How to Improve Your Search Engine Results

Do you seem to be a non-existent entity in the search engines? There are a number of factors that affect the way in which a search engine scans and indexes the content it may find on your web pages. It is also quite possible that it is not finding your web pages at all. This article deals with the possible reasons you may not be coming up in search engine results and suggests things that can be done to improve your search engine performance.

Are Your Web Pages Telling the Search Engine Spider
to Go Away?

Poorly designed websites can more than look awful to site visitors. They can, in fact, have critical errors in the structure, design, usability and code that cause the search engine spiders to be denied access to them at all or to get caught in a web, as it were, going round and round without actually getting anywhere. These are serious problems that not only can affect the experience of your site visitors but can keep you from getting properly indexed by the search engines. Problems with the code can really only be determined by a programmer or search engine optimization specialist who is skilled at detecting and fixing them. But here are some things you may be able to detect on your own.

Web Page Has Broken Links:
Are all the pages of your website working? If you click on a link does it successfully load and display that page? If your web page is not properly loading then the search engine spider cannot get access to it so it cannot be scanned. This is a serious issue requiring immediate attention.

Web Page Has Too Many Images And No ALT Text:
Search engines index images differently from text. Each image, if you want it to be delivered to a prospective lead who is searching for what you offer, must have accompanying meta data, referred to as an "alt" tag or text. This text describes the image for blind persons who use screen readers and also allows the search engine to index it. Search engine spiders can only read text. They cannot actually see images. So the text is needed in order to identify the image.

Web Page Takes Too Long Too Load:
Does it take more than 8 seconds for your web page to load and display properly? Your image or video files may be too big or there may be a problem with the code. Search engine spiders may not be able to access your web content at all. This is a serious issue and may require immediate attention.

Web Page Has No Title Tag Or Title Tag Does Not Represent Content On Page:
Open up your web page. Look at the top of your internet browser. Do you see a title there such as: Custom Made Plastic Storage Containers - PlasticMan Containers? If you do not see a title then you do not have one. The title tag is critical in search engine optimization. It must accurately announce the content that a site visitor will find on the web page it is referencing. If the title tag and web page content do not match up, then your web page may not be indexed by the search engines.

Web Page Content Is Not Focused:
When you read your web page does it clearly state one or two things that are announced by your title tag? I am not referring to length of the page but what it is about. For example, does it clearly represent your product category or does it mention all 36 of your varying product categories? If your product categories are each very different from the other then how is a search engine supposed to determine how to index the page? It is best to keep your pages clearly focused on one or two, and not more than three, related products, services or information types. If the product category is nails and you have six hundred varieties then keep the page content about the broader topic of "nails". You can create separate web pages to represent the sub-categories of "drywall nails, "carpet nails", and so forth. Just remember: keep your web page content focused on one or two items only.

Web Page Does Not Contain Keywords:
Keywords are words relevant to the most important aspect of your business. They tell search engines and people who are searching exactly what it is you offer. It is always in your best interest to conduct or hire a search engine optimization specialist to conduct a comprehensive keyword research and analysis to determine the words real people use to refer to the products, services and types of information you offer at your website. People searching in the real world do not always call things as you may think they do. Many Industrial Web Solutions search engine optimization customers are often surprised to learn how different the language used by people searching for what they offer is from their own. When you have been dealing with something for a long time, it is common to develop "insider speak" that is generally not known to people who are not yet your customers.

Web Page Hyperlinks Do Not Have Keywords:
In the same way that a title tag announces the content on a web page, the words in your hyperlink announce the content it points to. A hyperlink is a clickable link that takes your site visitor to another section of the web page he is on or to another web page within your site. The keywords important to your business and relevant to it, such as "plastic containers" in the above example, should appear in your hyperlinks whenever possible. To give you an example, "Click Here to Contact Us" is less effective than "Contact PlasticMan Containers for Plastic Storage Container Solutions."

Web Page Does Not Link To An Internal Page:
Search engine spiders get from web page to web page by following links. If you do not have a link on your web page that links to an internal page of your website then you are not letting the spider know you have more pages for it to scan.

Web Site Does Not Have Site Map:
Once again, the search engine spiders go from web page to web page by following links. A sitemap is nothing but links. Keyword-rich links from your site-map page tell the search engine spiders where to go and what they will find when they arrive.

Take an honest look at your website. Is it really performing the way you need it to? Are you happy with the search engine results you are getting? Are you getting any search engine results? If your website fails in one or more of the areas mentioned above then it is in your best interest to contact a search engine optimization specialist and get it fixed now. It is your hardest working asset, available to potential customers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Unlock its revenue generating potential by having it optimized for enhanced search engine performance.

Industrial web Solutions offers comprehensive search engine optimization services - from keyword research and development to website enhancements and code repair.

Call (800) 399-9859 to speak with an IWS search engine optimization specialist now.

Contact us to learn how to prepare your website to attract, convert and track leads.

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