How Can I Continue to Improve Search Engine Ranking?

So you’re writing a blog on your website, following the secrets I told you about in my last post. And sure enough, some of your content is showing-up in search results, which can potentially drive interested prospects to your website. Good work!

Now, in addition to generating relevant content on a consistent basis, what else should you be doing to improve your ranking on the search engines?

Search engine marketing (SEM) is the process by which you actively market yourself (and your website) to the search engines. You market yourself in order to improve the way the search engines think of you. After all, you don’t want to leave it all to chance, do you?

Here are 3 ways to improve how the search engines think of you. Practice each of these consistently and you will reap the rewards of better search engine ranking:

1. Develop inbound links. Both Google and Bing place emphasis in their algorithms on the number and quality of incoming links to your website. When the search engines see other websites linking to content on your website, it tells them that someone (other than you) believes that your website is important — relevant.
2. Use proper anchor text. Anchor text is the word (or words) that is contained in the link. You wouldn’t want an inbound link to your website that says something like this: “For the best barbecued beef recipe, click here.” Instead, try to get the link to appear this way: “Here’s the best barbecued beef recipe.” That’s because you want the search engines to consider your website relevant for “best barbecued beef recipe” instead of “click here,” which is of no search engine value to you. If you’re having difficulty deciding on good anchor text, contact me.
3. Increase onsite activity. Google, probably more so than any other search engine, has the ability to measure and track the amount of time visitors are spending on your website. (This is because the Google Analytics code that was likely installed on your website when it was created for you is constantly reporting back to Google.) So use this fact to your advantage. Onsite activity, which includes not only how much time visitors spend but also the number of visitors, is a measure of relevance. So, too, is whether or not visitors click-through to other pages on your website after they’ve arrived. Focus on providing content that your visitors need, rather than simply telling them about your business and what services it provides. If you’re having difficulty deciding on what content is best, contact me.

Marketing yourself to the search engines is just as important as marketing yourself to your target audience. Get in the habit of doing these things and your search engine results will improve!