Google's Cutts: Good directions drive traffic to your website

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Are you puzzled why your website is not showing up at top of Google's Rankings.More and more businesses are turning to the Web to find customers: $5.8 billion was spent on advertising in the first quarter alone, up 18.2% from the prior year, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau. Google's share of Internet searches continues to rise as well — to a record 61.8% in May, according to measurement service ComScore Media Metrix.
If you haven't "optimized" your site, here's how:
1. Spotlight your search term on the page.
"Think about what people are going to type in to try and find you," Cutts says. He tells of meeting a chiropractor from San Diego who complained that his site couldn't be found easily using Google search. The words "San Diego chiropractor" were listed nowhere on his site. "You have to make sure the keywords are on the page," Cutts says. If you're a San Diego doctor, Des Moines architect or Portland ad agency, best to let people know so immediately, at the top of your page.
2. Fill in your "tags."
When creating websites, Internet coding language includes two key tags: title and description. Even if you don't know code, which is used to create pages, software programs such as Adobe's Dreamweaver have tools that let you fill them in in plain English . Tags are crucial, Cutts says, because what's shown in search results most often are the title and description tags.
If Cutts' chiropractor had properly tagged his Web page, a search would have returned something like this: "San Diego chiropractor. Local doctor serves San Diego community."
There's also a third tag, to add keywords, or search terms, but Cutts says Google doesn't put much weight in its rankings on that one.
3. Get other sites to "link" back to you.
Google says it looks at more than 100 pieces of data to determine a site's ranking. But links are where it's at, once your search terms are clearly visible on your site and the title and description tags correctly marked.
In a nutshell: Google ranks sites based on popularity. If authoritative sites link to you, you must be good, and therefore you get to the top of the list. If you can't get top sites such as USATODAY.com or The New York Times to link to you, try your friends. And what if they don't have a site? They probably do. Read on.
4. Create a blog and post often.
Cutts says blogging is a great way to add links and start a conversation with customers and friends. It will cost you only time: Google's Blogger, WordPress and others offer free blogging tools. With a blog, you can link back to your site and offer links to others. It's also a great way to start building content, Cutts says.

Cars Auto Financing Event Tickets Jobs Real Estate Online Degrees Business Opportunities Shopping

Search
How do I find it?
Subscribe to paper
OAS_AD("Zaplet1");

OAS_AD("Top728x90");
var tr_view7='http://EnterTheUrlForTrackingImpressionsHere';
var tr_view8='http://EnterTheUrlForTrackingImpressionsHere';
var tr_view9='http://EnterTheUrlForTrackingImpressionsHere';
var tr_click7='http://EnterTheUrlForTrackingClicksHere';
var tr_click8='http://EnterTheUrlForTrackingClicksHere';
var tr_click9='http://EnterTheUrlForTrackingClicksHere';

on error resume next
shFlash=0
hf3 = False
hf3 = IsObject(CreateObject("ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash.3"))
hf4 = False
hf4 = IsObject(CreateObject("ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash.4"))
hf5 = False
hf5 = IsObject(CreateObject("ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash.5"))
hf6 = False
hf6 = IsObject(CreateObject("ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash.6"))
hf7 = False
hf7 = IsObject(CreateObject("ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash.7"))
hf8 = False
hf8 = IsObject(CreateObject("ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash.8"))
hf9 = False
hf9 = IsObject(CreateObject("ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash.9"))
if hf3=True then shFlash=3
if hf4=True then shFlash=4
if hf5=True then shFlash=5
if hf6=True then shFlash=6
if hf7=True then shFlash=7
if hf8=True then shFlash=8
if hf9=True then shFlash=9
-->

Home
News
Travel
Money
Sports
Life
Tech
Weather
function change_lbRule()
{
document.getElementById("lbRuleControl").style.borderColor = "#FFFFFF";
document.getElementById("lbRuleControl").style.marginBottom = "0";
document.getElementById("lbRuleControl").style.marginTop = "18";
document.getElementById("ad_leaderboard").style.marginBottom = "8";
}
if (document.getElementById("lbRuleControl")&&document.getElementById("ad_leaderboard")){change_lbRule()};
Money
Markets
Markets Home
Most Active Stocks
Commodities
Currencies
Key Interest Rates
Stock Screener
Internet 50
Stock Market Answers: Ask Matt
World Stocks
Economy
Economy Home
Economic Calendar
Company News
Company News Home
Company Calendars
Executive Suite
Annual Reports
Media
Media Home
Ad Track
Books
Super Bowl Ad Meter
Cars
Cars Home
Test Drive: James R. Healey
Photo Galleries
Research a Car
Buy a Car
Sell a Car
Incentives
Recalls
Other Reviews
Personal Finance
Personal Finance Home
Retirement
Taxes
Mortgage Rates
CD and Savings Rates
Your Money: Sandra Block
Investing: John Waggoner
Your Portfolio
Mutual Fund Screener
Calculators
Real Estate
Real Estate Home
Find a Realtor
Sell It Yourself
Home Value
Apartments
Loans
Moving
Home Improvement
Small Business
Small Business Home
Ask an Expert: Steve Strauss
Entrepreneurial Tightrope: Gladys Edmunds
Strategies: Rhonda Abrams
Franchises
Jobs
Jobs Home
Job Advice
Job Hunt Advice
Job Search
Post a Resume
Post a Job
GET A QUOTE:
OAS_AD("Links1");
Related Advertising Links
What's This?
document.writeln('');
OAS_AD("Poster3");
OAS_AD("PosterBig");
Advertisement


OAS_AD("VerticalBanner");
OAS_AD("Links2");


What's this?
Search hundreds of franchises and business opportunities to find the one that is right for you.
Find a franchise:

Select Category All Automotive Business Services Children's Services Cleaning Services Computer & Internet Food & Restaurants Health & Beauty Home Services Onsite Services Retail Sports & Leisure Travel & Lodging
Select Investment Up to $10,000 Up to $25,000 Up to $50,000 Up to $100,000 Up to $150,000 Up to $200,000 Over $200,000 All Levels


Quick Request Form:Request information from your favorite franchises and business opportunities. Click here

var showReprintSSI="showReprintSSI";
function RightslinkPopUp(){
var url = "https://s100.copyright.com/AppDispatchServlet";
var location = url
+ "?publisherName=" + escape( "USATODAY" ) // required, hard-coded
+ "&publication=" + escape( "USATODAY" ) // required, hard-coded
+ "&title=" + escape( "Google's Cutts: Good directions drive traffic to your website " ) // required
+ "&publicationDate=" + escape( "6/22/2008 8:30:53 PM") // required
+ "&author=" + escape( "By Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY" )
+ "&contentID=" + escape( "http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/services/2008-06-22-google-search-engine-optimization_N.htm" ) // required
+ "&orderBeanReset=true"; // required, hard-coded
PopUp = window.open( location, "Rightslink", "toolbar=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes,width=650,height=550");
}
Google's Cutts: Good directions drive traffic to your website
Updated
document.write(niceDate('6/22/2008 10:33 PM'));
3h 21m ago Comment Recommend2
E-mail Save Print
');
}
//-->
Reprints & Permissions
swapContent('firstHeader','applyHeader');
var storyURL = "http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/services/2008-06-22-google-search-engine-optimization_N.htm";
var storyTitle = "Google's Cutts: Good directions drive traffic to your website";
var yahooBuzzArticleId = 'usatoday:'+storyURL+'?csp=34';
var yahooBuzzBadgeType = 'text';
var sclListTop = "";
sclListTop +='';
sclListTop +='';
sclListTop +='';
sclListTop +='';
sclListTop +='';
sclListTop +='';
sclListTop +=' Digg';
//sclListTop +=' del.icio.us';
sclListTop +=' Newsvine';
sclListTop +=' Reddit';
sclListTop +=' Facebook';
sclListTop +='What\'s this?';
sclListTop +='';
sclListTop +='';
sclListTop +='';
sclListTop +='';
document.write(sclListTop);

Yahoo! Buzz
Newsvine
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
What's this?
By Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY
You have a website and can't figure out why it's not showing up at the top of Google's search rankings. You go to Google.com for some guidance but get lost trying to find answers.
Certainly, achieving visibility in Google's search rankings can be a mystery. To help solve the riddle, USA TODAY sat down with Google's Matt Cutts, an engineer and active blogger, who has five easy tips on how to "optimize" your site so Google (GOOG) and the rest of the world can find it.
More and more businesses are turning to the Web to find customers: $5.8 billion was spent on advertising in the first quarter alone, up 18.2% from the prior year, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau. Google's share of Internet searches continues to rise as well — to a record 61.8% in May, according to measurement service ComScore Media Metrix.
If you haven't "optimized" your site, here's how:
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Internet Oklahoma San Diego Iowa New York Times Portland Des Moines comScore Media Metrix Adobe Google Maps Google.com Interactive Advertising Bureau Digg Dreamweaver StumbleUpon WordPress Matt Cutts
1. Spotlight your search term on the page.
"Think about what people are going to type in to try and find you," Cutts says. He tells of meeting a chiropractor from San Diego who complained that his site couldn't be found easily using Google search. The words "San Diego chiropractor" were listed nowhere on his site. "You have to make sure the keywords are on the page," Cutts says. If you're a San Diego doctor, Des Moines architect or Portland ad agency, best to let people know so immediately, at the top of your page.
2. Fill in your "tags."
When creating websites, Internet coding language includes two key tags: title and description. Even if you don't know code, which is used to create pages, software programs such as Adobe's Dreamweaver have tools that let you fill them in in plain English . Tags are crucial, Cutts says, because what's shown in search results most often are the title and description tags.
If Cutts' chiropractor had properly tagged his Web page, a search would have returned something like this: "San Diego chiropractor. Local doctor serves San Diego community."
There's also a third tag, to add keywords, or search terms, but Cutts says Google doesn't put much weight in its rankings on that one.
3. Get other sites to "link" back to you.
Google says it looks at more than 100 pieces of data to determine a site's ranking. But links are where it's at, once your search terms are clearly visible on your site and the title and description tags correctly marked.
In a nutshell: Google ranks sites based on popularity. If authoritative sites link to you, you must be good, and therefore you get to the top of the list. If you can't get top sites such as USATODAY.com or The New York Times to link to you, try your friends. And what if they don't have a site? They probably do. Read on.
4. Create a blog and post often.
Cutts says blogging is a great way to add links and start a conversation with customers and friends. It will cost you only time: Google's Blogger, WordPress and others offer free blogging tools. With a blog, you can link back to your site and offer links to others. It's also a great way to start building content, Cutts says.
5. Register for free tools
Google's google.com/webmaster offers freebies to help get your site found. You can upload a text-based site map, which shows Google the pages of your site (create it at www.xml-sitemaps.com). Once that's done, you'll be registered with Google, where you can learn vital statistics — in
cluding who is linking to your site and how often Google "crawls" your site for updates.
Google's Local Business center (google.com/local/add) is the place for business owners to submit a site so it shows up in local searches, with a map attached. Savvy consumers who use Google for searches know that the first 10 non-advertising results often are from Google Maps, so if you have a business and haven't submitted it, you're losing out on potential customers.

Comments :

0 comments to “Google's Cutts: Good directions drive traffic to your website”

Post a Comment

About

My photo
The New TechFunk is here..

About This Blog

Welcome to Techfunk. You enter the world of Technology where you can have your reviews , updates , comments and News of the technology in the Market.Be the first to know about New innvotive things in technology.

Get the latest News on the business of internet market.Get information about the steps taken by market giants in the business world of technology.

Reviews on Latest Gadgets,Computers,PC's.
so what are waiting for, Visit today and be a techfunk!

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

  © Blogger templates Newspaper by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008

Back to TOP