The Art of SEO - Making Your Business More Profitable

May 8, 2012 - PRLog -- When you pay attention to what the search engine is looking for, you can help the search engine choose to place you on the first page of results.  By increasing the authority, relevance and trustworthiness of your site you will make it easier to rank on the first page.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the process by which we increase the authority, relevance and trustworthiness of a website or webpage in Google’s eyes so that the webpage or website will be shown on the first page of results.  So let’s look at what the values of authority, relevance and trustworthiness mean to a search engine.

Authority

The authority of a website is usually determined by the number and types of incoming links to a webpage within the site.  For example, in its simplest form, if Site A has 100 links pointing to it from a number of sites on the web and Site B has 350 links; Site B would show above Site A in the search results.  You can think of incoming links as a vote for a site.  The site with the most votes win. Now in the search world not every vote has the same value. A link from a site that has high authority counts more than a link from a site that carries little authority.

Relevance

Is your content applicable and relevant to what the searcher is looking for? In the simplest terms, if someone is searching for the term “plumber Milwaukee” do you have that term on the webpage? Remember that a search engine can only read the words on the page to determine what your site is about, they can not read graphics nor flash very well.  So if you are trying to attract a certain type of customer then you need to use the words that they would search for you with on your website.

Trustworthiness

Can Google find information out about you from other trustworthy places on the internet? Is your business name, address and phone number consistent and found in the trusted directories? Do you have reviews, and if so, are they positive?
Why should you care about your position in Google?

Traffic from the top three search engines can make a significant positive change in a business’s bottom line. The number one result in the search results for a searched keyword phrase will get approximately 42% of the searchers to click into the site. If your search phrase is “plumber Milwaukee” which gets approximately 2,900 broad match searches each month you can expect to receive 42% of the traffic if your webpage is the number one listing in the Google results. This is only one of the keywords that you might target.  Multiply the number of keyword phrases you might target by the number of searches each month and you can begin to recognize the tremendous traffic that you can generate to your website.

How to Obtain a Number One Listing

The major search engines want to show the users the results that they are looking for. So we need to give the search engines, in particular Google, what it is looking for in order for Google to rank us first. A Google result page contains 3 components: PPC ads (advertisers using Google Adwords to promote their site), Google Places pages (to locate these look for the upside down teardrop with a letter inside) and the organic or free listings.

Each of the components on a Google results page is promoted differently.  For example, in order to increase the ranking in an organic or free result area you would need to increase your authority by increasing the number of incoming links to your webpage using the keyword phrase you are targeting.  You would, therefore, want to obtain links from other authority sites on the web.

To increase the ranking of the Google Places page you would need to increase the number of other sites that contain a reference to your business. Your name, address and phone number, exactly as it appears in Google Places, needs to be on the many directory type sites out on the web. In addition you would want to have your customers place online reviews on the many sites that offer consumers the ability to review your business.  

When using Pay Per Click (paid ads), you need to make sure the page you are going to send the traffic to will convert and have a high quality score in Google’s eyes.  You will also need to watch your budget and conversion rate.

How to Succeed Without Spending the Rest of Your Life Promoting your Site

Research and pick 3 to 5 keywords that your customers would use to find your business. Create a monthly plan to write an article and promote each of these keywords throughout the month.  Stick to your plan for the next 3 month and you will see your site start to rise in the search engine results for those search terms.

Succeeding in the search engines is like a marathon, not a sprint. Make a plan and then work that plan each month until you are where you want to be then you can maintain it with less effort from then on.

When you successfully become the authority in your market, are relevant to the search, and show Google your trustworthiness, you will claim more traffic to your website and more customers to increase your bottom line.

Victoria Hargis is one of the nation’s leading authorities on Search Engine Optimization. As a woman owned business that is locally owned and operated, she has helped her Clients make millions of dollars over the years. For further information, please contact her direct at 262-757-8723.