The grand old question most website owners want to know

How do I get to page 1 in Google?

First of all, Google LOVEs good quality content being updated regularly. It is like a popularity contest and you are going to be rewarded if you have more traffic and people staying longer on your website. It shows Google you have good quality content that people want to read. In most cases this will start to happen naturally when we build your website. If you aren’t the best writer then it can pay to invest in having a copywriter look over and write your content because you always want it to be engaging – ask us how today.

 

Your content needs to be original, it will have a negative effect if you have duplicate copy on different pages and it will have a very negative effect if you copy and paste from someone else’s website, it’s not only that person you are steeling from that you have to worry about, but it’s Google’s bots who will give you the big black cross, so don’t do it!

By writing your own original content, it does get your message across clearly and you’ll naturally use nice keywords throughout – which is great Google food.

 

Break up your blocks of text with nice images. Make sure you purchase stock photos or take your own, using other peoples images from Google not only poses Copyright issues, it also opens you up for more black crosses.

Google can’t tell what the photo is of unless you tell it, so make sure you always set the alt text on all images. 

 

Use keywords throughout your copy, this should happen naturally but keep it in mind when you are writing. The key words you use throughout your articles are seen by Google.

Don’t go overboard and spam your article with lots of keywords (again Google will give you more black crosses), keep the content sounding normal and natural but just keep the use of keywords in the back of your mind.

 

Drive as much traffic to your website as you possibly can, as I said earlier it is like a popularity contest, drive as much traffic from your social media sites and email marketing.

It’s all about exposure and the more traffic you can build and hits you can get will help you in the long run.

 

Use custom Meta tags throughout, by using a unique Meta Title and Description for each individual page can really help with Google, it allows Google an overview of what’s in that page.

Again, try and use nice punchy keywords but make sure it is relevant to what is on that page – always be authentic.

 

Backlinks can be used, this means you ask other websites to link to you, hopefully websites who are already getting more traffic than yours.

Again it’s a popularity thing, Google gives you credibility if someone else who is already credible, is linking to you. It tells Google you must be somewhat interesting and have something good to share with the world!

 

The code in your website plays a big role, make sure you have a professional web designer build it. It is like servicing your car, you can do some things yourself, but for the initial build and big services it’s always recommended to go to a good service centre, for obvious reasons.

You can try and DIY to cut costs, but you have to ask yourself if in the long run you are really cutting costs when you aren’t getting results or you run into big technical issues and need a specialist to take a look. Also, just think, you could take 2-3 times longer to do something, when you could of been busy sticking to what you love and are good at!

 

Add your physical business location to Google maps because Google will display them first and it gives your website a boost. If you aren’t showing in Google Maps  just ask us about getting on there.

Google uses many tools and algorithms that are updated regularly, so it can be a task that needs to be monitored and constantly worked. It does depend on your competition as well because the targeted keyword phrase you are going after might be quite unique making life easy, but in some cases it can be very competitive and like all things in life what you put in, is what you get out.

 

There are options to pay for traffic with things like Google AdWords and this can be a great boost for your website especially initially. I never encourage businesses to pay for traffic until they have a great website with good SEO, optimised for Google first. You don’t want to pay for traffic and get them to your website if it isn’t engaging and entices them to convert to an enquiry or sale.

Google AdWords needs to be setup correctly so you aren’t paying for traffic that isn’t relevant to your business, that’s just a waste. This does need somewhat initially managed, but usually once it’s running like clockwork it just ticks away.

 

Be results driven, we track the success of your website with reports so we can see how many people are hitting your website, when, what they are visiting, where they are exiting. The reason we track this and analyse it is  because you should do regular reviews and maintenance to your website if you want continued results – just like when you go to the gym to build muscle you need to change it up as with time different things will work and goals might change.

With your website these measured results guide us to exactly what changes we should make, it’s not guessing or stabbing in the dark, it’s strategic based on evidence and results.