As a new year approaches, now’s the traditional time to start thinking of making a change and resolving to do something differently in the next 12 months.
As well as identifying personal goals for the year ahead, why not think about some easy ways to boost your business by focussing on your website?
Here are five NY Resolutions for 2012 that don’t involve giving anything up or doing without. They don’t cost anything, apart from your time, and they’re also easy to stick to. Resolve to do them – even just one or two – and you could see a bigger, better profile on Google for your business in the next 12 months.
1. Make-over your Meta Titles
A regular review of your meta titles is essential to make sure they are up to date and still reflect the content of your website pages.
Each page on your website should have a unique meta title and a meta description – these help search engines such as Google index your website content and return relevant searches to users.
The title appears in the first line of the search results, so make sure it contains a keyword or phrase you want that page to be found for. The description should reflect the page content, not your general website.
Don’t forget: Google has a strong character count for meta tags. Stick to 65 characters (including spaces) for the title and 155 for the descriptions. Additional characters won’t display.
Aim to: make your descriptions interesting and relevant so that users are encouraged to click through to your page.
2. Start blogging or post more
Blogging is one of the quickest and simplest ways to give your website a leg-up in the rankings. So pledge to set up a free blog for your business with WordPress and or/commit to updating your blog regularly. The key is to create relevant, strong content that keeps users coming back for more.
Don’t forget to: include keywords or phrases.
Aim to: post a new blog entry twice a week.
3. Embrace social media and start sharing
If you’re not on Google Plus, Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter or other social media sites such as Digg and Sociable, you’re likely to lose out to competitors that are.
These days, Google spiders are crawling all over these sites and they are becoming an increasingly important ingredient in the SEO mix.
If people like your website content, they can share it with others in their circle using these sites. Creating a buzz about your web content shows Google that your pages are useful and relevant and therefore earns better page rank.
Don’t forget to: download plug-ins for sites such as Facebook or Digg and add to your website
Aim to: open an account Twitter and start tweeting about your business to customers. Read more at: https://business.twitter.com/
4. Develop bigger, better links
Links to your website from other sites are one way to Google’s heart. If your site is worth linking to, it shows Google and Bing that people value its content and that it’s relevant.
Every link is a “vote” for your website as far as the search engines are concerned but the best links are from organisations that are seen as authoritative – perhaps a trade or industry body.
Don’t forget to: check out your rivals’ inbound links. Type in “link:www ……..” on the Google home page. Or try www.backlinkwatch.com Here, you type in your competitor’s website … and all will be revealed!
Aim to: spend time developing quality links and add them gradually
5. Write some articles to promote your business
Consider writing and submitting articles about your business, the industry you’re in or perhaps a new product or service that you’re offering.
Lots of sites allow you to submit articles for free and link to your website. To find them, do a Google search “submit articles” and get writing.
Plan your articles around a keyphrase or keyword that’s relevant to your business. Ideas could include explaining a concept or teaching readers how to do or improve something in a step-by-step guide.
Don’t forget to: keep articles short and concise and specific to your business – 500-700 words.
Aim to: deliver valuable, detailed and useful information
Call Granite 5 for help and advice or to book a consultancy session. Contact Jill Davies at Granite 5, Unit 5, Valley Court Offices, Lower Road, Croydon, Royston. Tel: 01223 208008. www.granite5.com.
As well as identifying personal goals for the year ahead, why not think about some easy ways to boost your business by focussing on your website?
Here are five NY Resolutions for 2012 that don’t involve giving anything up or doing without. They don’t cost anything, apart from your time, and they’re also easy to stick to. Resolve to do them – even just one or two – and you could see a bigger, better profile on Google for your business in the next 12 months.
1. Make-over your Meta Titles
A regular review of your meta titles is essential to make sure they are up to date and still reflect the content of your website pages.
Each page on your website should have a unique meta title and a meta description – these help search engines such as Google index your website content and return relevant searches to users.
The title appears in the first line of the search results, so make sure it contains a keyword or phrase you want that page to be found for. The description should reflect the page content, not your general website.
Don’t forget: Google has a strong character count for meta tags. Stick to 65 characters (including spaces) for the title and 155 for the descriptions. Additional characters won’t display.
Aim to: make your descriptions interesting and relevant so that users are encouraged to click through to your page.
2. Start blogging or post more
Blogging is one of the quickest and simplest ways to give your website a leg-up in the rankings. So pledge to set up a free blog for your business with WordPress and or/commit to updating your blog regularly. The key is to create relevant, strong content that keeps users coming back for more.
Don’t forget to: include keywords or phrases.
Aim to: post a new blog entry twice a week.
3. Embrace social media and start sharing
If you’re not on Google Plus, Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter or other social media sites such as Digg and Sociable, you’re likely to lose out to competitors that are.
These days, Google spiders are crawling all over these sites and they are becoming an increasingly important ingredient in the SEO mix.
If people like your website content, they can share it with others in their circle using these sites. Creating a buzz about your web content shows Google that your pages are useful and relevant and therefore earns better page rank.
Don’t forget to: download plug-ins for sites such as Facebook or Digg and add to your website
Aim to: open an account Twitter and start tweeting about your business to customers. Read more at: https://business.twitter.com/
4. Develop bigger, better links
Links to your website from other sites are one way to Google’s heart. If your site is worth linking to, it shows Google and Bing that people value its content and that it’s relevant.
Every link is a “vote” for your website as far as the search engines are concerned but the best links are from organisations that are seen as authoritative – perhaps a trade or industry body.
Don’t forget to: check out your rivals’ inbound links. Type in “link:www ……..” on the Google home page. Or try www.backlinkwatch.com Here, you type in your competitor’s website … and all will be revealed!
Aim to: spend time developing quality links and add them gradually
5. Write some articles to promote your business
Consider writing and submitting articles about your business, the industry you’re in or perhaps a new product or service that you’re offering.
Lots of sites allow you to submit articles for free and link to your website. To find them, do a Google search “submit articles” and get writing.
Plan your articles around a keyphrase or keyword that’s relevant to your business. Ideas could include explaining a concept or teaching readers how to do or improve something in a step-by-step guide.
Don’t forget to: keep articles short and concise and specific to your business – 500-700 words.
Aim to: deliver valuable, detailed and useful information
Call Granite 5 for help and advice or to book a consultancy session. Contact Jill Davies at Granite 5, Unit 5, Valley Court Offices, Lower Road, Croydon, Royston. Tel: 01223 208008. www.granite5.com.
