Website Design and Promotion

Tell Me Where You Are

Here's a simple tip that many health practitioners and counsellors don't consider when putting together their web pages: Include some sort of blurb or mention about your office's geographic location.

I can't tell you how many times I've searched for a particular service on Google, found the web site of someone who sounds interesting, but then not been able to find where that individual works. Or it takes a lot of time and effort, which most of us don't seem to have these days, to find out that basic piece of information. If I'm looking for a naturopath, for example, come across the web site of one who sounds very good, but then can't quickly and easily see where they offer their services, I'm moving on to the next naturopath.

Now, if I'm looking for a naturopath in Vancouver, say, I'll enter "naturopath vancouver" as my Google search. Presumably, most people would think to do likewise. And, guess what? If you're a naturopath in Vancouver and you didn't mention the word "Vancouver" anywhere in your site, Google's not going to pick your site up for that particular search.

All you need to do is either work the name of the city (and/or outlying areas that you service) into the copy of your pages or, if that doesn't work naturally, include a simple one- or two-sentence blurb at the end of the page, along the lines of, "We provide naturopathic services to Vancouver and the Lower Mainland, including Burnaby, New Westminster, ..." Do one or both on every page of your site. It also helps to include your geographic area in your pages' title tags as well. Trust me, you won't be sorry. :)

Meta Description Tags

Although one of the old meta tags — they keyword tag — has pretty much gone the way of the dinosaur, the meta description tag still has value. Although Google and other search engines don't really give the tag much (if any) weight when it comes to determining the rank of your page, they're still displayed in the search results. At least sometimes.

Google generally will display a page's description content (or at least some of it) underneath the underlined (title tag) link in the results listings if it's deemed to be "informative" enough. In Raj Krishnan's post, "Improve snippets with a meta description makeover" on Google's Webmaster Central Blog, he says the title and description tags should "accurately represent the web result" and give "users a clear idea of the URL's content." Fair enough.

If your description tag is just a bunch of keywords, it's less likely to be shown in the search engine results pages. Also, it's best if the tag is not automatically generated, but rather "human-readable and diverse."

If you have any control over the page, and want to increase the likelihood of click-through from search engine listings, try to input a useful and descriptive description tag.

Foundational Links

There's a good post by Debra Mastaler, on Search Engine Land, about "Foundational Links". Debra talks about how to start building inbound links to your web site, which is one of the big pieces in getting your site ranked well by Google, et al, by "establishing a base of links from authority sites that work toward building their business reputations." These foundational links are from solid, reputable sources and are generally inexpensive or free.

First are the directories, such as JoeAnt, Best of the Web, GoGuides, and the Open Directory Project.

Second are authority links, such as industry associations you or your business belong to, the Chamber of Commerce, etc. These can improve your reputation within your industry. Also, you'll want to see if you can get links from high ranking sites (if these aren't the same as the aforementioned ones).

Online newsletters may give you a chance to get either paid links by advertising in them or free links by writing articles for them.

Debra also suggests Yellow Pages ads, of which I'm not a huge fan, since they're often expensive and I haven't seen them drive the kind of traffic that businesses are looking for. I suppose it depends on the type of business you're in.

Get Walking

Okay, technically, maybe this post doesn't belong in the "Search Engine Optimization" category, but you'll soon see it does have to do with a search engine and a form of optimization...

I just tried out Google's GMaps Pedometer. It's kind of fun. Next time you go for a walk (which, of course, is one of the most environmentally friendly methods of transportation!), you might be curious to know how far you walked. This tool allows you to plot the route you took to see its distance and even — if you care — the number of calories you burned.

Turns out one of my quick post-work walking routes is about 1.5 miles. Interesting...

Shattering the Myths of Duplicate Content and Search Engines

I have read so much conflicting information on the duplicate content issue and how search engines deal with it. A lot of people seem to think that if you have any duplicate content on your website that the search engines will penalize you by not indexing any of your web pages that have the same content.

SEO expert, Jill Whalen, has written a wonderful article that dispels this myth and explains that if you simply have duplicate content on some of your pages or have re-published articles online that exist on your website  you don't have anything to worry about. The worst that will happen is that search engines may only index one of the pages that are the same, hence the rest won't show up in search results.

If you are trying to trick the search engines in some way, well that is a different matter... you may just end up being penalized.  Some, or all of your pages may not show up...But, being a green or socially responsible business, we know you won't be doing any of that! :-)

More Content But Make Sure it's Your Own

As we've stated here several times before, it's great to have lots of pages and lots of valuable content on your web site. That's what drives traffic to your site and gets visitors to stay for a while.

But, don't just copy random pages or chunks of pages from other web sites and put it on your own site (even if you do give proper credit). Many web sites do this in order to try to gain higher rankings on Google. According to the Official Google Webmaster Central Blog, "Google is willing to take action against domains that try to rank more highly by just showing scraped or other autogenerated pages that don't add any value to users."

Write for your visitors, not for the search engines and you'll come out ahead in the long run.

Using Images to Your Advantage

For a few good, basic suggestions on how to best use images on your web site, see Vanessa Fox's post on the OGWC Blog.

Of course images on web sites help — and are often essential to — make them look nice. But search engines can't read them, even if they contain text. So Vanessa's suggestions include:

• make sure most of the text on your pages isn't in your images
• use descriptive "alt" attributes for your images to tell search engines what they are and also for people who have images turned off (they help the visually impaired)
• at the same time, don't go overboard loading your images with keywords

Vanessa's post also talks a bit about Google's image search and how to make it work for you.

Excellent Summary on Key Word Research

I can't help but post another blog entry by copyblogger. His is one of the best blogs on copywriting.

A recent post of his, Five Essential Elements of Key Word Search Engine Research, does a great job of summarizing the value of key word research.

It is easily understandable even for those of you socially responsible and alternative health or healing business who normally want to run when you hear words like "search engine optimization" and "key word research."

Here are his 5 essential elements of key word search engine research:

1. Use the free and the paid research tools available.

2. Be as specific as you can with keyword phrases.

3. Pay attention to popular keywords while being realistic about using those that are highly competitive.

4. Ensure your search terms are relevant to your goals.

5. Choose keywords that support the development of content that is a valuable to readers.

Read the details of Brian's post on key word search engine research.

Duplicate Content

A good post on the Official Google Webmaster Central Blog on what is and isn't considered duplicate content and how Google deals with it.

Why is this important? Well, from Google and its users' point of view (which probably means you and your web site's visitors) they don't want to show more than one result in a search with essentially the same content. It would be very frustrating if several of the results links took you to basically the same page.

Duplicate content is considered "substantive blocks" of very similar content on two or more web pages. This doesn't, however, apply to the same page translated into more than one language (so no need to worry if you've got a French version, a Spanish version, etc.).

The post gives some good pointers on how to ensure that the version of the page you want gets indexed (e.g., you may have a print version that you don't need to have indexed, but the regular version you do want).

Google's Website Optimizer

Google has yet another new tool--The Website Optimizer-- that will help you test and track your socially responsible or alternative health website pages to see what aspects of your site (design and copy) are getting your clients or customers to respond.  From Google:

The Website Optimizer allows you to test changes in the website content of your pages in order to determine what will be most effective in getting conversions. You choose what parts of a page you'd like to test -- headline, image, promo text – and we'll run an experiment on a portion of your site traffic to determine which content on your site users respond to best. When we've collected enough data, we'll provide you with reliable reports and a suggested course of action in order to optimize your site for maximum business results.

I am always trying to convince my clients to use tools to test and track their sites. While I haven't tried this one yet, it looks quite good. Check it out.

Google Reinclusion Request

A while back, I posted on Google's No-no's — i.e., how to get in Google's bad books and possibly even have your site blacklisted by them. So, what do you do if your site has been blacklisted — because you followed some bad advice; you unknowingly hired an unethical search optimization firm; or, perhaps you took over a web site that had already been blacklisted?

Essentially, you need to get on your hands and knees and beg forgiveness from Google. Yep, you'll need to throw away your sense of pride and admit it was "your bad." You need to submit a reinclusion request at Google Sitemaps (if you don't already have an account, you'll need to register — don't worry, it's free).

Basically you'll need to fill out their form, explaining what you (or the previous site owner) did wrong, that you understand why it violated Google's webmaster guidelines, and, most importantly, that it will never happen again.

Makes you feel like you're back in grade school, doesn't it? But, hey, everybody's got to play fair!

Optimizing Your Website for Local Searches

Duct Tape Marketing has a post  listing 3 tips for optimizing your website for local searches in your area.

I find that many people overlook this important aspect of search engine optimization and it can really make a difference in your local rankings.

The three tips:

1. Create an education based content web site.

2. Sprinkle local (towns, suburbs, address) content throughout and in your page titles.

3. Register with the local search directories (Google Maps, YahooLocal, AOLLocal, Windows Live Local).

Write for Your Site Visitors, Not Just for Google

Just in case you needed to hear this again: Although it is important (and necessary) to consider Google and the other search engines when writing your web site's content, it is just as crucial, if not more so, to write for your visitors. Otherwise, you'll have lots of people finding your site, but few staying and taking action (i.e., buying your products or services).

And, if you need to hear it directly from Google's Matt Cutts, here's a quick video of Q&A, where he talks (among other things) about the importance of quality content — written for your target audience.

Search Engine Lingo

If you've ever wondered what certain terms you've heard in reference to search engine optimization are, here's a good post with the Jargon Explained.

The author has compiled a pretty comprehensive list from anchor text to XML. He explains cookies, spiders, white hat/black hat, and a host of acronyms. Some items you'll never have heard of, but others will make you say, "So that's what that is!"

Getting Your Site Indexed in Search Engines Before It’s Launched

Launching a new site is a lot of work and it can be very frustrating to have to wait several months before it’s indexed in google and the other major search engines.

Adam McFarland describes how to get your site indexed before it’s launched. The method he describes involves getting a web page up and then getting links from other sites pointing to your site. While he recommends getting a “coming soon” page with some information about your site and expected launch date, you can also get your actual home page copy up and then tweak it later when the rest of the content for your site is complete.

Adam recommends getting links from other blogs and websites. He also suggests writing articles for article directories as a method of getting links.  These are all excellent ideas. I have often noticed that once some of my clients get just one link from another site, their site starts showing up in the rankings.

3 Ways to Get Incoming Links

Internet marketing guru, Ralph Wilson, of Web Marketing Today writes about Three Ways to Get Non-Reciprocal Links:

1. Create lots of valuable content (over many pages), which people will naturally want to link to.
2. Find the free directories that don't require a reciprocal link.
3. Write and distribute a "give-away" article, with links back to your site.

Ralph actually has nine other linking strategies, if you want to purchase his SEO guide.

Purely Graphical Home Page

First impressions are important, of course, especially on the web when you only have a few seconds to grab visitors' attentions. When you're selling environmentally friendly products or services, you want your site's home page to look great. But does that mean it should be all graphics or Flash? Not if ranking high in search engines, such as Google, is essential.

Here's a good thread in HighRankings.com on the topic, which confirms what we're always preaching here: yes, your home page should look great, but it's crucial that it include at least some text. Your home page is the most important page of your site as far as both visitors and search engines are concerned. Most external links to your site will point to your home page, giving it "weight", and that weight will carry through to the other pages on your site (which had better be linked from your home page — if not directly, than within two clicks). So, optimize that home page as best as you can, both visually and in terms of text.

Submitting Your Site to Search Engines

This is really passe, for the most part. Still, many people think the way to get good search engine rankings is by submitting their site to the search engines. That's such a small part of getting your site ranked highly by Google et al, that I rarely even bother with it any more. Especially the ones that charge — in particular for smaller socially responsible businesses on a budget.

Having said that, it still doesn't hurt to submit to Google and Yahoo's free directories. Reason being that people can find your site by looking through the directory listings (as opposed to doing a regular automated search) and they provide links to your site.

Google's directory is hooked up to DMOZ's Open Directory Project. To get listed there, you need to suggest your site to the Open Directory. Sites are filtered out by actual humans, which is good in that the "riff raff" gets picked out. The bad news is that is can take quite a while (sometimes months) until your site gets listed. But, what do you expect for free? ;)

Yahoo's free directory works similarly. You need to suggest your site. Then wait. Unless you want to be in the paid Express submission.

In both cases, you suggest the specific category that your site should be considered for.

Again, don't put too much energy into these submissions. But, if you're a new, small socially responsible business, just starting out, with a new website, their a decent, free starting point. But, there are many other ways to get good rankings that you mustn't forget — see previous posts.

Title Tags and Your Business Name

Title tags are the words you see at the top of your web browser when you visit a web page. They are an important aspect of SE rankings and a lot of websites are not using them to their full advantage. People often make the mistake of putting the name of their business in the title tag, but not enough of the keywords  in order to get the best possible ranking for their site. I am often surprised at the number of reputable businesses that do this. While you can use the name of your business in your title tag, you should place it at the end after your important keywords as search engines read from left to right.

For more information on title tags, Blog Business World has a good post explaining their importance  and how you can use them to increase your rankings.

Search Engine Optimization in Newsweek

Newsweek's Dec. 19th issue ran an interesting story on search engine optimization worth reading. It talks about the importance of SEO and how it's become a huge business (and growing).

Of course, with this boom, comes all sorts of opportunists — ethical and not-so-ethical. The common terms for the two types are "white hat" and "black hat" — you can probably guess which one is which. It saddens me to see any unethical business having success, but some of the black hats manage to. It also really scares me to find out some of their methods. In particular, the Newsweek article touches on one anonymous black hat SEO who managed to "forcibly inject" a link to his site from Stony Brook University's site, thus getting his site a higher ranking.

There may be a certain lure to using a black hat SEO person/firm to get quick results, but keep in mind that they usually, eventually, do get caught and then the web site gets blacklisted by Google et al. Anyone who's unethical in their SEO practices probably is unethical in general business too, so don't expect your money back either.

Factors Involved in Search Engine Rankings

One of the best and most comprensive reviews that I have ever seen on the factors involved in search engine ranking can be found at SEOmoz.org. 103 factors were ranked by 13 search engine specialists in terms of their significance to search engine rankings.

The factors were grouped in the following 5 categories:

• In-Document Factors Affecting Ranking (31)

• Site Factors Affecting the Value of Hosted Documents (23)

• Factors Affecting the Value of a Link (25)

• URL, Technical, Hosting & Server Side Factors (12)

• Detrimental Ranking Factors (12)

On a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the most important, here is the summary of the 10 most important factors in the 5 categories:

Title Tag - 4.57
Anchor Text of Links - 4.46
Keyword Use in Document Text - 4.38
Accessibility of Document - 4.3
Links to Document from Site-Internal Pages - 4.15
Primary Subject Matter of Site - 4.00
External Links to Linking Pages - 3.92
Link Popularity of Site in Topical Community - 3.77
Global Link Popularity of Site - 3.69
Keyword Spamming - 3.69

Definitely worth a read if you are a socially responsible business who cares about your search engine rankings. However, no need to worry if this sounds too advanced for you. Having quality copy on your site with key words that your visitors search for is still one of the best ways to keep your rankings up in the search engines.

Do pay attention to your title tags (the tag visible at the top of your browser window for each of your web pages) though as they do seem to be of high importance. Paying attention to link anchor text as well would be a good idea (for an explanation of link anchor text see this post on how to use link anchor text to increase your rankings in the search engines).

Choosing Less Popular Keywords

Darren Rouse has a post Targeting Secondary Keywords on a Blog in which he refers to a post on Workboxers titled, The Overlooked SEO Technique.

The point being made is that you shouldn't always focus on using the top keywords for your blog (or website) especially when your blog/website is new and it's difficult to get a high ranking in the search engines. It can be better to target the less popular ones as you will have a better chance of getting placed higher in the SE's.

To quote Darren:

This is a great strategy - the only thing I would add is that once you’ve established yourself highly with a less popular keyword and have built up traffic, inbound links etc - at that point you might find yourself able to switch your keyword focus slightly to the more popular keyword. This is not something you’d probably do very quickly - but in time you can build upon the success of the lesser searched for keyword with the real deal.

One method that I use is to target the less popular key words is to write articles either on your own site or on other sites with links leading back to your site.

Keyword Discovery: A Key Word Analytical Tool

Lee Odden over at Online Marketing Blog has a post on a key word analytical tool that can help you with your keyword research.

Lee explains the difference between a keyword suggestion tool and a keyword analytical tool.  The former simply provides suggestions on key words to use for your website, whereas the latter gives more advanced information in addition to key word suggestions (e.g. the number of times any particular keyword was typed into the search engines and the competition for particular those keywords).

Lee then provides a good review of an analytical tool called Keyword Discovery. It sounds like an interesting tool that has a lot of advanced features.

There a few other good tools out there as well that you might want to consider using. For example, Word Tracker is a popular one.  A while back I wrote a post about a free report that was released by Word Tracker. The report shows you how to do keyword research using their tool.

If you want to improve your website rankings in the search engines a  good keyword research tool can really help.

More Search Engine Optimization Tips

Another great article by Jill Whelan of HighRankings.com — "New and Improved 10 Tips to the Top" — gives an updated list of how to get good search engine results for your site.

A few examples:

• Whenever possible, use an existing domain name, rather than purchasing a new one. These days, Google takes 9-12 months to index new sites. (Of course using their SiteMap tool can help a lot, but I've also heard stories of sites using that tool moving up and down the rankings a lot.)
• Don't write your website's copy specifically for search engines, but for your target market.
• Use descriptive labels for your text and image links (didn't we talk about this recently?).
• Work your keywords into each page's title tag.

A good and useful read.

Avoiding Search Engine Penalties

Search Engine Watch has a great two part article by Marcela De Vivo on Coping With Search Engine Penalties.

In the first part of the article Marcela mentions that many people assume they have been penalized if their site has experienced a loss of search engine rankings when in fact there are many other possible reasons for the lower rankings. Marcela gives the following examples of perceived penalties:

• host has prevented the site from being  crawled
• Server is down or having problems during crawl, so pages aren't indexed
• Robots.txt could be badly written
• Problems with crawlers
• Virtual crawling problems
• Domain name problems
• Lost links causes ranking to drop
• Rankings drop because other sites are better or have more links
• Rankings drop due to a search engine algorithm shift

Marcela also points out the recommendations Google has at it's site for avoiding being penalized:

• Avoid hidden text or hidden links
• Don't employ cloaking or sneaky redirects
• Don't send automated queries to Google
• Don't load pages with irrelevant words
• Don't create multiple pages, sub domains, or domains with substantially duplicate content
• Avoid "doorway" pages created just for search engines or other "cookie cutter" approaches such as affiliate programs with little or no original content

While the first part of this article examines this issue in relation to Google, the second part of the article addresses penalties by Yahoo and MSN.

While it is a good idea to be aware of some of these issues, if you write clear content on your web pages  that makes sense to your visitors without attempting to fool the search engines in any way, you probably don't have anything to worry about.

Using Link Anchor Text to Increase Your Search Engine Rankings

Linking continues to be one of the most important aspects of achieving high rankings in most search engines, and in particular, Google. The more links leading to your site from other URLs that have content relevant to your site (and preferably a high ranking themselves), the higher your search engine rankings will be. Linking pages within your site are also valued by the search engines and help with rankings.

The words used in links leading to pages of your site are referred to as "link anchor text." Link anchor text can be used in both internal pages of your site and in links from other URLs leading to your site.

If you have a site on socially responsible investing and you were also using those words as keywords you would include them in the link anchor text from other web sites pointing to pages of your site. For example, the anchor text should read something like, "For more information go to socially responsible investing,” with the link on the words “socially responsible investing,” The search engines will value this type of link more than one that reads, "For more information on socially responsible investing go to www.thissite.com” with the link being on “thissite.com.”

You would do the same thing for linking internal pages of your web site as you direct visitors to specific pages. You can also use your keywords in the anchor text of your navigation map at the bottom of your pages.

You're #1 – But, for What?

Everyone wants their website to appear at (or at least near) the top of search engines' rankings. But, is that enough? Not if it's for a term that people aren't searching for!

Action Plan's Robert Middleton has written a very handy article about this topic (http://www.actionplan.com/mc/MoreClients083005.html). In it he discusses how to utilize Overture's Keyword Selector Tool to determine which keywords/phrases are best for your website.

You might try using it for your socially responsible business's website. For example, if your business sells environmentally friendly recycled paper, you can find out that last month only 27 searches were done for 'environmentally friendly paper product' and only 38 for 'ecofriendly paper'. But, for 'recycled paper', 1259 searches were performed. In fact, several similar 'recycled paper' phrases had more searches than the 'environmentally friendly' or 'ecofriendly' paper terms. So, which do you think will get you more results?

True, it's great to be at the top of the listings, because most people only look at the top 20 or 30. But, I'll bet you that you'll get much better results being ranked around #20 for a term that receives over 1000 searches per month than #1 for a term that only receives around 30. Something to think about when coming up with your search engine optimization strategy for your website.

Search Engine Optimization and Veggie Dog Food?

Wordtracker just released  a 75 page Keyword Research Guide. I have gone through the guide briefly and it looks very informative. It's also very cool that they used a fictional socially responsible business example (veggie dog food) to illustrate how to do keyword research for your website.

A sample of some of the chapters include:

• Why Keywords matter
• Gauge the Size of the Market 
• In Paid Search, Keywords Are Key
• Find the Keywords and You’ll Find the Marketplace
• Adopt a Healthy Position
• Designing an Online Marketing Strategy

Looks like it could be quite useful for socially responsible businesses of all types and sizes.

Should I Hire a Search Engine Optimizer?

While there are many good search engine optimizers (SEOs), there are some unethical ones out there. How can you recognize them? Google (www.google.com/webmasters/seo.html) has several things to watch out for, including:

• Don't get too excited about someone who "guarantees" #1 ranking on Google. Nobody has a "special relationship" with Google and there is no "priority" submission process.
• If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Be very skeptical about firms that send you unsolicited email letting you know how wonderful their SEO services are.
• Take heed if the company is very secretive and won't let you know what they're doing.
• You shouldn't need to link your site back to the SEO's site.
• Do a bit of research. Find out about the SEO company — get referrals (preferably from people you know). Check out the rankings they've gotten for relevant keywords for their clients.
• Get a money-back guarantee — and check its fine print. SEOs often have many loopholes to weasel out of what sound like a no-loss situation for you.

The bottom line with search engine optimization is: if it feels like cheating it usually is. Whether you do your optimization on your own or with help from an SEO, make sure you feel comfortable with the methods used. Otherwise you could find yourself blacklisted by the search engines, highly frustrated, and a lot lighter in the wallet!

Focus!

I find that many people have unrealistic expectations when it comes to their site's search engine rankings. They'll throw up a site about organic cotton clothing, for example, and wonder why it doesn't rank high for clothes, shirts, shorts, pants, socks, etc.

First off, those words are far too general. You need to be much more specific in what you can expect high rankings for. In our example, terms such as "organic cotton t-shirts" might draw your site highly, if it's done right.

Secondly, you're much better off if you create separate pages for each keyword/phrase (plus, maybe one or two others). So, have one page that describes your organic cotton t-shirts; one for organic cotton hiking shorts, one for organic cotton baby clothing, etc. Then, each of those pages can be optimized for those specific terms. You'll have many more "ins" to your site that way — one (or a few) for each page. It doesn't really matter how someone enters your site, as long as there's an easy way for them to find their way around and what's there gets them to stay.

Google Secrets: Site Ranking as Revealed Through Google's New Patent

Anyone who tries to stay on top of the impossible world of Google and how it ranks websites, might be interested in reading an article written by Darren Yates posted on Buzzle.com that summarizes some of the ways in which Google ranks websites as revealed by Google's recently filed patent.

Here are some of the more interesting points:

• Register your domain name for more than one year at a time. Spammers often register sites for only one year so Google will take you more seriously if you register your domain name for longer than a year.
• While backlinks (links from other sites pointing to your website) are known to be an important factor in search engine ranking, you must accumulate links slowly so as not to be seen as a spammer.
• Key words used in your anchor text (links pointing to your site) should vary. If you use the same key words too often, you can be penalized.
• Website click through rates are monitored by Google and they use this information when ranking your website.

To read the full article go to: Great Site Ranking in Google: The Secret is Out

The Perfect Domain Name

... doesn't exist. But, I got your attention didn't I? Which, actually is a main point of this post.

I've got clients who, literally, spend weeks trying to come up with the perfect domain name for their new web site. Probably lose sleep over it. I always say, yes, try to come up with a good (or great) domain name, but don't kill yourself over it.

Occasionally, I'll help a client come up with a name. The best, in my opinion, was www.locktheknee.com. That was for a yoga studio, in which the owner/teacher would, during a particular pose, always say, "Lock the knee!" So, I thought what a great name for her web site. And she and all her students loved it! Very catchy. Of course, it doesn't mean much to non-students of that studio, so we also came up with a second name (www.bikramyoganewwest.com), which made sense for others and gets automatically forwarded to the site.

There's a mindset that having keywords (i.e., words that you want your site found for in a search) in your domain name is very important in getting your site picked up by Google. Jill Whelan, the SEO guru, in my opinion, of www.HighRankings.com - consistently says she's seen no evidence that this is true. And I agree, I have seen none either. I just did a test search for "chiropractors" on Google. The #1 results didn't have the word in its domain name. In fact, I counted 2 out of the top 20 that did! (There were a couple "chiro's" in there.) That says something to me.

Here are some tips for coming up with a good domain name:

• The shorter the better. Try to keep it to a max of 4 words.
• Make sure people can spell it easily, otherwise they might end up at your competition's web site. If your name is difficult to spell or there are multiple spellings (e.g., Brian/Bryan) avoid it!
• If it works, go for a name about your business, in general. e.g., if you're a plumber, rather than mcneilsplumbingservices.com, how about something like greatplumber.com?
• Better yet, if you can come up with something cute and catchy, people will remember it - e.g., nomoredrips.com.
• Remember, you can always get a second domain name - cheap! - and have it forward (or mask) to your original name.
• Stay away from -'s if possible. People want easy!
• If at all possible, get a .com, rather than .net or .biz or whatever. I still find that people think .com no matter what you say. Having said that though, if you've got a great name and it's not available as a .com, you might consider one of the alternatives.
• One more time - don't lose sleep over finding the perfect name!

Getting Indexed in Google...Sooner Rather Than Later

While we are on the topic of google, I thought I would mention that according to Jill Whalen, of High Rankings Advisor, it can take up to 9 months to get a new website indexed on google these days!!

Since this is the case, I often encourage my clients to get their site up as soon as possible so that it gets indexed more quickly. They can work on perfecting the design and content later.

However, as of a few weeks ago, Google is conducting an experiment that allows you to have your site indexed on Google-- sometimes with a few days or weeks-- by putting a Google Site Map on your website.

"The Marketing Chick" (don't ya just love that name?) in her blog, explains how to use this with a free software called, "Google Site Map Generator". Although I haven't tried it, a friend of mine did and told me it was very easy to install.

One final note: Apparently there is no guarantee that using the site map will get you indexed.

Google No-no's

Let’s face it – when we’re talking about search engines results, 9 times out of 10, we’re talking about Google. Google has become synonymous with search engine results for most web surfers, savvy or otherwise. So, if you want your website optimized for search engines, it’s really Google that you’re worried about (and, maybe Yahoo and MSN, just for the few people that use those).

Now, for those in the business of search engine optimization (and those not in the business), Google has always been and will always be a bit of a mystery in terms of how it works and what it likes and dislikes. There used to be several “tricks” that one could use to fool Google into ranking your site high. But, not long after each trick was devised, Google would outlaw its use, resulting in low rankings. Then a new trick would have to be invented and the vicious circle would continue. This has been very frustrating for us honest web developers who try to legitimately get our clients’ websites ranked high without having to resort to cheating.

Now, any site found to be incorporating questionable tactics to get high rankings can be banned by Google, temporarily (until the site becomes “honest”) or permanently.  Believe me, you don’t want your site banned by Google! It’s like having your store moved from a prime downtown location to some hidden back alley. Not good.

So, here is a list of no-no’s as far as Google (and quite probably other major search engines) is concerned:

• Overloading with keywords/phrases. If your site is about dogs, don’t have a sentence that uses the word ‘dog’ 7 times. Yes, use your keywords as much as is reasonably possible, but if your copy doesn’t read naturally, you’re probably overdoing it. Ding!
• Hidden text – e.g., white (or very light) text on a white background.
• Hidden links – tiny, virtual invisible links to other pages or from other sites to yours.
• Duplicate content – having two identical (or very similar) pages.
• Doorway pages. These are pages that exist for no other purpose than to direct traffic to your site. Generally they’re filled with different keywords and links so that it looks like your site is more popular than it really is.
• Using software that automatically submits your site to search engines.

The rule of thumb is this: If it feels like you’re cheating, you probably are and will get caught. Maybe not now, but eventually you probably will and, if website traffic is important to your business, that’s a chance not worth taking!

For more info, see http://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html.  Also check out http://www.highrankings.com/forum/ - a great forum for what to do and what not to do to get good search engine results.