’s fine, at least you are now more informed than you where when you started.

You are learning, next you can start to build your blog, your blog web site is your central hub with all roads leading to it, and everything you do should be designed to get people to your blog and interacting with you on your territory.

It’s great to have a Facebook page but even better when you have both working for you; you are in a win win situation.

Remember, with your blog comes responsibility, you’ll need to add content to it regularly and this takes time, so you should allocate at least 2+ hours a week.

Use the same strategy for all the social network sites you use. Allocate time each week in your plan to update your sites and remember it’s about engaging your community not only about promoting your latest product.

Posted in Social Media | No Comments »

Google AdWords (PPC): how to lower your costs while selling more

February 10th, 2010

If you advertise your website on Google AdWords, chances are that you found out that you can spent a lot of money on AdWords without getting a lot in return.

The reason why many people spend much more than they have to for their Google AdWords ads is that they use the wrong settings in their campaigns.

Long tail keywords convert better and there are a lot of them

Several studies found out that long tail keywords have a much higher conversion rate than single word keywords. Long tail keywords are very specific keywords that consists of 4 or more words.

According to a recent Hitwise study, more than 18% of searches contain five or more keywords. In addition, Google says that “20% of the queries Google receives each day are ones [they] haven’t seen in at least 90 days, if at all.”

The wrong long tail keywords will just cost you money

The facts above indicate that it might be a good idea to use broad match for all of your keywords. It’s just not possible to include all possible keywords manually in your campaigns. Google recommend to use broad match with your keywords:

“Broad match is a great way to capitalize on those unexpected, but relevant queries. When you include a keyword as a broad match, your corresponding ad is not only eligible to appear alongside queries with that exact spelling, but it can also capture keyword expansions that include synonyms, singular/plural forms, relevant variants of your keywords, and phrases containing your keywords.”

Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. If you use broad match for all of your keywords then your ads will be shown for a lot of unrelated searches and you’ll pay a lot of money without getting something in return.

For example, the word “tiger” would be used for searches regarding Tiger Woods, the Siberian tiger, tiger sharks, the town Tiger in Georgia, etc.

For that reason, it is important to exclude the long tail keywords that are not related to your website.

Negative keywords will increase your conversion rate

You can enter so-called negative keywords in your Google AdWords campaigns. If a long tail keyword contains one of your negative keywords, your AdWords ads won’t be displayed.

For example, if you enter “-free” as a negative keyword, your AdWords ad is not displayed if someone searches for free things. Negative keywords are an excellent tool for excluding Internet users looking for free items only.

You can also use negative keywords to display an ad for specific target groups. An insurance broker might want to exclude people who are searching for books about insurance. He could enter “book” and “books” as negative keywords.

If one of your keywords has multiple meanings (“tiger” would trigger “tiger woods” and “siberian tiger”, “tiger shark”, “tiger, georgia”) then you should add negative keywords that remove the unrelated searches.

Broad match can help you to get more customers but you have to be very careful with that option. If you use broad match with your keywords, don’t forget to use negative keywords so that you don’t pay for unwanted traffic.

Posted in Google Tidbits, Pay Per Click | No Comments »

How to get your breadcrumbs on Google’s result pages

February 3rd, 2010

Webmasters continue to see breadcrumbs on Google’s result pages. What are breadcrumbs, for which websites does Google display them and how can you get Google to display breadcrumbs for your own website?

 What are breadcrumbs?

Breadcrumbs is the name for the hierarchical site navigation links that are often used on web pages. Here’s an example: “You are here: Home > Category > Sub category > Page“.

Since a few weeks Google displays breadcrumbs for some websites on the search result pages:

 Why is it good if Google shows breadcrumbs for your website?

If Google displays breadcrumbs for your website then you basically have more links on Google’s result page. Each page in the breadcrumbs line has its own link.

If your web page is listed with breadcrumbs in the results then it is more likely that the searcher will come to the right page on your website and that you will get a sale.

How can you get Google to display breadcrumbs for your website?

If you want Google to display breadcrumbs for your website, you have to use bread crump navigation on your web pages. That means that you must have a set of delimited links on your website that reflects your website hierarchy.

Google’s Matt Cutts recently published a video in which he tries to shed some light on the topic. It seems that Google is still testing breadcrumbs on the result pages and that the display of breadcrumbs in the search results will change (just like Google’s Sitelinks changed).

Regarding the question which delimiter is best for breadcrumb navigation, Matt remains very vague. For example, links could be delimited with >, hyphens or the » symbol. So far, all examples on Google pages use > as the delimiter so it’s probably best to go with that symbol.

Depending on the size of your website, it is a good idea to use breadcrumbs. They make it easier for users to navigate your website and they help users to remember where they are on your website.

Of course, breadcrumbs alone won’t get you in Google’s search results. You must also make sure that Google finds the right keywords on your website and that your website has enough inbound links.

Posted in Google Tidbits, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization | No Comments »

The effect of your URL structure on your Google rankings

January 27th, 2010

Does Google care about the position of a web page on your server? Does it make a difference if a web page is in the root directory of your website or in a sub directory? How does your URL structure influence the position of your web pages in Google’s search results?

Trailing slashes and sub directories

A popular assumption is that Google prefers pages that are in the root directory of a website.

If an URL contains many trailing slashes (meaning the page is placed in a sub-sub-directory) then Google might not think that the page is important in relation to the other pages.

Although this statement is often repeated in SEO forums, it is probably not true.

The visibility of a web page counts, not its position

If a web page is linked throughout your website and if the page has inbound links then the web page will be indexed and ranked by Google without any problems.

Most web pages on today’s websites are created dynamically and the URL that is displayed in a web browser presents only a virtual site structure that is not really available on the server.

As there are no real folders on the server, search engines won’t find a valuable ranking signal if they look at things like presence or absence of directories.

What does this mean for your website?

If you want to show search engines that a page on your website is important, link to it from many other pages of your website so that it can easily be found.

A page that gets many links (both from your own website and from other websites) will get the attention that it deserves from Google’s indexing robot.

When you should care about the structure of your URLs

1. URL stripping can cause problems

Rumor has it that Google uses URL stripping to index web pages. That means that Google shortens the path to an URL to find new pages on a site. For example, “www.example.com/folder/keyword.htm“ would be shortened to “www.example.com/folder/“.

If you use dynamically created URLs then you should make sure that all virtual folders return real web pages and not ”404 not found” pages. Otherwise, Google might think that you have many faulty pages and/or that your website has a low quality.

2. Shorter URLs can be better for your website visitors

Although most web surfers don’t pay attention to the URL in the browser address bar, shorter URLs can enhance the user experience. Shorter URLs are easier to remember and they can improve the direct type-in traffic.

3. Short URLs get more clicks

A search marketing study found out that web surfers clicked short URLs twice as often as long URLs in Google’s search results. Long URLs are cut off in Google search engine result pages. Web surfers cannot see where they are going to go and this can decrease the click-through rate.

4. The URLs of your web pages can contain your keywords

The words that appear in the URL of a web page can influence the position of the web page for these words. For that reason, it can make sense to rewrite your URLs so that they include the keywords for which you want to have high rankings.

Find out if the URL structure of your web pages prevents them from getting top rankings on Google.

Posted in Google Tidbits, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization | No Comments »

What makes a good web design?

January 25th, 2010

A lot of people can recognize good design when they see it on the web. But most people don’t really know what makes that design good.

How do you define “good web design?” Is it subjective, like your favorite flavor of ice cream? Although there is some subjectivity within good design, there are artistic principles that good design is built from. Here are a few that form the foundation of good design.

1. Proximity

Because items that are in close proximity to one another become one visual unit, items that are related to one another should be grouped together. Laying out related items on a website page this way helps the eye associate the information and enables the viewer to mentally categorize the information easily. The flip side of this principle is that items that are not related should not be placed in close proximity to one another.

The purpose of the principle of proximity is to organize information in a way that enables viewers to quickly and easily comprehend. When information is organized, people are more likely to read it and respond. People are also more likely to remember information that is organized.

How can you determine if items form a visual unit? Squint your eyes and look at the page on a website. Now count the number of times your eye stops as it views the page. On a page that is using the principle of proximity well, your eye will stop three to five times. In other words, there will be three to five groups of information for the eye to comprehend separately.

 2. Alignment

You’ve seen website page layouts where the text and graphics are placed wherever there happens to be space. The effect is messy, with no impact. Nothing should be placed on a page arbitrarily. There should be a visual connection between each item and something other item on the page. When items are aligned, it creates a cohesiveness that the eye appreciates.

The purpose of alignment is to unify the website page. Imagine a well-organized kitchen. All the pots and pans are stored in the organizer, the fruit is nicely displayed in a basket on the counter, the spices are all on the rack-everything is in its place. A page layout needs the same thing.

Look at a website page that you feel is good design. Now focus on the main visual element. Where does your eye go from there? Do you see how other elements are aligned with that one main element both vertically and horizontally?

3. Repetition

Good design repeats some aspect of the website design throughout the site. It’s this repetition that makes all the pages in a site look like they belong together. Color scheme, graphic elements, typefaces-all of these elements should be repeated-used consistently-throughout.

The purpose of repetition is to create consistency and to add visual interest. Repetition creates a professional, polished look that the eye is drawn to. When a website design uses repetition and is consistent, it is more likely to be viewed and read.

Here are some was you can create repetition beyond simple consistency in typefaces and colors: Use some element in your logo as a major graphic element in the design. If you are using a ruled line, make the line more interesting visually by perhaps making it with tiny dots or dashes, then repeating the line element throughout the design. Create patterns that are repeated throughout the design. Take a small element and place it somewhere on each page for a whimsical look. Just be careful not to overdo the repetition, or viewers will be annoyed rather than pleased.

 4. Contrast

The principle of contrast states that if two items are not the same, then they should be different-very different. Contrast creates an organizational hierarchy of the information and graphics on a webpage. When using contrast, you can’t be a wimp! The contrast must be strong to be effective.

The purpose of contrast is two-fold: to create interest on the page, and to organize information. A page that is interesting to look at is more likely to be read. And contrasting elements will help a reader understand the way the information is organized.

Contrast can be created in many ways. You can contrast large type with small type, a serif font with a sans-serif font, bold with light, smooth texture with rough texture, a small graphic with a large one, a dark color with a light one.

A design that integrates these principles will automatically gain a professionalism and polish that it would otherwise lack. Next time you stumble across a website design that makes you say “wow”, cheek for these principles-you’ll find them quietly working to make that web design a good one!

Posted in Web Design | No Comments »

Three easy steps to optimize your existing links

January 22nd, 2010

Link building is one of the hardest and one of the most important things that you have to do if you want to get high rankings on Google. As it takes so much time to get inbound links, it is very important to make sure that the links to your website contain the right keywords.

The basics about keywords in text links and link bombs

Google tries to find a relation between the words that are used to link to your site and the content of your website. If many websites link to your website with the word “tomatoes” then Google’s algorithm will come to the conclusion that your website should be listed in the search results for the keyword “tomatoes”.

The keywords in the links to a website have been so important for Google that people managed to get websites to the top of Google’s search results for very obscure keywords. For example, some people started a scheme in which they asked their friends to link to the official website of George W. Bush with the keyword “miserable failure”.

The result was that George W. Bush’s website was #1 on Google for that keyword. In the meantime, Google has learned to deal with these so-called Google bombs and it’s not as easy to manipulate the results with the links as it has been.

What you should do if your website has no links

When you try to get links from other websites, you should make sure that they help you to increase your rankings for your keywords. That means that you must make sure that the links to your website contain your keywords.

At the same time, you must make sure that the links to your site don’t look like a Google bomb. You need links to your website that use keywords that are related to your site. If many websites link to you with a special keyword, that will increase your chances to be listed for that keyword. However, the keyword should be varied.

For example, if you want to be listed for “tomatoes”, the other websites should link to your site with link texts such as “tomatoes”, “delicious tomatoes”, “great tomatoes”, “tomatoes and other vegetables”, etc.

In addition, the web page to which the links point should also contain content about tomatoes. If the linked page contains the same keywords as the link texts then it is less likely that the links are part of a Google bomb.

A good way to start link building is to contact the websites that link to your competitors.

What you should do if your website already has some links

If your website already has some links then you should make sure that the other websites link with the right link texts to your site.

By optimizing your existing link texts, you’ll greatly increase the chances to be listed for the keywords that are relevant to your website.

Optimizing the links to your website is not enough. You must also optimize the content of your web pages to show Google that your website is relevant to your keywords. The links that point to your website should confirm that your website is really relevant for the keywords for which you optimized your pages.

Posted in Google Tidbits, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization | No Comments »

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