web analytics

5 things Google looks for.

By Brian Bennett, Tuesday, 20th November 2012 | 0 comments
Filed under: Google Adwords, UX/Design, SEO.

What is Google looking for?

Everyone's aim is to get found in Google. The way we are getting found is changing every day; Google changes the parimaters and how people are searching for your website is also changing. People used to click on your website from their desktop or laptop! Now almost 30% of people are searching via their mobile device, and this number is increasing daily. So what do you need to do to help your website get found on Google? Here are 5 short tips to hopefully help your website get found.

1. Content:

ContentWe've discussed this before, but content is so important on your website. Not just having any old content, but making sure that the content reads well, covers your topics correctly and gives the reader the relevant information easily. Writing your content with the reader in mind as well as your business is imperative, start with the customer and work backwards. With content you must make sure that all your content can be read on all devices, inculding smartphones. Avoid using flash where possible (and it is possibly most of the time)! At Webtrade we build our websites with all platforms in mind, be it a Laptop, Mac, iPhone or an Android phone. Although if did want your content to appear on a mobile device differently (app style) to a home computer (normal website) we would recommend getting a Responsive Design website; this is where your content remains the same but is display differently on each device. It's not essential and will cost more and ultimatley it all depends on the needs of your business. But remember the content you write is the main reason why people will land on your website. As the saying still goes Content is KingWe've discussed this before, but content is so important on your website. Not just having any old content, but making sure that the content reads well, covers your topics correctly and gives the reader the relevant information easily. Writing your content with the reader in mind as well as your business is imperative, start with the customer and work backwards. With content you must make sure that all your content can be read on all devices, inculding smartphones. Avoid using flash where possible (and it is possibly most of the time)! At Webtrade we build our websites with all platforms in mind, be it a Laptop, Mac, iPhone or an Android phone. Although if did want your content to appear on a mobile device differently (app style) to a home computer (normal website) we would recommend getting a Responsive Design website; this is where your content remains the same but is display differently on each device. It's not essential and will cost more and ultimatley it all depends on the needs of your business. But remember the content you write is the main reason why people will land on your website. As the saying still goes Content is King.

2. User Experience:

User ExperienceYour website should be designed so that people can navigate simply through your website, it’s all about the User Experience. Making sure that the end user goes through the least amount of steps (clicks) to reach their (and probably your) end goal is essential. Stylish design is important but so is having prominent calls to actions, these should shorten the amount of time it takes a user to reach to their end goal. A big mistake that people make on their website is not checking their pages to make sure 1. If someone gets lost do they have a way back "home" and 2. Are all the links and pages working on my page, therefore harming the user experience. Check everything on your site to make sure it is working. If your company is an eCommerce website try and make sure the process from clicking on the product to buying the product are done so in the most click effective manor, the less clicks the better. Always think of the end user and their website experience.Your website should be designed so that people can navigate simply through your website, it’s all about the User Experience. Making sure that the end user goes through the least amount of steps (clicks) to reach their (and probably your) end goal is essential. Stylish design is important but so is having prominent calls to actions, these should shorten the amount of time it takes a user to reach to their end goal. A big mistake that people make on their website is not checking their pages to make sure 1. If someone gets lost do they have a way back "home" and 2. Are all the links and pages working on my page, therefore harming the user experience. Check everything on your site to make sure it is working. If your company is an eCommerce website try and make sure the process from clicking on the product to buying the product are done so in the most click effective manor, the less clicks the better. Always think of the end user and their website experience.

3. Building Links:

A very important part of your website and its online life is building links back to your pages. In saying that they must be good links! What do I mean by good links? Well they are links coming from a reputable location, company or person; not yourLink Building bought links through some paid company who promise you a lot of links to your site. Go about building links in the correct manner; reach out to people in your industry, talk to enterprise boards and businesses in the local community. If you are selling products or something similar you should look to get people to mention your products on their site or blog. Think outside the box, but think of each link as a small whisper that leads back to your site, the more whispers the louder the noise becomes! Every link that you get to your site is a bonus, use Social Media wisely and get other people to mention you on their feeds and timelines. Every like you get is a good thing; every +1 on Google you get is a good thing. Make sure that if you are a real bricks and mortar business that you have you Google Places set up. Finally, everything you do on the internet is recorded, so make sure that when you do things for your business, the links you leave, all the blogs you write, all the tweets you send are all beneficial to the online community and are reflective of your business; but more importantly link back to your website. A very important part of your website and its online life is building links back to your pages. In saying that they must be good links! What do I mean by good links? Well they are links coming from a reputable location, company or person; not your bought links through some paid company who promise you a lot of links to your site. Go about building links in the correct manner; reach out to people in your industry, talk to enterprise boards and businesses in the local community. If you are selling products or something similar you should look to get people to mention your products on their site or blog. Think outside the box, but think of each link as a small whisper that leads back to your site, the more whispers the louder the noise becomes! Every link that you get to your site is a bonus, use Social Media wisely and get other people to mention you on their feeds and timelines. Every like you get is a good thing; every +1 on Google you get is a good thing. Make sure that if you are a real bricks and mortar business that you have you Google Places set up. Finally, everything you do on the internet is recorded, so make sure that when you do things for your business, the links you leave, all the blogs you write, all the tweets you send are all beneficial to the online community and are reflective of your business; but more importantly link back to your website.

4. Website Speed:

SpeedWebsite speed is so important. How long would you wait for a page to load? 1 second? 2 seconds? 5 seconds? The faster the site is the more it feeds back into the whole User Experience. One tip to help improve your website speed is making sure the size of images on your page are correct, the smaller the better. When I say smaller, I mean compressed, you don't need to lose the quality of yours images, if you compress them to a smaller size (try a free piece of software called Irfran to resize images) the quality should almost remain the same. Ensure that whoever is hosting your website has good server capacity and speed, server speed will affect your website's loading time. Also, remember to think about the speed of the website before you add in documents, pictures etc. and make sure you check their size before publishing anything onto the website. As I mentioned earlier compress items if you need to. We constantly upgrade our servers and CMS to make sure that all of our websites are getting quicker and therefore are helping our customers get foundWebsite speed is so important. How long would you wait for a page to load? 1 second? 2 seconds? 5 seconds? The faster the site is the more it feeds back into the whole User Experience. One tip to help improve your website speed is making sure the size of images on your page are correct, the smaller the better. When I say smaller, I mean compressed, you don't need to lose the quality of yours images, if you compress them to a smaller size (try a free piece of software called Irfran to resize images) the quality should almost remain the same. Ensure that whoever is hosting your website has good server capacity and speed, server speed will affect your website's loading time. Also, remember to think about the speed of the website before you add in documents, pictures etc. and make sure you check their size before publishing anything onto the website. As I mentioned earlier compress items if you need to. We constantly upgrade our servers and CMS to make sure that all of our websites are getting quicker and therefore are helping our customers get found.

5. Search Engine Optimization:

SEOWhy do we need to optimize our websites? Simple; because Google has asked us to do this to make it easier for them to find pages and websites. You really must make sure you have your website optimised correctly. Take the time to write your SEO description and page titles instead of populating them automatically. When you take the time to do things you're showing Google that this page matters and you care about the content and the users; it also shows Google that each page has different content and goals. Make sure to mention your keywords during this process, but do not overuse them (Google accepts 20 keywords, but the 1st two are the most important). Make sure to research what people are looking for and implement this into your SEO. With our inbuilt SEO tool on every page you can have something different optimised for each different page, but remember to keyword research. Make sure that you follow trends of what is being searched for, just because your site is performing well doesn't mean it always will. Don't let laziness of success be the reason you stop keeping your eye on the ballWhy do we need to optimize our websites? Simple; because Google has asked us to do this to make it easier for them to find pages and websites. You really must make sure you have your website optimised correctly. Take the time to write your SEO description and page titles instead of populating them automatically. When you take the time to do things you're showing Google that this page matters and you care about the content and the users; it also shows Google that each page has different content and goals. Make sure to mention your keywords during this process, but do not overuse them (Google accepts 20 keywords, but the 1st two are the most important). Make sure to research what people are looking for and implement this into your SEO. With our inbuilt SEO tool on every page you can have something different optimised for each different page, but remember to keyword research. Make sure that you follow trends of what is being searched for, just because your site is performing well doesn't mean it always will. Don't let laziness of success be the reason you stop keeping your eye on the ball. 

If you would like a Web Design company that allows you full control of your content, creates a simple user experience, will advise you on how link, constantly upgrades their servers and CMS to increase your website speed and has an inbuilt SEO tool on every page of your website give us a call on 01 2990655 or email sales@webtrade.ie 

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