The days of treating websites like static advertisements are long gone.  A business simply cannot expect to attract new customers online with a website that looks like a flier or a page from the phone book.  Name, location and business hours won’t even come close to cutting it.

Search engines like Google actively search out websites with the most pertinent information possible on any topic.  If someone types in “mountain bike New Orleans,” and you are in the business of selling mountain bikes in New Orleans, it is in your best interest for that search to turn up your website as the top result.

All about the Algorithm

Now, how does this happen?  It’s all about the algorithm Google uses to find websites.  Google sorts through the thousands of websites that are related to the search terms to find the one that most closely fits the words used in the search.  The Google algorithm will look at about 200 factors to determine a site’s ranking, and while much of the algorithm’s mechanics remain a closely guarded mystery, several important elements have been sorted out.

Here are five simple fixes for improving your website’s search engine standing:

1. Proper URL structuring – write them for humans, not for robots.
2. Title tags – what specific search does that page target? If it’s “mountain bikes in New Orleans,” then that search term should be in the title.
3. Headers – outlines the web page – what is the overall document about? What are sub-sections about? Think semantically.
4. Meta descriptions – the snippet Google includes in its search results – weighted with importance, and also an opportunity to pitch to your potential.
5. Meta-geotags – 1/5 of all searches online are for local services/products – associate your website with your physical location.

Content Counts

There’s a lot of speculation as to what the Google algorithm specifically looks at when it comes to content, whether it scans the first 80 words or 100, but one thing is certain – what matters is content.  It may be the case that no human will ever take the time to read the 100-word introduction to your business on your website’s homepage, but Google sure will.

A lot of “industry experts” claim that links back to a site are the most important part of the search algorithm. As Google’s spider literally crawls your site and the rest of the Web it peeks at your links, and uses the link text as a description of what that site is. Since someone on the web voted that your site is relevant to mountain bikes in New Orleans, Google will take this into account when it’s arranging search results. While it’s imperative to write great content, it’s just as important to shop that content around online: in blog comments, relevant web directories and all the appropriate social media outlets.

Loading your website with as much pertinent information as possible is a proven tactic to increase the site’s profile, but this isn’t a one time effort.  Good SEO practices require constant updating.  Google responds much better to fresh content than information that has been up on a website for months or even years.  Keeping your website as high as possible in Google search rankings requires continued effort and vigilance.

Finding Dr. Z

A prime example of good SEO in action is the website we developed for Specialty Orthopaedics.  We’ve been working closely with director Dr. Steven Zelicof since November to improve the website’s online profile.

In that time, the number of daily visitors to the site has risen significantly, from 40 per day in November to over 100 in January.  Since that peak, the number of daily visitors has leveled off at around 80 – twice as many as when we started.

This increased traffic is a direct result of our strategic and continuous implementation of SEO best practices.  We found out what search terms were most common among the site’s visitors and worked those keywords into the website content, and we made sure each service that turned out to be popular in keyword searches was prominently displayed and explained.

The keys to this process are communication, research and adaptation.  Dr. Zelicof has kept in close contact with Mudbug Media since his site went live.  Instead of forgetting about his website as soon as it became functional, Dr. Zelicof made sure we knew what he wanted his practice to be known for online, and we were able to make that happen by adapting the content.

Information changes constantly, as does Google’s algorithm.  It is vitally important to make SEO implementation an ongoing part of any website.  No matter how big or small the business, SEO best practices can make a huge impact on any website.

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