Increase traffic to your website through Search Engine Optimization

By Kevin McNally

Having a website is a good first step toward greater exposure for your business. Once it’s up and running, what can you do to make sure you are getting the most from your website? With a few fundamental SEO (Search Engine Optimization) measures, it’s easy to increase the “hits” and build that desired awareness.

In the same way that real estate is defined by “location, location, location,” in the world of websites a top ranking on search engines –such as Google or Yahoo – is king. 

One of the best methods to increase search engine ranking is through the optimal use of keywords; knowing what specific words or phrases people are searching for and then targeting those phrases on the site.  A website designer can conduct the appropriate research to determine and target those keywords and also provide further analysis to pinpoint the most important terms – or terms “with opportunity” – that might help bring the right visitors to the site.

Website linking is another technique used to attract traffic to a site.  In brief, this mechanism interlinks words or phrases key to a business website to other relevant pages on the site.  In addition, consider linking images from your website to other important pages in the same way; this can attract traffic through “image search” results.

A website’s news section is where content rules.  Instead of short paragraphs or brief press releases, it’s wise to include articles of 500 words or more.  This approach both allows for comprehensive information about your offerings or other newsworthy information, and also adds to that all important keyword total.  In fact, search engines are always on the look-out for expanded website content, so use it to your best advantage.

For businesses with several locations you should have a separate Google Places listing for each facility, thereby further optimizing web presence.

And another principal method to increase search engine ranking and that is through meta tags. A meta tag is a line of coding that contains metadata about a web page.  Although not visible to website viewers, meta description tags and meta keyword tags are used to optimize search results.  This is an area where a website designer can assist.

Having and maintaining an up-to-date website is essential to conducting business these days, and optimizing its potential should also be a priority. Through the use of proven mechanisms, traffic can be drawn to the right destination… your website.

(Editor’s note: Kevin McNally is CEO of Interactive Palette, www.interactivepalette.com, a Fall River-based web design and hosting company).