Despite using SEO Marketing techniques, there will always be the fear that your e-commerce website will just die down without generating the much needed traffic. Here are eight helpful tips which you can use to maximize search engine results.

1.       Know your keywords

Your online customers will use certain keywords to find you or your business on the internet. Knowing what these words are, even the less competitive terms, will help you drive traffic to your site. SEO Services Director David Jenyns believes that “the secret to SEO marketing is understanding the demographics of your target market to help you predict their behaviour when using search engines, and being aware of what they are looking for.”

2.       Domain name is key

Users who see a keyword in your domain name will likely click on your link. Clients will likely be encouraged to visit your site when they see the exact word they typed on Google on your domain name. At the very least, it will increase your click through statistics.

3.       Logical URLs

SEO experts believe that static URLs will be indexed better, and thus be more likely to appear on search results.

www.yourdomain.com/products/topitems.html is much better than the randomly generated www.yourdomain.com/category=?1030, and search engines will most likely find it more often.

4.       Keyword-rich pages

Do not group all your products on one page. If you have several products, categorize and put each on separate pages and associate each page to specific keywords. Part of your SEO marketing ploy is giving the impression that you know your product lines, and this will probably earn you better ranking.

5.       Meta-data

Keywords should appear not only on your site content, but also on your meta-data.

Meta-data are keywords and phrases that you put on the backend codes of your site. Just remember these three types of tags: Title tags <t1>, H1 tags, and meta descriptions.

Title tags: usually not longer than 60 characters or three to five words, it appears at topmost part of the browser, or the title page.

<t1> Page title with keywords >/t1>

Header tags: or H1 tags, are the headlines of a page.

<h1> Headline with appropriate keywords >/h1>

Meta-description: a brief two or three sentence entry that the search engine indexes, which should also be filled with keywords.

<metaname=”description” content=”A descriptor paragraph which you can fill with keywords” />

Keywords should be copiously distributed on the meta-data, whenever relevant, but it should still make sense.

6.       Key phrases should be specific

Expand your keyword to create your key phrases, but keep it simple and focused. Do not capture everything about your page in your key phrase, as it will dilute the message and weaken your chances of being found on search engines. If you need more than 4-5 words, you probably need to create a new page.

7.       Internal links

Your pages should focus on one product, but it needs to mention a different product, use internal linking. This not only keeps your pages short and simple, but search engines actually rank you better if you have internal links within your site.

8.       XML sitemap

XML sitemaps is a listing of links within your site, which helps search engines “crawl” your website for relevant searches. Google and other search engines recognizes this SEO marketing technique and actually encourages this sitemap protocol.

SEO Strategy: Online consumers should hunt and gather

A new study on SEO strategy finds that majority of online shoppers have never heard of search engine optimisation and are totally unaware that some of the links that they click are paid advertising. Most bargain hunters rely only on the first page of search results and never really bother going to the next few pages.

‘What you don’t know can hurt you’

This study called “What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You,” conducted and released by the Australian Institute gives fair warning that because of this widespread habit of online shoppers, only a small number of internet players will establish themselves as the controlling influence in the mainstream market.

The report further states that people are seemingly unaware or simply indifferent to the rising dominance of this small group of players. It is believed that further practice of successful SEO strategy would give these retailers all the advantage that they can enjoy for a long time.

How online shoppers think

Another survey with more than 1000 participants revealed that more than half of these online shoppers (about 46 per cent) openly admits to being guided or influenced strongly in their buying habits by how websites’ order appear on the search results.

A significant number, more than a third, of these shoppers did not know that some links displayed by search engines are paid advertising.  Additionally, only 15 per cent of respondents went beyond the first pages of the results of their most recent web searches. This proves rather convincingly that having the right SEO strategy can work for websites.

The need for SEO strategy that will not limit our choices

A prominent co-author of the report, Richard Denniss, repeated the warning that this trend could have the online market ending up being dominated by only a few big name brands and retailers.  The extent of which could duplicate the phenomenal Coles versus Woolsworth’s duopoly.

There should be a more conscientious effort to educate online buyers about how search engines function and what SEO strategy is all about.  Dr. Denniss further warns that unless search engine regulators come up with rules to allow for more online diversity, consumers could end up having the online equivalent of a shopping centre.  Many products to choose from but still limited to a small number of sellers.

Giving bargain hunters more options

Website owners who are not showing up in the first pages of search engines should also do their part and think of getting the right SEO strategy to help them offer online buyers the diversity that will benefit all concerned.

With the amazing internet tools we have now, you wonder how to get listed in Google fast. Technology has made everything readily available in real time both on the internet and in TV reports.  You get instant news and information with just a few clicks. You can also communicate live with anybody, anywhere, anytime using cell phones, emails, chat boards, instant messaging, video and audio conferencing and many others. Is this the same with search engines? Can you instantly transform a site to get listed in Google fast?

How to rank in Google

Landing in the first pages of a Google search result is not an easy thing to do.  Your site will have to be optimised first to enable Google to index your pages. Google has several criteria that allow it to rank sites according to relevance and importance.

The following should give you an idea of how to optimise your website to get listed in Google fast:

• Google must be able to access your server – Make sure that no “disallow” exists in your robots.txt file.  “Noindex” tags must also be removed from your pages. Remember also not to use bot blocking software or any type of cloaking scripts that may prevent Google bots from indexing your pages.

• Google must find your web pages meaningful – One-page websites are almost certain to be ignored by Google.  The same is true with pure Flash sites.  Google just doesn’t believe that these sites contain enough useful information.  The more valuable content you can give web searchers the more likely your site will attain high rankings.

• Google recognises good backlinks – Backlinks are other sites pointing to or referencing your website.  The more backlinks you have, the more often Google’s bot will visit your website. This means you get higher chances of landing on first pages of Google searches.

Google indexing system

An optimised website will not quickly appear on Google’s first pages due to a number of factors

Technical - After you have optimised your website, it will take some time before Google’s indexing bots will notice your site and visit it.  When it does come, it might not immediately crawl through all the pages in your site.  Not all your web pages, therefore, will be indexed instantly.

Google also needs time to parse indexed pages then assign them to search words or phrases.  Rating the quality of your site and comparing them with those of other sites will also require additional time.  Having quality backlinks considerably hastens these processes.

Algorithm – Google’s new algorithm tests the quality and functionality of your pages.  Older websites have better chances of being found worthy of top rankings. Those with more backlinks, likewise, earn more attention from them.  So be sure to establish as many quality backlinks as you can.

Keywords – To rank high on the more competitive keywords takes a lot of time.  For faster results, try developing less competitive but more relevant keywords or phrases. When you have successfully reached top 10 rankings on the less competitive keywords, you may then start competing for those popular one-word keywords.

Successful Google Ranking outcome

It is unfortunate that even the most efficient and correct SEO optimisation efforts will not bring instant results.  To get listed in Google fast will require you to fully optimise your site to meet the criteria discussed above. Furthermore, your website must have fully useful content and high quality backlinks.

“While maintaining an online site, you must consider the most important SEO Ranking Factor.  Without SEO, a site will rank poorly in search engines.  When no one visits your site, no sale is made.  The following are the most important factors to consider when creating an SEO campaign.”

________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Speed Factor

Website usability is one of the things that Google take very seriously.  They have now developed a new algorithm that makes speed one of the factors that influence site ranking. No website that loads too long will now land in the first few pages of a Google search.  If your site takes more than six seconds to load properly, then measures must be taken to identify the reasons and fix them quickly.

Most often than not, your images are what are causing the delay.  Try reducing the number or size of your images and see how much faster your pages will load.  These days, speed is considered by many experts to be the most important SEO ranking factor because of Google’s new algorithm.

The Keyword Placement Factor

To maximize the effect of your keywords, they have to appear in several important areas of your site.  Most important of these are the meta title, the meta description, the main heading or H1 tag and in the anchor text links.  Anchor text links are the links that visitors can click on to take them to other pages of your site.

Take note that you need to develop the proper keyword phrases, and not use the most common keywords, in order for your site to climb the search engine indexes and reach relevant traffic.

The Consistency Factor

Another factor often overlooked is consistency. Some argue that this just might be the most important SEO ranking factor, because without consistency in quality and quantity of your content, backlinks and keyword placements, then your SEO campaign will produce very small results.

Search engines continuously evaluate your content to see whether they are relevant and useful while users read them to see if the website contains what they are looking for. If good content is not found consistently, the site will not find its place in the first pages of search results.

The Age Factor

The age factor takes into account the trust associated with a particular website.  The greater the age of the site, the more trusted it seems to be.  A new site will not have many backlinks yet, which means that not many sites look to that website as an authority.  A build up of high quality backlinks over the years makes your site a trustworthy site.

The age of your site might not be a factor that you can do anything about, but if you do things properly, then pretty soon, the age will become less of a problem.

Slow and Steady SEO Campaign

The factors that influence SEO are many and depend on a large part on the particular niche and needs of a website.  A good SEO expert, therefore, must not assume that the most important SEO ranking factor for one website will be the same for other sites.

A slow and steady campaign is still best to win the race.

“It is not unusual for webmasters to end up frustrated with their SEO campaigns.  They find that their efforts at SEO Optimisation fall short of the expected results.  How does one turn around an underperforming SEO campaign?“
__________________________________________________________

Let us look at the possible reasons for ineffective SEO Campaigns:

1. Setting incorrect goals

Highly competitive one-word keywords are not likely to put a site on the first pages of a Google search.  For an SEO campaign to be effective, a more targeted key phrase must be developed.

A site undergoing SEO Optimisation must target keywords that are not so aggressively competitive. The higher your website ranks for specifically targeted keywords with less competition, the more chances that it will rise in ranking for the more competitive keywords.

It is no different from training for a long distance marathon run.  You first have to perform better with shorter distances before you should attempt the longer distances.

2.  You took SEO lightly

SEO Campaigns need even more attention after installation.  They should be taken seriously especially after you have already invested time and money on it.  Take the time to see what works and make the necessary changes to improve your site based on the initial results of your SEO optimisation efforts.  Make use of tools to save time and to accurately assess your success.

3. You concentrated on unimportant items

The length of title tag, the color of your background, the size of the font, and the number of pages – these things are important items to be optimised, but should not be the focus of your SEO optimisation.  You also do not need to follow search engine optimisation trending religiously.  What you need are optimised web pages, good content, and great backlinks.  SEO campaigns should get these three basics right before it deals with the less important details.

4. You developed the wrong keywords

Unfortunately, this is where most webmasters make the most mistakes.  Choosing the wrong keywords will immediately render an SEO campaign ineffective.  Time and money will assuredly be put to waste.

Keywords with the most number of searches are not ideal SEO target.   The most obvious keywords will usually not deliver the number of buying visitors that you want.  No matter how many hits your site gets, if they do not convert to sales, then your SEO campaign is still a failure.

5. You are not getting the right backlinks

A backlink is equivalent to another site endorsing your expertise or the content of your site.  With enough quality backlinks, it is easy to get in the first pages of search engines.  Good, relevant backlinks are vital to achieving high ranking on the most popular search engines.

Most automated link building schemes do not work.  You may even end up on Google’s bad side.  Using professional and tested backlink analysis tools is the best possible way to attain the desired number and quality of backlinks.

SEO optimisation is the key to the success of your website.  Doing things right and carefully focusing on the necessary elements will ensure a brilliant and productive SEO campaign for your website!

Contact us today to get your website Search Engine Optimised. +61 2 9011 5678   www.netex.com.au Sydney SEO Company.