How to rank No. 1 on GoogleClayton Wehner - Blue Train EnterprisesE: contact@bluetrainenterprises.com.au W: www.bluetrainenterprises.com.au

Scope1 – Search engines and Google2 – Choosing the Right Keywords3 - On-site Optimisation4 – Getting Value from Links5 – Content is King6 – More things to do and not doIf you have questions, please don’t hesitate to ask them at any time during the seminarGo to www.bluetrainenterprises.com.au/ebec to follow this presentation on your laptop

Search Engines and GooglePart 1

What is a search engine?A web search engine is a tool designed to search for information on the World Wide Web (Wikipedia)Search engines exist to deliver the best possible search results to the user, for any given keyword combination.Search engines use complex algorithms to index and rank web pages programmatically.

The big three search engines in Australia are…

About GoogleBrainchild of two college friends, Sergey Brin and Larry PageTheir search engine was originally called BackRubIn 1997 it became Google, a play on the word "googol," a mathematical term for the number represented by the numeral 1 followed by 100 zerosGoogle became the world’s biggest search index in June 2000Google’s ascent as a ‘second mover’ was remarkable – it eclipsed the likes of AltaVista, Yahoo!, MSN, LycosToday Google is a frontrunner in mapping and satellite technology, operating system software, office applications, mobile computing and much, much more

Why is important to optimise for Google?‘Build it and they will come’ doesn’t apply on the webThere are many fancy websites on the web that never get seen!Launching a website is the easy part…The hard part is getting qualified trafficNeed to satisfy two ‘audiences’:People or ‘real’ visitorsSearch engine ‘spiders’ or ‘robots’

Why is important to optimise for Google?93% of consumers’ worldwide use search engines to locate web sites. (Forrester Research)85% of qualified web traffic is driven through search engines. (WWW User Survey)75% of search engine traffic never scroll past the first page of results. (WWW User Survey)Google is the number one website in Australia (Hitwise)

Organic vs PaidGoogle displays two types of results:Organic results: these are unpaid listings that are ranked by importance/keyword relevancePaid results: these are pay-per-click listings that appear on the right hand margin and above the organic listings – anybody can bid to display their ad at the top of these listingsGoogle users generally accord greater worth to the organic results

Paid ResultsOrganic Results

Quick QuizWhat do the following stand for?HTMLURLRSSSEOSEMPPCSERPs

Questions?Search Engines and Google

Choosing the Right KeywordsPart 2

Are you in Google?site:www.yoursite.comDisplays a list of pages from your site that have been indexed by Googlelink:www.yoursite.comDisplays a sample of external pages that link to your sitecache:www.yoursite.comDisplays the cached image of the website that is currently on file at Google.info:www.yoursite.comDisplays information that Google currently holds about the website.related:www.yoursite.comDisplays pages that are similar to your website.If you are not in Google, submit your site here: http://www.google.com.au/addurl

Choosing the Right KeywordsA keyword combination is used to obtain search results from a search engineWeb pages can be optimised for particular keyword combinationsBefore optimising a website, it is necessary to identify the best keywords to optimise for

Choosing the Right KeywordsIt’s necessary to do some keyword analysis…What is the volume of traffic for the keyword combination?Have other websites optimised for those keywords? Would it be hard to get a high ranking?Who sits in the No. 1 spot for those keywords? What keywords are my competitors targeting?What do the keywords say about the searcher’s intent/mindset?SurfersResearchers Buyers

ExerciseWhat is the searcher’s intent/mindset if they were to use the following search terms?HotelsCheap hotelsHotels in SydneyLast minute Sydney hotel dealsSydney serviced apartment dealsBed and breakfast on george street SydneyGrand Mercure hotel Darling Harbour Sydney

ExercisePair upImagine that you are in the market for something from your partner’s website and you’re ready to buyWrite down three keyword phrases that you might enter into a search engine to find that product or serviceThen, write down three keyword phrases that you think somebody would enter into a search engine to find your own product or serviceCompare your keyword combinations

Google Keyword Suggestion Toolhttps://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternalVisit the site now and plug in a generic word that relates to your businessTake a minute or two to review the data…because I’m going to ask you to come up with the best keyword combination for your home page shortly…

Keyword AdviceOptimise each page for a different keyword combinationDon’t choose single keywords – 3-5 word combinations are bestDon’t choose generic keywords - be specificDon’t choose hotly-contested keywordsUse geographic qualifiers – ie. AdelaidePut yourself in the buyer’s shoesChoose keywords that align with a ‘buying’ state of mind

ExerciseTake a couple of minutes to come up with an appropriate keyword combination that you could optimise your home page for.Here are some combinations that I have used:Canberra jobs (CapitalJobs.com.au)Australian online bookstore (Boomerang Books)Cheap books Australia (Boomerang Books)Cheap hotels Sydney (Getaroom.com.au)

Questions?Choosing the Right Keywords

On Site OptimisationPart 3

On Site OptimisationOn-site factors play a big role in determining your search engine rankingsThese are the things that you can do yourself or that you can task your web developer to do on your behalf

Use of multimedia platformsBe careful when using multimedia platforms, such as Flash, particularly as navigational elementsYour website must be ‘spiderable’, otherwise it won’t get good search engine rankingsText-based navigation can be ‘spidered’; links embedded within a Flash element cannot.Be careful also with Javascript, DHTML or other graphical navigation elementsIf you use these, provide a text based navigation bar elsewhere on the page

On-site navigationYour navigation structure and accessibility is critical for search engine rankings – search engines need to be able to access your content in order to index itKISS principleEmploy the 2 click rule (3 click rule at most)Use textual links from your home pageUse a Sitemap which can be accessed from your home pageEmploy inline / contextual links

The TITLE tagThe singularly most important on-site factor!If you do one thing to your site, then this should be it!This is what appears in the top bar in your browserAlmost always the heading that Google chooses for its listings – therefore it needs to be enticing or contain a call-to-action

This is where the TITLE tagappears in your browser

The TITLE tagInclude your chosen keywords within the TITLE tag – preferably near the start of the tagTry to keep it to 70 charactersMust be relevant to the page contentVery important - each page should have a different TITLE tag

ExerciseOpen your own website in your browserView the source code (View menu)What is your TITLE tag?Is it appropriate?Could it be better?What does your main competitor have as their home page TITLE tag? Is it better than yours?

Metadata TagsSearch engines also use a series of metadata tags that reside in the header of the page to index websitesThese tags can’t be seen by human visitors to your website – but they’re still interrogated by the search engines

The DESCRIPTION tagA textual description of what the page is aboutRegularly used in Google search results as the description of your site

The DESCRIPTION tagInclude keywords close to the start of the tag, but don’t repeat more than 3 timesTry to keep it to 150 charactersMust be relevant to the page contentEach page should have a different DESCRIPTION tag

The KEYWORD tagLess important than TITLE and DESCRIPTION, but still worth includingUp to 10 individual words, separated by commas

Body TextGoogle loves original, high quality textual contentBody text is extremely important for search engine rankings because this is what human users come to seeKeywords, synonyms and variations of the primary keyword combination should be included in the body text, but not so that it reads ‘artificially’. It should read naturally.More on textual content in Part 5…

Keywords in URLsURLs that contain keywords are better than those that don’tQuite easy to do if your website is static, a little more difficult for database-driven sitesDon’t make the URLs too long because this will be seen as an attempt to manipulate the search resultsGood and bad:www.mysite.com/hotels/sydney/hilton.htmlwww.mysite.com/search.asp?hotelID=435&locID=32

Heading TagsHeading tags – eg. <h1>, <h2> - within the HTML identify headings within the page copy and break up the textThey are used by search engines to determine page contentUse keywords in these tags, but don’t overdo it.

Link Anchor TextThe ‘anchor’ text contained within hyperlinks provides Google with an understanding of what the linked content is aboutEvery hyperlink on your site should have descriptive anchor text, rather than ‘click here…’Inline links or contextual links are besteg.Blue Train Enterprises offers a free white paper on how to optimise your website for the search engines

Image ALT TextThere is the opportunity to specify ‘alternate’ text for every image on your websiteThe ALT text is displayed if the image doesn’t load in the user’s browserIt also can have a positive effect on your website rankingsThe ALT tag should describe the imageKeep it short and to the pointDon’t use ALT tags as a place to stuff keywords

A word on domain names…Domain names can assist search engine rankings tooIf you are thinking of changing names, or planning a new business, think carefully about the domain name you chooseBest to have .com.au for Australian market, but if possible secure .com as wellTry to keep it short, memorableTry to include keywords in the domain nameRegister the name for as long as possible

Customer Assurance FactorsIt is recommended that your website contains:Business information – ABN, ACN, RBNTelephone number – 1300 adds credibilityA physical addressInformation about your business – ‘about us’PoliciesPrivacySecurityTerms of use / disclaimersA sitemap with links to major pages

QuestionsOn Site Optimisation

Getting Value from LinksPart 4

Getting Value from LinksLinks – both inbound and outbound – are important factors for Google when assessing a website’s importance

Inbound LinksThese are links on other websites that link to your siteGood quality inbound links serve as a ‘vote of confidence’ for your site – if a good site links to your site, then by association, your site must be good, tooTry and get links from ‘authority’ websites to your siteThematically-linked sitesHigh ranking and well-known sitesGovernment (.gov.au) sites – eg SA CentralEducational institution (.edu.au) sitesIt’s not the volume of inbound links that is important – it’s the quality

Inbound LinksWhen requesting a link, try and engineer it so that your keywords are included in the anchor text – eg. Cheap Hotel Deals from Getaroom.com.au

ExerciseThink of five websites that you could try and get an inbound link from:….….….….….Think B2B partners, customers, local government, local media, chambers of commerce, industry associations, business enterprise centres, consumer websites…

Outbound LinksThere is evidence to suggest that your outbound links contribute to your rankingsOnly link to good quality, thematically-aligned content on third party websitesOnly link to sites that would be of interest to your audienceBe aware that outbound links take visitors away from your site – and that is not necessarily what you want to do.

Caution…Reciprocal links – I’ll link to you, if you link to meYou can get some value from these only if the two sites are thematically aligned and are both high qualityMost requests for reciprocal links should be deleted, particularly three-way link swapsPaid LinksGoogle frowns upon paid links – the Google algorithm is sophisticated and can detect links which seek to artificially manipulate its rankingsLink Farms & ‘Bad Neighbourhoods’These are sites that allow you to post your link for free alongside thousands of other sitesBeing linked from these sites can damage your standing

Getting listed in DirectoriesBeing listed in major directory-based websites can boost your rankings considerablyhttp://www.dmoz.org - a difficult one to get intohttp://search.yahoo.com/info/submit.htmlhttp://www.google.com/local/add - a very important one that will see your business plotted on Google Mapshttp://www.yellowpages.com.au/awu_freeListing.dohttp://www.hotfrog.com.auhttp://www.aussieweb.com.auhttp://www.truelocal.com.auhttp://www.bigroo.com.auhttp://www.webwombat.com.au/submit/index.htm

Other ways to get Inbound LinksArticles / interviews published on other websitesPress releasesForum postsBlog comments‘Link bait’ – controversial is best!

QuestionsGetting Value from Links

Content is KingPart 5

Content is KingEver heard the saying?Search engines are simply a means to locate great contentDoes your site have great content?Or is it ‘brochure-ware’?Does your site ‘do’ anything else that will bring visitors back time and again?

Content is KingAdd content that people want to read and will pass on – top ten tips, ‘how to’ guides, free white papersText should be in short sentences, compact paragraphs, be well punctuated, and contain headings to break up the text – time-poor people don’t read, they scanPages should not scroll and scroll and scroll…One page per theme (optimised for that theme) and cross-link

Content is KingText should be written from a WIIFM (What’s in it for me?) perspective – no fluff, just tell the customer what they want to hear.Add content regularly – if your site remains static, then it will lose its prominence in the search engines (and visitors won’t want to come back)

Add content regularlySome ideas for new content for your website:New productsCompany activitiesSpecial offers or discountsAchievements – awardsNew staff profilesCase studies about your products or servicesTestimonials from customers‘How to’ guidesGeneral advice about products or servicesObservations about the market

Web 2.0 ContentWeb 2.0 is a term describing changing trends in the use of World Wide Web technology and web design that aims to enhance creativity, secure information sharing, collaboration and functionality of the web. Web 2.0 concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-based communities and its hosted services, such as social networking sites, video sharing sites, wikis, blogs, etc (Wikipedia)Google loves this content and you should employ it where appropriate

BlogsBlog = web logIn essence, an online journal or diary, ordered by dateAn excellent way of adding content regularly to your websiteYou can quickly establish yourself as an expert in your field via a blogCan be setup within minutes online:Wordpress.comBlogger.comTypePad.comBut it takes dedication and patience!

RSSRSS = ‘really simple syndication’A ‘push’ method of distribution for new contentAllows users to receive automatic updates when content is releasedRSS feeds generally viewed in RSS readers – inc. browsers, OutlookCan also distribute to mobile devices and social networking sites

VideoThe biggest growth area on the web as broadband uptake and bandwidth increasesOver 20 hours of video every minute is uploaded to YouTubeVideo can be done cheaply with a handheld camcorderViral impact can bring thousands of visitors to a website in a short space of timeExamples:Elf YourselfThe Greatest Job in the WorldThe World’s Greatest Business Mind

Social networkingWeb based services that allow users to create online communities based on shared interests and activities – there are over 2,000 of them!

FacebookOver 175 million users worldwideHas beaten MySpace in Australia – 41.88% of social networking traffic goes to Facebook (Source: Hitwise)Businesses can establish a Facebook Page or GroupBut many businesses still block access to Facebook in the workplace…

TwitterFastest growing, hottest property right now – anybody using it?Micro-blogging; 140 character limit – basically ‘SMS on the web’ (but also can be done via mobile device)You follow people, they follow you; your ‘tweets’ are seen by your followers, you see the ‘tweets’ of people you followBut who would be interested in this seemingly banal, nebulous information?Business can use it as an information channel to ‘push’ information to prospects – and it helps with search engine rankings!

Bookmarking / Tagging Sites

Bookmarking / Tagging SitesConsider implementing an AddThis or AddToAny button on your pages www.addthis.comwww.addtoany.comA simple piece of code that adds a button to your page:

ExerciseConsider the different Web 2.0 content options – blogs, video, Facebook, Twitter, bookmarking / tagging – we’ve discussed todaySome (or all) might not be appropriate for your businessHow might some of these things help your business?Take 2 minutes to think about it

QuestionsContent is King

More things to do and not doPart 6

More things that you should do…Monitor your server statistics – unique visitors is the key metric to track (not ‘hits’)Set up Google Analytics on your site -http://www.google.com/analytics/Set up Google Webmaster Tools - http://www.google.com/webmasters/Set up Google Alerts for your business - http://www.google.com/alertsTry out Google Adwords pay per click advertising using a trial offer - http://www.google.com.au/contactadwords

Other technical things to do…Remove multiple ‘instances’ of your site with a Permanent 301 redirect to elminate dilution of your website standingImplement a robots.txt fileImplement an XML sitemapEnsure that your pages load quickly by streamlining your code and optimising your imagesEnsure that your site’s server has close to 100% uptime – if it isn’t live when the spider arrives, your rankings may be affectedMake your site W3C compliant – http://validator.w3.org

What you should NEVER DOHidden textKeyword stuffingDisplay duplicate contentCloaking – displaying different content to visitors and spidersUse Flash aloneUse Frames

A final thoughtIf you employ one of the strategies mentioned in this presentation, you will get some benefit in the search engine results pagesIf you employ a couple, you will get much greater benefitIf you employ all of them properly, then you will most likely go to the top of the resultsThe little things count and, when you employ them together, they can make a big difference to your site performance

Final Questions?Thank you!