SEO and the Google Ranking Hysteria
With SEO now a huge topic in the workplace the number of upstart Search related businesses has seemingly doubled over the past 12 months. The paranoia from marketing managers and clients worried about getting their Google Ranking is enough to drive any web developer crazy.
So why is everybody so concerned about their Google ranking? One word. REVENUE! In a dog-eat-dog world it’s all about getting noticed.
THE FACTS:
- Google’s estimated share of the search market today is estimated at 42.3 % in comparison to Yahoo’s 27.6 and MS’s 13.5 %. (Source: ComCore (USA) Feb 2006)
- A high Google ranking means your site is more likely to turn up in the top search results within Google and be seen by potential customers
- Statistically speaking users are more likely to visit a site appearing on the first page than the 7th! (convenience and perceived quality)
GETTING IT DONE:
There are commercial options; As I have mentioned there are many Search Related Companies. Typically they will conduct a review of your site, and asses it’s desirability to a crawling web robot (i.e. the google search bot which indexes your site!), then get back to you with some recommendations. Some also offer a Market analysis i.e. what people are searching for and how they are searching for it. However many of these companies charge a premium rate,and there are no guarantees - SEO is not an exact science - FYI The company I work for recently contracted a Sydney based Search Company which proved to be a worthy, but expensive exercise at a mere $3500.
DIY; Validating your own site is doable, but I recommend you spend a good amount of time doing some background research first.
Checkout the articles on the seochat.com site (part of the Developer Shed Network), and have a listen to the Andy Jenkins (Online Store Profits) “Stomping the Search Engines” interview with Brad Fallon - who infamously achieved a #1 Google and Yahoo Ranking within a year of releasing his first commercial website www.MyWeddingFavors.com. Lazy ? Read Yaro Starak’s summary of the interview…
I have read about many issues on SEO and I have come to the conclusion that the best method of attack is:
- Constantly updating material, google loves ever changing/growing content, it is a must
- Ensure proper accessibility, the better the accessibility the easier the bots will read your content, eg. alt tages, title tags, name files correctly with ‘-’ for spaces etc
- Make use of Title and your URL’s to contain keywords that relate to your topic (consider mod_rewrite for dynamic sites)
- Links, Links are so important. Get your site listed everywhere, any of your partner sites, any sites you author etc. Also always remember the sitemap on your site
- Avoid full flash sites, I once spoke to a guy from macromedia about this, and he claimed that they released sections of source code to google, but I have struggled to find a site correctly indexed
- Get on Yahoo and other directory services
RSS and XML feeds are a good way to get your site regularly visited online. These days there are many sites that you can submit your RSS feed and they will list you.
Comment by Cameron Manderson — April 21, 2006 @ 9:48 am