If you find this helpful, pay it forward! More after the article...
5 First Steps for Getting Found Online
The Sprocket Report
This article has been updated on 9/12/2023 with the article entitled “To Get Your Business Seen Online, Start with these First Steps.”
The best way to be found online by prospective customers is to honestly and obviously tell search engines that you are the best result for the customer’s search. Don’t waste time trying to ferret out the latest SEO tricks. Instead, make sure you’ve completed these 5 first steps.
Search Engine Optimization is one of those terms that everyone throws around, but few people seem to really understand. SEO is sort of like ethics – rather than apply it afterwards, you should build on it from the start. Read on to learn how to harvest the low-hanging fruit of these tried-and-true SEO best practices.
Use the Description Meta Tag
You have no doubt heard that meta tags are no longer of importance to SEO thanks to abuses like keyword-stuffing. However, you should still add a well-written description meta tag to the header of your website because that’s Google’s first choice when displaying search results.
Look at the screen shot below. See the short description that says “Stunning and smart website design?” That paragraph appears in the description meta tag, not in the content of our web pages.
If you aren’t sure whether you have added a description meta tag, you can check your source code. Go to your website and right click on a text portion of your page. A menu will pop up. Click on “View Page Source” and you’ll see a new window with a bunch of code, including the meta description tag. If the tag is blank or if you want to update the description, ask your tech advisor for help.
Be Straight with Search Engines
Bait-and-switch tactics annoy search engines just as much as they annoy you so be sure to use words on your pages that correctly describe what your website is about. It’s the search engine’s prime directive to provide the most appropriate result to a user’s search. It’s your job to explain to the search engine why your website is that most appropriate result. Do serious research into what your prospective client is looking for and how they go about looking for it.
Say the Magic Words
We had a client who, to preserve anonymity, let’s say made chairs. His website had plenty of content to discuss comfort, materials, posture and so on. But nowhere did he actually use the word “chair.” Without the right words, search engines will have a very tough time serving your page as the appropriate result.
Research and use the terms your customer uses rather than industry-correct terms. Consider using misspellings, too, if that’s a common problem. You could write a little informative paragraph that uses both spellings in a perfectly natural, non-keyword stuffing way.
Get Listed
Make sure everything about you online is correct and consistent by going straight to the business portals and filling in the information yourself. There are many different directories where you can claim your profile, but you should at least hit the big three: Google My Business, Yahoo Local and Bing Places for Business. After those, move on to other directories like Yelp, Merchant Circle , Super Pages and so on.
You may already have a presence on these directories. Make sure the information there is correct and make the most of your free listing by adding any details, logos and graphics they allow.
Get Links that Make Sense
When asked, Google “downplayed the importance of links,” but there’s no denying that web search is a popularity contest. If this was junior high, that would mean getting a lot of friends and mainly the cool kids since too many un-cool ones can tarnish your reputation.
You want other websites to link to you in natural way. Maybe because your content is so good they want to share it or because you belong to their industry organization. Links from social media platforms also help, one of many reasons to build your business profiles. Even though few people are using Google+, it’s still a good idea simply because it’s part of Google.
Although tedious, none of these tasks are difficult and they really are the bedrock of all your optimization efforts. If you simply don’t have the time, contact us. We’ve gone through these steps for many clients and would be happy to help you, too.
Did you enjoy this article? Was it helpful? Insightful?
Then please share it! Post it on your favorite Social Media platform(s) so your followers see it.
It's easy. Just click on any of the social icons below and we'll do the heavy lifting for you.
Oh yeah, leave a comment below. We'd love to hear from you. Thanks for visiting!
Kate Gingold
I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.
Other posts by Kate Gingold
Contact author
Full biography
Full biography
I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.
x
Linked In
Google Plus