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Search Engine Rankings
Are search engine rankings important? You
bet they are! Over half of all visitors to a given website are
directed there by a search engine. Some believe this figure is
closer to 90%. Whatever the actual number is, it is imperative
that we consider our search engine rankings.
There are many steps involved in getting
your site indexed (listed) in a search engine. Some companies
pay thousands of dollars each year to achieve or maintain
their rankings. I will break down the basic steps involved in
listing your site in to two categories. The first will be the
steps we take as a courtesy to our clients. The second
category will be steps that a business can do themselves but
are most often neglected.
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Analyze site content and determine relevant
keywords or phrases.
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Create Title, Description and Keywords for
meta tags based on site content analysis.
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Inspect keywords and phrases to avoid
keyword spamming and develop keyword relevance.
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Submit web site to major search engines and
directories.
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Respond to or confirm submissions.
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Check major search engines for "business
name" listing appearance 4-6 weeks after submission.
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Review of Title, Description and Keywords to
assure relevance and promote a higher search engine ranking.
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Review major search engine rankings
periodically by "business name" search and "keyword" search.
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Maintain use of relevant keywords in the
content of self maintained websites.
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Optional: Pay search engine for
placement or keyword rankings.
Over 88% of PPP Design built websites have a
number 1 ranking on Google when a business name search is
done. The other 12% show up in the top 5 listings. Of the 12%
most are sites that were recently completed, have changed
names (domain names) or have another non related site with almost
identical names. Many of these sites show up at number 1 when
keyword searches are done as well.
This tells us that the first six steps are
probably the most important steps to take. Follow up with the
other four steps and your site will show up under more keyword
searches and achieve higher rankings for each keyword.
Here is an example:
Try a search for PPP Design on Google (Click
Here). PPP Design is indexed in the first and second
spots. Now try a search for Denison Website Design on Google (Click
Here). Again, PPP Design is listed number one and two. Now
try Iowa Website Design on Google (Click
Here). You will need to scroll down to the 7th Non-Sponsor
listing to find us. And in case you didn't notice this is page
two of the search. PPP Design is listed 17th. (Now scroll up
to the number 1 listed site on the second page of the search
listings. The caption reads Web Design in Iowa, but if you
follow the link they are actually a web design firm from
Maryland and West Virginia. Their site lists counties and
cities from several states but their portfolio is limited to
the Maryland and West Virginia Area. This is one example of
search engine spamming. Over the past two years we have
climbed from a rank of 112 to 17 when using Iowa Website
Design as the search term. This climb was accomplished by
tweaking a keyword here and there and linking to other
non-competing Iowa websites. Oddly enough, if you change the
search to Website Design Iowa on Google (Click
Here), PPP Design is listed 10th (The slightest variations
may or may not make a difference). Check your search engine ranking
periodically both with a business name search and keywords
that relate to your business or site. Change keywords if
necessary or update content to reflect your market and your
site will climb in the search engine rankings. |
Visitor Milestone
As of the end of June 2006, the sites under the domain "pppdesign"
saw 151,852 visitors over the last year. The sites included
under this domain are PPP Design, Denison Links, and Monarch
Country. Denison Links and Monarch Country have their own
domain names but all three are under the umbrella of "pppdesign".
Each PPP Design developed website is listed in our portfolio,
linked form our links pages, and has a banner ad on Denison
Links. Your site can also be found in the Denison Links area
business website directory. Visitors to these sites may mean
more visitors to yours.
R&S Waste
has added a new Payment Gateway to their site so customers can
use the site to make payments with e-Checks and two additional
Credit Card options.
Monona County Coupons has been added to our portfolio and
offers coupons from businesses in the Monona County Area.
Check out the site if you are going to be in the area.
Bill Gates Retiring
REDMOND, Wash. — June 15, 2006 — Microsoft Corp. today
announced that effective July 2008 Bill Gates, chairman, will
transition out of a day-to-day role in the company to spend
more time on his global health and education work at the Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation. The company announced a two-year
transition process to ensure that there is a smooth and
orderly transfer of Gates’ daily responsibilities, and said
that after July 2008 Gates would continue to serve as the
company’s chairman and an advisor on key development projects.
See the entire press release at
Microsoft. |
