CRASH COURSE IN WEBSITE OPTIMIZATION.

Mother’s Day was last weekend and we have a story to tell you. Let’s take a glimpse at last Friday, but first, let’s pretend you own a small flower shop in the Greater Chicago Area.

There once was a man named Joe. Joe wanted to get something great for his mother on Mother’s Day, and he knows she loves flowers. Surprising, right? He goes to Google to search for a flower shop in his area. He searches for “flower shop chicago” and is displayed a multitude of paid and organic listings, but your shop wasn’t found on the first page of Google’s search results. Unfortunately, Joe decides to buy flowers from a shop called Flowerama because they we’re easily found on the first page of Google’s natural listings.

You may be wondering how Flowerama got their listing on the first page of Google’s search engine results pages. Well, one of the factors going into their placement has to do with how well their website is optimized. But, what does that mean?

Website optimization, or search engine optimization, is the process of improving the visibility of a website or webpage in search engines’ (Google) natural or un-paid organic listings. In general, the earlier, and more frequently a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine’s users. The most important variables that influence SEO are original content, transparency, and navigability.

You can create original content by creating a blog. We have some great ideas on Blogging Effectively for Business, and one idea is to create content on your website by providing viewable/downloadable case study’s, answering questions in a FAQ section, or supplying additional resources on your website. Make sure the content you are creating is transparent, or truthful and factual. You’re trying to make friends with search engines, so be sure to give them a reason to trust your site and come back for more. Lastly, the navigability, or usability, of your site is another factor that goes into how Google ranks you on search listings. Pay attention to the amount of pages, links, and overall ease of use.  

Some other things to remember:

• Link building is important, and it's the most weighted factor in Google's ranking algorithm. 
• An active presence on social networks (Facebook/Twitter) can improve your business’ chances of getting found, especially when implementing a social media marketing strategy.
• When blogging, write about what you know and be sure to share your expertise by acting as a teacher. If you’re stuck, try writing about what you are often asked during networking events.