Meta tags are a great way to boost the search engine ranking of your website. Know that while they’re not the magical answer that will bring you high website traffic, when you apply meta tags with other SEO techniques, you are helping your chances of good-rankings considerably.
The big question for the not-so-web design-savvy: What are meta tags? The phrase itself sounds confusing and intimidating. However, meta tags are fairly simple to understand, but have been misinterpreted a lot since their debut to the world wide web in the 1990s.
Meta Tag Description
A meta tag is a way to get information into the head of your website. You may be familiar with title tags or headline tags, and meta tags are doing something similar to what your links within your written content do. Meta tags are not visible. They relate information that may not be of interest to your small business website visitors, but still important. You can incorporate a list of keywords that you wouldn’t necessarily want to just slap onto your webpage. Search engines will read it appropriately; clients won’t have to see random words on your website in an attempt to get traffic.
Below is an example of an HTML Meta Tag for a hypothetical website selling flower bouquets:
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Flowers 4 You</TITLE>
<Meta name= “description” content= “Flowers for every occasion.”>
<Meta name= “keywords” content= “flowers, floral bouquets,
flower arrangements, online flower shop”>
</HEAD>
Important Meta Tags you must use:
The Title meta tag is the most important one to help you improve your SEO rankings. This is what people and search engines will see first after they performed a search for what they’re looking for. Make sure to use your keywords when writing a Title tag. Also be sure to work on your description meta tag and write a compelling description that will make people want to click through to see your website.
Not All Meta Tags are Created Equal
There are a lot of “other” meta tag types floating around out there, but know that not all of them are good for the SEO of your small business design. The role of meta tags in search engines are to boost your chances of getting better rankings. Know that using the wrong types of meta tags can do just the opposite, causing search engine bots to skip your website entirely. Stay away from meta tags that deal with scripts or cookies. They’ve been known to do more harm than good.
Remember that meta tags are not the final solution for increasing small business website traffic. Combine them with other reputable SEO techniques to get better webpage ranking and better search engine results.
Many small business owners run their websites on their own. This means they handle all of the work, including the SEO or “search engine optimization” on their own. There’s a lot of information on the web about SEO techniques to improve website traffic, but know that a lot of the information out there is not helpful and possibly even harmful. We call this: Black Hat SEO.
Link Exchanging
“Hey, put my link on your webpage and I’ll put your link on mine!” This practice of link exchanging was popular for quite a long time, but search engines are wising up. There is nothing wrong with relevant links on your website to lead visitors to other great products and services, but when you make a career out of getting reciprocal link deals, it can mean the end of your small business URL. Search engines know when link exchanging is going on and they are not a fan. This is one of the biggest SEO techniques gone bad; black hat SEO all the way. Yet, some SEO businesses are still trying to sell this tactic to business owners, promising higher page ranks and more business. Don’t fall for it. You don’t need pointless link exchanging with websites. Don’t pay for pointless links to wreck your small business website design; just say no!
Hidden Text
Once again, this trick worked back in the day, but search engines are aware of this black hat SEO practice. This is when you hide links and keywords on your website by having them be the same color as your website’s background. You can also type the list of links and written content in super small font, so it’s not “hidden,” it’s just not readable. It is still considered hidden text and is caught by the search engine bots that crawl around your website. Improve your SEO for your small business website with professional, relevant written content that contain a few keywords in each paragraph. Boost your SEO some more with a well-written blog that contains helpful and interesting content that you can also add a keyword here and there. Those are the text/link practices you want to be using.
The list of Black Hat SEO techniques goes on for miles, but just remember that a legitimate website with fresh content and realistic key wording (not key word ‘stuffing’) will get your website where it needs to go. Black hat practices almost always get you nowhere these days, and in some cases, they will get your website completely banned from search engine results.
These techniques are still being used; some “legitimate” SEO companies are trying to sell these packages to uneducated business folk. Don’t be fooled by these companies promising to help you increase your website traffic, you are throwing your hard earned money away. Remember, to have a successful website, you need fresh, well-written content with relevant keywords placed comfortably within the text. If you have trouble with writing, or simply do not have the time, hire a writer to help you out!
YouTube.com is best known for its videos showcasing laughing babies and extreme sports mishaps. Did you ever think that you can use YouTube as part of your small business design to promote your business? From video client testimonials to video podcasts, you can reach a larger demographic when you properly use YouTube to enhance your small business marketing strategies.
Be Real
YouTube lets you share your videos with the world. Why not upload helpful video footage of you doing your job? Take a video of you or your employees in action, offering the services your website talks about. Always ask permission if a customer or customer’s property (house, car..etc) will be featured in the film.
Free Commercials
Maybe your company doesn’t have the funding to buy some television time to broadcast your commercials, but YouTube can do it for free. Ask a few satisfied customers to talk about their experiences with your company. Not only can you upload this video to your YouTube account, but you can also put the video directly on your small business website to show off your happy clients.
Create Video Blogs
Do you have a lot to talk about? Make video podcasts and post them routinely to your YouTube account. Perhaps your company offers carpet cleaning services; why not upload a video once a month showing potential customers how to take care of their rugs between cleanings? Stain removal tips would be a great idea for a video blog. Heath food supplier? Showcase your products with 10 minute recipe ideas. Make sure to post your video links on websites outside of just your business website to increase Search Engine Optimization. This is where Twitter and Facebook pages for your small business come in handy. Cross-posting links are a sure way to drive internet search traffic towards what you’ve got to sell.
A Deeper Look at SEO vs. YouTube
Just as you would apply basic SEO (Search Engine Optimization) techniques to your website written content, you want to do the same on your YouTube account. You have the ability to name the title of the video and to write a small description of the content. Make it count by using a relevant headline for your video title that is sure to show up in Google. Keep it simple. If you want help on learning how to write attention grabbing SEOed headlines, check out a previous post that discusses it in depth. Basically, give it a title that someone would search for. If you’re a cosmetologist publishing a video on YouTube about makeup techniques, name the title exactly what you’re showing your audience: Tips for Smokey Eye Shadow or At-Home Waxing Techniques. Those terms are realisticly what someone wanting to know more about makeup or waxing will plug into their search engine.
As far as your description goes, make sure to use a keyword/phrase here and there. It’s the same principal as picking a good SEO title, but now you’ve got to weave the search term into your written content. Always make it look natural and do not overstuff your paragraph with key phrases. One paragraph of written content should have no more than 3 keywords/phrases.
YouTube is free and free is good! Take advantage of YouTube to enhance your searchability and profitability for your small business.
If you did a survey of people walking down the street and asked them “How do you find a business when you need one?” Many of them are going to say they use the internet. More people are looking up services through the web than flipping through the prehistoric yellow pages. The thing is: you can take advantage of local search marketing and apply it to your small business design without being “out of date.”
If you’re familiar with Google Maps, you may already be aware that if you type “Seafood, Miami FL” into Google’s search engine, a map of the Miami area will appear with a list of restaurants or vendors that specialize in seafood. That’s what local marketing can do for you. When you put your company’s information into Google Places, you’re making it easier for people in your area to find you. You can apply this information to not only Google search engines, but the other major ones as well.
Not convinced it will help drive traffic to your site?
Approximately 20% of Google searches are associated with location. Based on reports from Google itself: The Google Place sections are viewed millions of times each day. By not putting your company contact information, website and other miscellaneous data, you’re missing out on potentially millions of people who could stumble across your website. Local search marketing or “optimization” is just as an important small business practice as the SEO you use on your website.
There are features available specifically through Google Places that can help small business improve their search-ability. You can pay for Tags: Tags come with a $25 price tag per month and promote business features your company is offering. These are currently only available in certain cities, but expanding quickly. So if you want to use Google Tags for your company and your location isn’t listed, it may be shortly.
Google also can send a photographer to your business and offer a free, professional photo shoot. You’re not guaranteed to have a session, but you browse the available locations and apply. If you’re not in one of the major US cities that offers these free photo sessions, take your own photos and upload them to Google Places by yourself.
So, when you implement local search marketing strategies to your small business design, you’re helping to increase traffic to your website by at least 20% (according to Google). Besides a good-looking company website and a well-written blog, it’s one of the simplest ideas to apply to your business to get results.
If you’ve read my
article on SEO, you know that inbound links are one of your greatest allies for boosting your small business website’s search engine results. The power of inbound links to increase search engine rankings makes many website owners worry that including outgoing links on their website will have the opposite effect. In fact, you’ve probably heard or read that outgoing links can hurt your
Google PageRank. Actually, outbound links on your webpage can be a great SEO tool and can work with other SEO tips to improve your website’s search engine ranking.
Advantages of Outgoing Links
- Linking to high-quality websites places your site in a “good neighborhood” by associating your site with quality. You can think of it just like your real-life neighborhood–if the people living next door renovate their house, your house will go up in value as well. Similarly, if you link to an excellent website, your site’s perceived value will increase.
- By taking the time to choose quality links that add value to your website’s content, you show your visitors that you know how to recognize good information and want to be their go-to resource.
- Linking to other websites is a natural way to increase your incoming links, by drawing attention to your website and encouraging reciprocation. If your website has useful content, sites you link to will be inclined to return the favor.
- Anchor text for outgoing links can be a great place to include your website’s SEO keywords in your content. If it doesn’t make sense to use your keywords in the anchor text, it may be a sign that the outbound link isn’t relevant enough, and you may want to rethink including it.
Watch out for:
- Becoming part of a virtual “bad neighborhood” by linking to spammy or low-quality websites. Search engines and visitors will judge your website by the company it keeps, so only link to high-quality, relevant websites.
- Including dozens of links to irrelevant sites. Always think about your visitors and only include links that you think they will truly find useful or interesting.
- Sending your visitors to websites offering the same services or products. Outgoing links direct your website’s visitors away from your site, so you want to be sure that you’re not sending them to a competitor. Instead, send them to sites that provide something relevant but slightly outside the scope of your own website. For example, if your website sells baby clothes, you may link to a website that’s all about preparing for a new baby–but which doesn’t actually sell baby items. Your visitors will appreciate the useful information and they will return to your site to make their purchases.
Do outgoing links drain your PageRank?
No one knows exactly how Google calculates PageRank, but the general consensus is that including relevant, high-quality outgoing links will do more to help your PageRank than harm it. The only danger comes from linking to websites which have been penalized by Google, are of low quality, or have no relevance to your website.
Outgoing links can be an excellent SEO tool, and you shouldn’t be afraid to include well-chosen links when you think they will add value to your website’s content.
There’s no question that search engine optimization is a key part of successful small business website design–without effective SEO, your customers simply won’t find your site. I’ve discussed some of the keys to search engine optimization before, and now I want to share with you some of the best tools to conduct SEO keyword research.
Choosing the right keywords for SEO is essential, because the keywords associated with your website will determine which and how many Internet searchers will find it. You want to be sure that you’re optimizing for keywords that your target audience is searching on. This is where keyword research comes in. Here’s a quick overview of the best SEO keyword research tools available:
Free Keyword Research Tools
Alexa
Alexa offers a wealth of free search analytics tools that can help you optimize your website. To conduct keyword research with Alexa, you can:
- Type in a search term to find out how popular that query is (“Query Popularity”) and how much competition there is from other websites for that particular query (“Query Competition Index”).
- Type in a competitor’s website to see what keywords they’re using to attract traffic.
Google
Google provides a number of free keyword tools, particularly for those who have created AdWords accounts. An AdWords account is how you buy advertising space on Google, but you can sign up and use the tools even without purchasing advertising space.
- Google Search-based Keyword Tool
- Google’s Search-based Keyword Tool will suggest keyword ideas based on your website and your Google AdWords language and country settings, so you get suggestions that are particularly relevant to your needs. It provides info on the number of monthly searches and the competition for each suggested keyword, as well as a suggested AdWords bid price. You can also browse keywords by category. (This tool is very similar to the Google AdWords Keyword Tool, but provides a little more data.)
- Google AdWords Traffic Estimator
- This tool will provide an estimate of how much advertisers are paying to have their ad displayed when certain keywords are searched–keywords with a lot of searches tend to be more expensive. Use the Traffic Estimator for keyword research by looking for keywords that are relevant to your website but are not the highest or lowest priced–the top priced keywords generate a lot of competition, and the lowest priced ones see too little traffic.
- Google Insights For Search
- Google Insights for Search is how you can find out who is searching for what keywords. Enter your search terms and Google will provide you with an analysis of the keyword’s search trends relative to Google’s total number of searches. You’ll be able to see the change in search volume over time, amount of interest by geographic area, and similar keywords that are highly searched or that have seen an increase in number of searches.
Paid Keyword Research Tools
Wordtracker
Wordtracker is generally considered the gold standard in paid keyword research. There’s a free Wordtrack keyword research tool, but access to the features that make Wordtracker one of the best requires a paid subscription. They do offer a free trial, however, so you can see if you like it before you buy. You might also want to check out the Wordtracker-powered SEO Blogger plugin for Firefox.
Keyword Discovery
Another good keyword research tool which also offers a free trial. According to their website, Keyword Discovery has the largest keyword database, containing nearly 38 billion searches from more than 200 search engines worldwide.
Flash is software that uses animation to create multimedia elements for websites. Flash on a web page is usually used to establish interactivity with visitors. It could be a button, form, movie, cartoon, or even a game. Take a look at the following examples of different uses of Flash:
Flash focused sites (full Flash sites):
Moodstream (brainstorming tool)
Uniroyal Fun Cup (racing game)
Chipotle (restaurant)
Sites with Flash elements (not full Flash sites):
Atlantic Vegas (only the game selections are done in Flash)
American Academy Casablanca (home page has a Flash photo gallery)
Conference Torquay (home page has 3 small rotating Flash photo galleries)
To use Flash or not?
There are few things to consider when thinking about using Flash on your website: your budget, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and your industry type.
Consider your web design budget
A standard website can cost you anywhere from $500 to $3000 and that doesn’t include Flash. There are many factors that go into the price of a website, but Flash would be considered an added feature and therefore would cost you hundreds extra. So, when considering including Flash on your website, first take a look at your budget and see if you can afford it.
SEO and Flash
There are a couple of reasons why you would like to have a Flash site for your business, it grabs visitor’s attention and it’s interactive. On the other hand, you might not want to have a full Flash site for your business because they’re made up of graphics and graphics are not search engine optimized (SEO). It is very important to have your website be SEO friendly, but that’s a different topic. Your website can of course have Flash elements like those shown in the examples above.
Is your business in an industry that’s ready for Flash?
The type of industry that your business is in has also a factor of how much Flash on your website you should use (if you decide to use it). For example, if you’re in a Health Care industry your website doesn’t need any Flash, but you may still use Flash elements minimally. The main reason for this is because the visitors that would come to your website would not typically wait for the Flash to load, they just want to get in, find what they’re looking for and leave. But if you’re in the Arts and Entertainment industry, than it would be good for your website to have at least some Flash in it. I would at least suggest for your website to use a Flash photo gallery. When people come to an entertainment type of website, they are more interested to interact with your website and take their time to view things such as slide shows.
So before you consider to have your website designed in Flash, first thing about your budget, your search engine ranking and your industry type.
Small business owners have been using article marketing for decades, but the Internet and new Web 2.0 sites have really increased its potential and popularity. The principle behind article marketing is pretty simple: the idea is to promote your business and website by writing articles to be published as free content on other Internet sites. These articles promote your business by including a link back to your website and a brief bio about you and your business. Writing quality articles and submitting them for publication on other sites is an investment of your time, but one that can have real benefits for your small business website.
Benefits of Article Marketing
- Publishing articles on other websites will help you reach a broader audience—the more information you have on the Internet, the more likely it is that your target audience will find you.
- Writing high-quality articles related to your business is a great way to establish yourself as an expert in your field. People searching for information on the topic will read your articles and see that you know what you’re talking about, which will encourage them to check out your website for more information.
- Readers will come away from your articles with a positive impression of you and your business, since you’re providing them with useful and free information.
- Every article you write and publish will have a link back to your site, providing you with valuable backlinks that may improve your search engine ranking. Keep in mind that search engines like Google take into account the quality of the sites linking to yours; for this reason, try not to sacrifice quality for quantity. It’s probably to your advantage to focus on writing well-written and informative articles that high-quality sites will be happy to publish, even if this means you’ll end up with fewer articles overall.
Be Careful of Duplicate Content
Duplicate content is large blocks of text from different webpages that are identical or extremely similar. Google can penalize you for providing duplicate content by lowering your search ranking or completely removing your site from the Google index. These duplicate content penalties are part of Google’s effort to provide useful search results—they don’t want every search result to have basically the same content.
Duplicate content only results in penalties if Google believes your intent was to manipulate search rankings or deceive users. Submitting the same article for publication on multiple sites in order to promote your own website can be seen by Google as deception and result in penalties. Article marketing can be very effective in boosting your search rankings and increasing traffic to your small business website, but make sure to avoid duplicate content to ensure that your efforts don’t backfire.
There’s no question that having your small business website on the first page of Google results is good for traffic. Google has been used for more than 70% of U.S. Internet searches so far in 2010, making it by far the Internet’s most used search engine. One reason Google is so popular is that Internet searchers trust the results it returns. Google’s method for putting together a list of great search results relies heavily on PageRank (PR), a number from 0-10 that reflects a web page’s importance. Average PageRank is 3-5; a PageRank of 6-7 is considered extremely good. Only a few elite websites have PageRanks of 8 or above, and only Google and a handful of others have PageRanks of 10. PageRank is a logarithmic calculation, meaning that each level is harder to reach than the last. For example, moving from PR 2 to PR 3 is easier than moving from PR 3 to PR 4. It also means that a PageRank of 4 is more than twice as good as a PageRank of 2.
The formula for calculating PageRank is patented and a closely guarded secret; according to Google, PageRank is determined by looking at more than 500 million variables and 2 billion terms. But even though you can’t know all the details of Google’s formula, there are some things you can do to increase your PageRank.
- Inbound Links
The most important factor in determining PageRank is the number of high-quality websites that link to your webpage. Think of it as a voting system: when one page links to another page, Google considers that a vote for the other page. The more votes a page gets, the more important that page must be and the higher its PageRank. Votes from more important pages are considered more important, meaning that a link to your site from a page with a high PageRank will increase your PageRank more than a link from a page with low PageRank. Links from sites that have content related to your website’s content are also more valuable than links from unrelated websites.
- Internal Linking and Structure
How you structure your website is important to maximizing PageRank. Here are a few tips:
- Make sure your website has a clear hierarchy and important links are made up of text rather than images.
- Don’t let the structure of your website get too “deep”; having to follow several links in order to get to a page from your site’s homepage generally decreases that page’s PageRank.
- Make sure every page is linked to by at least one text link, and avoid dangling links (links to pages that don’t contain any links themselves).
- Include a site map that links to your website’s important pages.
- Don’t put too many links on any one page.
- Quality Content
Having a lot of interlinked pages is good for PageRank, but only if the content on each page is original and useful. Good website content will encourage other websites to link to your pages (see Tip #1), and Google penalizes websites for containing content that is duplicated elsewhere on the Internet.
- Use SEO Techniques
Don’t forget to optimize for your target keywords, so Google knows what your website is about. Good Search Engine Optimization is key to improving your search engine ranking and is a factor that Google takes into consideration when calculating PageRank.
Following these tips should improve your Google PageRank, but be prepared to wait a few weeks before you see results–with the millions of websites on the Internet, it will take time for Google to reevaluate your website.
Customer reviews or testimonials when written directly on your website can increase your SEO rank. This is because reviews are generally considered as content and usually will include keywords that are associated with your company/products/services. Content with targeted keywords are always a plus with the search engines.
SEO | admin | 
May 24, 2011 12:25 pm | 
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