| With the global economy struggling, acquiring new | | | | appears to Google in it's cache: |
| customers is top of mind for most organizations. | | | | [ |
| Did you know that 50-70% of consumer and | | | | (You can see that there is no text or content |
| business purchasers start with a search engine like | | | | that appears) |
| Google? If your website doesn't appear at the | | | | Even if you're not worried about organic search |
| top of a search engine results page (sponsored | | | | positioning, but are doing paid search engine |
| ads or organic search results), you're losing | | | | marketing (like Google Adwords), it's important |
| potential customers to companies that do rank | | | | that the content on your site is easily digested by |
| higher. | | | | a search engine. |
| What can you do? I'll share with you my top | | | | Why? Google Adwords ranks the pages on your |
| strategies and tactics that can help you acquire | | | | website, and compares it to your keywords and |
| new customers via search engine optimization and | | | | ad copy. The more relevant Google ranks the |
| advertising. | | | | text on your site, the less you'll have to pay for a |
| 1. Local Search Engine Advertising. For businesses | | | | sponsored ad on Google (and the higher your |
| that serve specific geographic regions (i.e. Denver, | | | | position). |
| Colorado), you can create search engine ads in | | | | In Summary: Don't confuse search engines by |
| Google and Yahoo that only appear to people in | | | | keeping your content 'locked up' in graphics. It's a |
| your area. | | | | small little detail in the web design process, but |
| How does this work? A search engine like Google | | | | one that will pay dividends for a long, long time |
| uses a computer's IP address and other | | | | with increased search results. |
| information to discover where someone is | | | | 3. Title Tags & Why They Matter. When you |
| searching (including city and state). | | | | search in Google, the search results on the next |
| Why does Google care where a person is | | | | page each start with a blue underlined link. |
| located? Google's mission is to give their end | | | | What displays in this blue link is usually what is |
| users the best search results possible. So if I | | | | contained in the title tag of a web page. The |
| need a someone to walk my dog in Ft. | | | | keywords you placed in the search box are |
| Lauderdale, Florida, it does me little good to | | | | usually boldfaced in the search results. |
| receive a paid search result from Arizona. This is | | | | So, just what is a title tag, and why does it |
| a real example - my brother has a petsitting | | | | matter for search engine positioning? |
| business, and I've used local Google search engine | | | | According to the World Wide Web Consortium |
| advertising to drive new clients to his organization. | | | | (w3.org), the Title tag was designed to help |
| Thus Google (and the others) tries to match | | | | people "identify the contents of a document." |
| search results to the geographic location of the | | | | When people view individual web pages out of |
| person searching. | | | | context (often via search), context-rich page titles |
| How does Google make money? Google gives | | | | help tell the visitor a summary of the page. |
| businesses and organizations the ability to display | | | | Instead of a title like "Introduction", which doesn't |
| paid advertisements (sponsored results) on search | | | | provide much contextual background, web |
| results pages. These ads are triggered by | | | | designers should supply a title such as |
| keywords you choose (more on this in a different | | | | "Introduction to Medieval Bee-Keeping" instead. |
| strategy). | | | | Google and other search engines use these rich |
| You don't have to pay for your ad to display; you | | | | contextual clues as a way to hone its search |
| pay Google only when someone clicks on your ad. | | | | results. |
| The technical term is Cost Per Click (CPC) | | | | On a web page, the title tag is part of the HTML |
| advertising. The more relevant your ad (more on | | | | code. Here's what the code looks like on |
| this later), the less you have to pay for specific | | | | Customer Paradigm's site: |
| keywords, and the higher up you will appear in | | | | Title: Customer Paradigm: Website Design, |
| the sponsored advertising results. | | | | Development, Email Marketing, Content |
| Local Search CPC Ads. In Google Adwords, you | | | | Management, PHP programming |
| can create an advertising campaign that will target | | | | Most end users won't see the title tag*. But the |
| someone in a specific city or state. You can even | | | | title tag is what a subject ine is to an email |
| specify a 5, 10 or 25 mile radius from a specific | | | | campaign: It entices the end user to pay attention |
| location (like your retail showroom or office). | | | | and open the page to read more. |
| Below your local ad, Google will place the name of | | | | Top Five Most Common Mistakes for Title Tags: |
| your local area (i.e. Denver, Colorado)... making it | | | | A. Untitled: When many of the popular programs |
| more likely that someone searching in your area | | | | create a new HTML page, it puts 'Untitled' into the |
| will choose your organization vs. an out-of-town | | | | title tag. It's up to the Web designer to change |
| competitor. | | | | this... and since most users don't see it, |
| Local CPC Ads are usually a more cost effective | | | | sometimes they forget to change it. |
| option than a national search engine advertising | | | | B. No Title Tag: Like the "Untitled" tag, another |
| campaign. As a general rule of thumb, the more | | | | key mistake is simply leaving out the title tag. If |
| geographically targeted and specific you can be, | | | | you do a view source (Internet Explorer: Right |
| the less money you'll need to pay to acquire new | | | | Click and select View Source), and the title tag |
| customers. And make sure you have conversion | | | | doesn't appear... then you don't have a title tag. |
| tracking code placed on your site, so you can | | | | C. "About" Tag: Another common mistake for title |
| measure and track how much you're paying for | | | | tags is to have the title tag refer to a section of |
| each new customer via local search engine | | | | your website. But a title tag that reads, "About" |
| advertising. | | | | doesn't tell me much about what the company or |
| 2. Don't Confuse The Search Engines With | | | | website is "About." Instead, have it read: |
| Graphics. Search engines are really good at | | | | Title: Customer Paradigm - About the Company: |
| reading text. But they've very easily confused. | | | | Website Development & Marketing, Email |
| And if Google gets confused when it crawls | | | | Deployment and php programming |
| through your site, you won't rank very high in | | | | This is sure to get more keywords into the title |
| search results. | | | | tag, and if you're searching for a company, you |
| Search engines, for example, can't read words | | | | instantly know what they do. |
| that are contained in graphics or flash animation. | | | | D. No Company Name In Title Tag: We |
| So if your company's name is only contained in a | | | | recommend putting your company name at the |
| graphic on your site, this content is 'invisible' to a | | | | beginning of the title tag, so that people can |
| search engine. Same thing goes for product or | | | | quickly see your company's name when they |
| service names. | | | | search. |
| The root of the problem lies with graphic | | | | E. Same Title Tag on Multiple Pages: You should |
| designers. Graphic designers are really good at | | | | have a unique title tag for each page of the site. |
| building graphics. And don't take this to mean I | | | | Why? As each page is unique, you should have a |
| don't like graphic designers. (I employ a bunch of | | | | title tag that describes it's unique content. |
| them, but they know how to do SEO-friendly | | | | * Here's where they might interact with the title |
| design.) | | | | tag: |
| But most websites are designed by graphic | | | | - The title tag is displayed at the top left of most |
| designers who are really good at building graphics, | | | | people's browser window. |
| and less interested in Search Engine Optimization | | | | - Page titles are used as the default description |
| (SEO). It takes a bit more time to have content | | | | for a person's bookmarks when someone |
| placed in text, and use a stylesheet to format it | | | | bookmarks a site. |
| so that a search engine can read it. Especially | | | | - Visually impaired people use title tags to |
| when it's just so easy to create a good looking | | | | summarize the contents of a page before they |
| graphic in photoshop. | | | | have a text-to-speech reader read the contents |
| Here's an example of a site that uses all flash | | | | of the page. |
| (and is invisible to search engines): | | | | - These, along with Google's search results, are |
| While it looks pretty to humans, to Google the | | | | the only places end users actually see the title tag. |
| content is completely invisible. Here's how the site | | | | |