Next month: Top tips for Search Engine’s - If you would like some more information about Domain Names and the Domain Name registration process please call Yvette at Stickyfeet Design Ltd – 09 421 0081. www.stickyfeet.co.nz

Top tips for better rankings with Search Engines

Firstly let me say that I am not an expert on the science of search engine optimisation. The subject is as nearly as big as the internet itself and with over 11.5 billion web pages listed in 2005, I am not even scratching the tip of the iceberg. But as is the nature of working with websites I have found some valuable information to do with search engines and rankings. Here are a few ways that could help you get better rankings.

1. Maintain and update your website frequently. New information is not only relevant to potential online visitors, it is also relevant to search engines. Constantly changing information shows the search engines that you are ‘real’. If you don’t keep your site fresh with new content, your competitors that do will be listed before you. Create keyword rich informative articles about your business and services and add them to your site on a regular basis.
2. Have content within the html of your site. All the text on each page also adds information that the search engines use to rate your site. The important principle in this is that you should strive to reach the fine balance of having the correct updated information and utilising keywords that are relevant to your business.
3. Reciprocal links. Linking to other websites can boost your popularity with some of the search engines – but only good quality ‘content rich’ sites that are also complementary to you work best.
4. Content rich niche site. If you are in an industry with little competition then getting relevant listing is much easier than one that is saturated with hundreds or even thousands of sites all vying for the top position on google. If you are in the later category then keep your content updated, no one knows your business better then you do, so keep the information relevant and fresh to gain best advantage.
5. Testing and web stats. Test where you come up when you test keywords that are used on your site. Also make sure your website has been submitted to the search engines and keep testing. Also, see where your competition ranks. Use the web stats that most ISP services provide for free to their clients to see who is coming to you and where they are coming from. Be prepared to make modifications based on this data.
6. Advertise your web site. Search engines should be considered only as part of your online marketing. Put your web address on everything, target advertise your business.
7. Time, energy or money? The bottom line is that unless you have very deep pockets and are prepared to pay for either the expertise of search engine optimisation or rankings then you need to be prepared to make an ongoing effort to make your site excel within your niche. The web is not static, like a telephone directory, it is evolving technology. Doing, planning, reviewing and taking action in an environment that is fluid and constantly changing is what works.

Essentially Search Engine Optimisation is a science, if you would like the names and numbers of several local companies that offer this service please do not hesitate to contact me and I will happily recommend them to you. For those of us that don’t have an endless web marketing budget the answer to ‘how do I get to number one on google?’. Create a long term view of your website, update your content, test your keywords and competition and be prepared to change what does not work. It will take time and energy with no guarantee’s of ever reaching #1. But remember, you only need to rate higher than your direct competitors!

Next month: How to use Search Engine’s to find the needle in the hay stack - If you would like some more information about Domain Names and the Domain Name registration process please call Yvette at Stickyfeet Design Ltd – 09 421 0081. www.stickyfeet.co.nz

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How to use Search Engine’s to find the needle in the hay stack

In my last article I gave a few tips on how to rank with search engines, in this article we look at how to find what you are looking for. With over 11.5 billion indexed web pages, how do you find that needle in a haystack?

1. Be specific. If you were planning to go on holiday to Fiji and wanted to find what luxury accomodation is available, then type in ‘luxury holiday accomodation in Fiji’ rather than just ‘Fiji’.
2. Using the ‘+’ symbol to add. Sometimes, you want to make sure that a search engine finds pages that have all the words you enter, not just some of them. The ‘+’ symbol lets you do this.
   For example, imagine you want to find pages that have references to both ‘Fiji’ and ‘fishing charters’ on the same page. You could search this way: +Fiji +fishing charters or +Fiji +fishing +charters. It basically is saying to the search engine ‘Fiji plus fishing plus charters plus Fiji’. So combinations of words that you wish to find together on one page may be found simply like this.
3. Using The ‘-’ Symbol to Subtract. Sometimes, you want a search engine to find pages that have one word on them but not another word. The ‘-‘ symbol lets you do this.
   For example, imagine you want information as above but don't want to be overwhelmed by pages relating to the sportfishing. You could search this way:
   +Fiji +fishing +charters –sportfishing. In general, the ‘-‘ symbol is helpful for focusing results when you get too many that are unrelated to your topic. Simply begin subtracting terms you know are not of interest, and you should get more focused results.
4. Using Quotation Marks To Multiply. As in normal math, now that you know how to add and subtract terms, we can move on to multiplication. Multiplying terms through a "phrase search" can be a much better way to get the answers you are looking for. If we entered all the terms like this: “Fiji fishing charters” we are telling a search engine to give us pages where the terms appear in exactly the order specified. You do this by putting quotation marks around the desired phrase. Now, only pages that have all the words and in the exact order shown above will be listed. The answers should be much more refined than with the simple addition technique addressed above.
5. Combining Symbols. Once you've mastered adding, subtracting and multiplying, you can combine symbols to easily create focused searches. For example, remember the search for pages only about Fiji Charter fishing minus the Sport fishing? We could search it this way:
   “ Fiji fishing charters” –sportfishing.
6. Don’t just ‘google’ it. Aside from ‘google’, what other search engines do you know of? My three favourites are ‘google’, ‘askjeeves’ and ‘dogpile’. If I have trouble finding what I am looking for on one of them I will check the others. For a list of links to other search engines visit my site www.stickyfeet.co.nz/search.htm.
7. Search engines have support centres with search guides. Check out the search engine you use and see if they have a support centre or help centre with an explanation of the best ways to use the service they provide. Google for example has a fantastic support centre with visual explanations of basic and advanced search tips. Dogpile has a brilliant Tools and Tips section with a video of how their comparative searches work.

Happy searching. For more information about search engines, search engine optimisation, and the web design process please feel free to contact me. Yvette at Stickyfeet Design Ltd – 09 421 0081. www.stickyfeet.co.nz

Next month: Maximising your business brand with multiple format delivery

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