Your Web Site Is Your Internet Store
By Mark Byers
Therefore Your Web Pages Are Your Products...
Make every page of content worthy of your business.
The great majority of your web site's pages are significant because every page of your site has a chance to be indexed by the search engines. This is considered to be Google in the United Kingdom, as it has about a 90% hold on search activity. In the USA it's 61%. You may increase the chances of a page being indexed if you can show Google that you have put some thought and attention into your page content. What this actually means is publishing a page that is providing lots of unique and engaging content. If a page on your website isn't indexed, you have not managed to satisfy Google enough for it to think your page worthy of being included in their index. What this mean is, they don't think its good enough to be viewed by their customers.
Learn From The Competition
You can learn a great deal about what could be lacking with your site page by taking a look at your competitor's sites. The general standard of the pages you visit will tell you about the standard you need to achieve and exceed, if your financial position and time permits.
Your Message
A clear message delivered adequately is infinitely better than a bad message delivered with bells and whistles! Having a look at your competitor's sites will assist you in deciding how well you will need to deliver your message. Make sure you are clear on what you will be saying and what you will be asking your audience to do. Think carefully about what words, images and even video would compel a potential customer purchase from you rather than one of the competition. When you're clear about your message only then can you develop the content.
Your Page Is Your Display Product
Even if you're a service business you still need to treat each page of your web site as if you're going to put it on on show for potential purchasers to look at. If the product you put on a shelf looks shabby no one will purchase it. If the product does not give enough detail it's the same.
The Factors That Are Important To Google
There are no mysteries to what Google pays attention to and uses. If you do not pay attention to these elements the chances of your page being indexed are virtually nil. If your page isn't indexed it will NEVER be served up on a search engine results page (SERP). The following list contains all the on-page SEO elements which make up a web page. Some aren't seen by the human eye but they are inspected by the search engine crawlers and therefore are extremely important.
- URL
- Page Title
- Meta Description
- H1 Tag
- Image file names & attributes
- Word count
URL - The Address Of Your Web Page
It is useful if the URL contains words that have meaning. If it does it'll have meaning to a search engine crawler. This is a useful page address 'www.wd4t.com/blog/managing-your-online-reputation-easy' because it gives a good idea about what the subject of the destination page is about. 'www.wd4t.com/node/88' isn't useful yet it is the same page address as the previous one, however it is the raw page address. If you have control over your page addressing you need to make sure the address makes sense to a human being and that it directly reflects what a human being and a crawler will find when they visit the page.
Page Title - Times Have Changed
Just like the URL the Page Title is vital and it's definitely an element that influences how high a page can rank. The Page Title is what appears in the tab of the browser. What you need to incorporate in your page title are words you need your page to be famous for but at the same time you don't want to use the same sequence of words on multiple pages. It is crucial you avoid duplicate page titles. Google does exclude pages from its index if it thinks multiple pages of a site are too similar.
H1 Tag - Regard It As Heading 1
H1 denotes to a search engine the main title of the content they're crawling. To the human visitor it's the main heading. It should provide the reader of the page a clear notion of what the content of the page is really about.
Meta Description - Your Advert
This is unquestionably one of the most overlooked elements and yet it is one of the most important. This is what Google will serve up if it thinks your content is worthy of showing in search results. It has to be written with a call to action. If you do not write a Meta Description Google will choose for you what it'll show and this is generally not advisable.
Image File Names And Attributes
Search engines are unable to translate what an image is about, they only know there is an image there. The file name you give to an image assists a search engine determine what the image is about. On top of this the search engines inspect the alt tag and the title tag fields that can be associated with pictures. These fields provide further opportunities to tell a search engine what they ought to index a page for.
Word Count - Less Is Not More
It's a fine line between having too many words and having too few words. Users are sometimes put off by having to read too much , however , they will leave your page if they are unable to find enough detail. What's clear is that Google doesn't like pages that are light on words. It's vital to organise the words in a way that both keeps the reader engaged and satisfies Google regarding word count.
Conclusion - Make It Good, Make It Count
In conclusion as a web site owner you must regard your site pages like you would products you are placing on display. If your products look unattractive you can not expect prospects to be interested in them. The same applies for the search engines.
If you would like your site pages to be indexed you've got to ensure you give the search engines with what they are searching for from content. If you would like your website pages to be recognized by visitors you need to make sure they can see that you've put some effort into producing valuable content.
Make every page of content worthy of your business.
The great majority of your web site's pages are significant because every page of your site has a chance to be indexed by the search engines. This is considered to be Google in the United Kingdom, as it has about a 90% hold on search activity. In the USA it's 61%. You may increase the chances of a page being indexed if you can show Google that you have put some thought and attention into your page content. What this actually means is publishing a page that is providing lots of unique and engaging content. If a page on your website isn't indexed, you have not managed to satisfy Google enough for it to think your page worthy of being included in their index. What this mean is, they don't think its good enough to be viewed by their customers.
Learn From The Competition
You can learn a great deal about what could be lacking with your site page by taking a look at your competitor's sites. The general standard of the pages you visit will tell you about the standard you need to achieve and exceed, if your financial position and time permits.
Your Message
A clear message delivered adequately is infinitely better than a bad message delivered with bells and whistles! Having a look at your competitor's sites will assist you in deciding how well you will need to deliver your message. Make sure you are clear on what you will be saying and what you will be asking your audience to do. Think carefully about what words, images and even video would compel a potential customer purchase from you rather than one of the competition. When you're clear about your message only then can you develop the content.
Your Page Is Your Display Product
Even if you're a service business you still need to treat each page of your web site as if you're going to put it on on show for potential purchasers to look at. If the product you put on a shelf looks shabby no one will purchase it. If the product does not give enough detail it's the same.
The Factors That Are Important To Google
There are no mysteries to what Google pays attention to and uses. If you do not pay attention to these elements the chances of your page being indexed are virtually nil. If your page isn't indexed it will NEVER be served up on a search engine results page (SERP). The following list contains all the on-page SEO elements which make up a web page. Some aren't seen by the human eye but they are inspected by the search engine crawlers and therefore are extremely important.
- URL
- Page Title
- Meta Description
- H1 Tag
- Image file names & attributes
- Word count
URL - The Address Of Your Web Page
It is useful if the URL contains words that have meaning. If it does it'll have meaning to a search engine crawler. This is a useful page address 'www.wd4t.com/blog/managing-your-online-reputation-easy' because it gives a good idea about what the subject of the destination page is about. 'www.wd4t.com/node/88' isn't useful yet it is the same page address as the previous one, however it is the raw page address. If you have control over your page addressing you need to make sure the address makes sense to a human being and that it directly reflects what a human being and a crawler will find when they visit the page.
Page Title - Times Have Changed
Just like the URL the Page Title is vital and it's definitely an element that influences how high a page can rank. The Page Title is what appears in the tab of the browser. What you need to incorporate in your page title are words you need your page to be famous for but at the same time you don't want to use the same sequence of words on multiple pages. It is crucial you avoid duplicate page titles. Google does exclude pages from its index if it thinks multiple pages of a site are too similar.
H1 Tag - Regard It As Heading 1
H1 denotes to a search engine the main title of the content they're crawling. To the human visitor it's the main heading. It should provide the reader of the page a clear notion of what the content of the page is really about.
Meta Description - Your Advert
This is unquestionably one of the most overlooked elements and yet it is one of the most important. This is what Google will serve up if it thinks your content is worthy of showing in search results. It has to be written with a call to action. If you do not write a Meta Description Google will choose for you what it'll show and this is generally not advisable.
Image File Names And Attributes
Search engines are unable to translate what an image is about, they only know there is an image there. The file name you give to an image assists a search engine determine what the image is about. On top of this the search engines inspect the alt tag and the title tag fields that can be associated with pictures. These fields provide further opportunities to tell a search engine what they ought to index a page for.
Word Count - Less Is Not More
It's a fine line between having too many words and having too few words. Users are sometimes put off by having to read too much , however , they will leave your page if they are unable to find enough detail. What's clear is that Google doesn't like pages that are light on words. It's vital to organise the words in a way that both keeps the reader engaged and satisfies Google regarding word count.
Conclusion - Make It Good, Make It Count
In conclusion as a web site owner you must regard your site pages like you would products you are placing on display. If your products look unattractive you can not expect prospects to be interested in them. The same applies for the search engines.
If you would like your site pages to be indexed you've got to ensure you give the search engines with what they are searching for from content. If you would like your website pages to be recognized by visitors you need to make sure they can see that you've put some effort into producing valuable content.
About the Author:
Mark Byers is the M. D of WD4T. Mark has been involved with the web for more than twenty years and specialises in optimising web sites to increase visitors and convert those visitors into customers. In addition to WD4T and it's clients, he also provides consultancy services to a range of digital agencies. Mark has written many articles on strategy and planning, web site design and optimisation.