The million dollar question is: How do I get to the top of Google?

If I had a penny for every time a client had asked me this I would be writing this blog laid in a hammock on Necker Island…but I’m not.

Getting your site full of good content, looking great and working is only half the battle. It’s not going to work very well for you if it isn’t being seen by your potential customers. My answer to the big question is always the same…CONTENT IS KING!

In the past, web designers could easily fool the search engines into ranking their sites highly by cramming keywords into wherever they would fit. A normal user wouldn’t see these ‘tricks of the trade’ but the search engines would. Today though, search engines are a lot smarter and view websites much like we do.

Here are a few pointers to help when it comes to thinking about the content of your site.

Content (is King)
Good, well written, structured and most of all RELEVANT content is the 1st place to start. Think about your audience when writing your main website content, visitors aren’t going to want to read pages and pages of text. Be concise and to the point. Break lengthy pages up into paragraphs with headings and sub-headings. Remember to weave your target key phrases throughout and introduce them early within the page and to include them in the headings and sub-headings. Also try and create internal links within your website with the keyword being the links.

Page Titles (the short sentence that appears right at the top of your browser window)
Page titles are very important, these are quite often overlooked and are often seen to be repeated throughout a website and even worse not even included. Make each page title relevant to the page they are on and include the same keywords and phrase that appear in the content of that page. For regional benefits add the location such as the county your business exists.

Update your content
Keep your site up to date. It’s doesn’t give out much confidence when a visitor arrives at your news section looking to find out more about your company when the latest news story is 12 months old. Search engines will also notice site updates and enhance your position.

Incoming Links
Other websites linking to yours is one of the best ways to increase your search results position. There are 2 types of incoming link: Reciprocal and Non-Reciprocal. A Reciprocal link is where  your site links back to the one that links to yours. Non- Reciprocal is where a site will link to yours with no link in return. This is the best type if incoming link.