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Maximizing Your Website - Entries tagged "Improving Google Search Results"

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MonMondayMarMarch29th2010 Improving Search Results, Chapter 3: Directories and Social Media
Posted Monday, March 29 2010 @ 9 AM byTriplePixel Tagged Best Practices for Organization Websites Improving Google Search Results 0 comments Add comment

Make Your Organization Website More Visible By Using Directories and Social Media Websites.

Now that you have conquered Google by increasing your PageRank, and other search engines by adding Meta Tags, you can still improve your search engine results. By adding your site to directories and social sites, you can improve your organization website’s credibility which will move your site up the chain of search results.


Directories

Directories are man-made lists of websites. Each site that is added to a directory is evaluated and deemed one of high quality. So being added to one or more of these directories is seen by search engines as a thumbs up from peers, which influences the order in which they list sites in query results.

Three directories you should add your site to:
  • DMOZ
  • Yahoo Directory
  • ZoomInfo
DMOZ
A volunteer-run directory hosted by Mozilla, only sites with quality content will get listed here. New sites are less likely, and since it is managed by volunteers, it can take time to get added. DMOZ is the largest human-edited directory of the Web, so if you aren't listed here, search engines will be given a reason not to list your site at the top of results. Add your site to DMOZ.
Yahoo Directory
Yahoo's Directory unfortunately is not free, it costs you $299 per year. But its size and name recognition might make it worth your while if you care deeply about improving your search results. Add your site to Yahoo Directory.

ZoomInfo
This directory and search engine is geared more toward businesses, but allows you to create an informative profile. You can add a searchable profile for your organization and link to your website. ZoomInfo has profiles on more than 37 million people and 3.5 million companies, so it can be valuable to have on your site's "resume." Create a profile on ZoomInfo.

Social Networking and Media Sites

These sites can be used to drive more traffic to your website. More traffic means more respect from search engines and a better search ranking.

Three social networking and media sites you should add your site (and its content) to:
  • Facebook
  • Del.icio.us
  • Digg
Facebook
We all know that Facebook is great for keeping in touch with old friends from the past, but it can also help you increase your Web traffic and boost your search engine results. You can create a free group and allow people to become a "fan" of your organization. You can also link to your website and post news and event updates (which you can link to news and events on your site) to drive more visitors to your site. We thought that we should take our own advice and recently created a group. If you are an existing client or are thinking about becoming one, why not join the iMinistries Facebook Group?

Del.icio.us
If you create compelling content on your site, your users will share it with others on this web-based bookmarking site (learn more about Del.icio.us here). The best avenue for creating the kind of constantly changing content people share is in our blog feature. Here you can discuss your weekly sermons more in-depth, and allow your visitors to add comments. You can share your insights on relevant topics or events. If you haven't started a blog, visit this help file to find out how you can do so today.  

Digg
Digg is a site that allows you or your visitors to submit and rate articles. Each article can receive diggs, or votes, from Digg.com users. More diggs means articles move closer and closer to the Digg homepage or its topic homepages. If you or visitors to your site submit articles and they are compelling enough to become popular, this could mean increased traffic to your site--and we now know that high-traffic sites get listed higher on search results. To submit articles, you must first create a free account.

Sources For This Blog and Further Reading on Directories and Social Media

Man Still Better Than Machine for Some Things - HubSpot
MonMondayMarMarch1st2010 Improving Search Results, Chapter 1: The Google Monster
Posted Monday, March 01 2010 @ 9 AM byTriplePixel Tagged Best Practices for Organization Websites Improving Google Search Results 0 comments Add comment

Make Your Site More Visible on Google Search Results By Improving Your PageRank.

How Does Google Determine Search Ranking?

Many new visitors to your organization website find you through search engines. Whether they type in generic terms like “businesses in downtown Louisville” or your exact organization name, you want your website to be the first in lists of search results. To make this a reality, you should know about search engine optimization (SEO).
 
Dominate among search engines is Google who utilizes its own system for the order of how websites are listed in search results. Their PageRank formula is a important part of that system.

Simplified, the formula Google uses to determine whether your organization is the first site listed when someone enters in a search query that relates to you is this:
Search Ranking = Relevance x PageRank
Relevance
To determine your site’s Relevance, Google looks at your site’s content and compares it with other sites similar to yours, in both quality and quantity. So, for example, if another “business in downtown Louisville” uses those words and phrases less than you do on your site, your Relevance is likely to be higher. If the title of your site’s pages all include your name and someone searches that name, your Relevance will be higher than other sites.

PageRank
Google assigns a number from 0-10 (10 being best) to each website to measure its credibility and overall quality. This number is determined primarily by how many other websites link to your site, with links from sites with higher PageRanks counted as much more significant because their links are more valuable. Think of it this way, a job reference from the President carries much more weight than one from the lunch lady.

Here is a summary of PageRanks and the sites that make them up, from HubSpot.com:
0-1: New sites; sites with not many other sites linking to it
2-3: Sites with minimal links
4-5: Popular sites with a fair amount of other sites linking to it
6: Very popular sites that have hundreds of links, many of them quality links
7-10: Usually media brands (NYTimes.com), big companies, or A-list blogs.
To find out your PageRank, use one of the free tools below:
PageRank Checker
WebSiteGrader

How to Bump Up Your Google Search Ranking

Here are a few easy steps you can take you improving your PageRank:
  1. Spell-check the content on your site. Visitors can't find you if you spell Muscle Cars “Mussle Cars.”
  2. Include words that people might enter in their searches in your content. If your business is in Louisville, make sure it says so on your site.
  3. Make sure each page on your site has a title in the top toolbar.
  4. If you have partner organizations, include a page on your site where you link to their sites, and encourage them to do the same. The more sites you can get linking to you, the better.
  5. Be picky about who you link to. Only link to quality sites who update their content regularly.
  6. Update your home page and other pages constantly with fresh content, news items, blog entries, and/or events. Use our Widgets Feature to do the work for you.
  7. Sign up for Google Analytics and use it. Using this free tool will let you see traffic to your site and give you insights on how to improve your content.
  8. Link to other content on your site using hyperlinks. In the text of a news item, link to an event so visitors can register. In a blog, link to a photo gallery. These links help balance your PageRank over your whole site.
  9. Take pride in the quality of your content. Avoid duplicate pages and information. Make text clear and brief.
  10. When you link to other pages or sites, use keywords. Instead of writing "click here" and making it a hyperlink, use text that relates to the item you are linking to, like "View our quarterly report."

Sources for This Blog and Further Reading on SEO

The Importance of Google PageRank - HubSpot.com
12 Things to Do to Improve Your Site's Google Page Ranking - Stason.org
SearchSearch
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