8 ways to get noticed by search engines

The effectiveness of a business name is often underestimated, especially when participating in commerce online. Entrepreneurs often forget that their company will be exposed to people all over the world. This means that their store's name, which may be well known in the neighborhood, may sound puzzling to those living in halfway across the world.

A good business name, as well as descriptions on the homepage, should explain and emphasize what kind of products and services you are selling. The reason why this is crucial is simple: studies have shown that, in search queries, people will be mainly looking for the "type" of business you are and not you personally. It is not that don't like you, they may just not be aware of you yet.

The more self explanatory your business name is, the quicker it will be picked up by search engines. Just put yourself in the shoes of your audience and envision what you would type into a query if you were looking for a baby gift. Ask yourself, which of the following names would trigger the most hits: ‘Sally's boutique', or ‘Sally's unique baby gift boutique'?

As you can see, a business name and its online title tags - the words in a browser's title bar - are indeed important. That's what search engines look for when they calculate the rankings in their listings. Put as much pertinent information as possible in those tags, including your specialty and what distinguishes you from your competition.

Switching to, or adding an online venture does not mean that you have to give up your existing business name completely. Mentioning it in logos, footers, articles and your "About us" page will pull up your website when the few people who are familiar with your store will type in its name during a search.

Having a catchy, yet explanatory business name is one way to get noticed by search engines. Here are 8 more tricks that can increase your search engine visibility.

1.Research business related keywords. Placing the right words on your homepage is vital if you want to hit the spotlight. For example, "Welcome to my homepage" sounds friendly and inviting, but it will not stand out when search engines are eagerly looking for American silver bullion coins. In this case, "Welcome to my stamps and coin shop" would have increased your chances to get noticed drastically.

2. Title tags and body text versus meta tags. Meta tags are special HTML tags which are used to store information about your Web page. They also give a brief summary of your site and store keywords you think people will use to find your site. Title tags, body text and mega tags are all keys that will help you get noticed. Because they all play a different roll in the website construction, they should all get an equal amount of attention and keywords should be represented strongly in all.

3.Important keywords get priority. Internet users are impatient and tend to scroll. If you want to grab their attention you will have to place your most important keywords right in the first paragraphs of your content, and not just on the homepage, but on all your pages. Explain right from the start what the page they landed on is all about and do not forget to refer to the other pages of your website.

4. Human-based directories versus spider-based engines. Human-based directories such as Yahoo and LookSmart are controlled by humans, while search engines such as Google, Fast Search and Alta Vista use high-tech "spider" technology to crawl across the Web to gather information, such as matching keywords to queries. Despite this difference, they all measure link popularity and determine the ranking of your pages on their listings. If you want to get noticed, make sure your website gets picked up by the most reputable and established directories, such as Google, Yahoo and MSN as soon as possible.

5.Search engine friendly web designs. Designing a search engine friendly website means that you have to allow easy access to search engine crawlers, also referred to as spiders and robots. You can control how Web crawlers index your site by adding a simple text file that specifies instructions for a large number of pages on your site or adding text links at the bottom of all your website pages.

6. Powerful directory submissions. When filing your directory submissions make sure you have all your ducks in a row. Your site descriptions have to be factually accurate and you have to employ as many keywords as possible. This is vital, because you will not get a second chance to do it right. For those of you who feel uncertain, there are seo consultants who will do search engine and directory submissions for you.

7. Upgrade your side frequently. Monitor all your pages closely and make changes according to the needs of your audience. If you notice your visitors like a particular page, add more of them. If they prefer the spelling of a specific keyword over another - e.g. website, versus web site as two words - you may want to revise your text.

8. Use search-term research tools. Some online companies will offer free search-term research tools that will improve your campaign performance. Simply type in your keyword and in seconds you will receive the result, which will show the ranking of the word you entered.

Whatever strategy you finally decide on to increase your search engine visibility, always remember that search engines crave keyword-rich content and will pick that up way before they will pay attention to your flash creations and videos.


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About the Author

Bliss Media is a cutting edge web design agency. We have conducted web design projects from small start ups to some of Australia's leading sites.

Article Tags: Search Engine Optimization, 8 ways to get noticed by search engines