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Websites are becoming as commonplace as the business card and are no longer the exclusive domain of those with deep pockets or the corporate world. Not-for-profits, associations, special interests, and the average person are all online looking to advance their interests.
In 2008 according to the International Telecommunication Union 84.3% of Canadians use the Internet regularly. Canada is right at the top of the list of countries whose population has access to high-speed connectivity. Online shopping has felt the economic downturn but expectations of growth continue.
With millions of web sites all struggling to be seen, how can you ensure your site is noticed?
My clients ask me this question weekly and there is no single answer. Google is still the world’s largest and most used search engine and the way it finds, ranks and displays its search results is a closely guarded secret and one that is forever being refined and modified.
There are a series of things you can do to ensure your site has the very best chance of being noticed and ranked highly.
On the technical side you want to ensure your site is cleanly coded and conforms to the World Wide Web Consortium’s W3C standards. This organization publishes a list of guidelines for website construction and while most of us will not have to concern ourselves with the specifics we should be asking our web development company to ensure they conform. There are a number or W3C validators online that you can run to ensure your current site is properly coded.
You want to ensure that the copy you have on the first page of your site clearly states what the site is about and contains the name and location (if that is important to you) of your organization.
Google likes dynamic websites, not static ones. It wants to see the content on your site change regularly. This way it knows that your site is alive, vibrant and being maintained. Static sites are boring for visitors and Google knows that static sites receive very little return traffic.
The Internet is a web and therefore any site that does not have links out from it to other sites is a dead end. Dead end websites are ranked lower than sites that provide links out from their site.
It works the other way too and in many cases this could be the most important piece of advice I can give you. You need to ensure that you are asking others to link to your website from theirs.
Google looks at the number of links to your site believing that these inbound links mean that others find your site useful and relevant. A bit of time spent here improving your inbound links either through exchanging links with friends and colleagues or through promotion of your site will go a long way in increasing your sites rankings.
Busy, messy, and confusing sites and those with blinking banners, a multitude of ads, and little actual content or content irrelevant to the sites stated purpose would receive little attention.
Keep your site clean, efficient, and up to date and you will find that Google will look favourably on you and you will be able to claim your little piece of the world-wide-web.
In 2008 according to the International Telecommunication Union 84.3% of Canadians use the Internet regularly. Canada is right at the top of the list of countries whose population has access to high-speed connectivity. Online shopping has felt the economic downturn but expectations of growth continue.
With millions of web sites all struggling to be seen, how can you ensure your site is noticed?
My clients ask me this question weekly and there is no single answer. Google is still the world’s largest and most used search engine and the way it finds, ranks and displays its search results is a closely guarded secret and one that is forever being refined and modified.
There are a series of things you can do to ensure your site has the very best chance of being noticed and ranked highly.
On the technical side you want to ensure your site is cleanly coded and conforms to the World Wide Web Consortium’s W3C standards. This organization publishes a list of guidelines for website construction and while most of us will not have to concern ourselves with the specifics we should be asking our web development company to ensure they conform. There are a number or W3C validators online that you can run to ensure your current site is properly coded.
You want to ensure that the copy you have on the first page of your site clearly states what the site is about and contains the name and location (if that is important to you) of your organization.
Google likes dynamic websites, not static ones. It wants to see the content on your site change regularly. This way it knows that your site is alive, vibrant and being maintained. Static sites are boring for visitors and Google knows that static sites receive very little return traffic.
The Internet is a web and therefore any site that does not have links out from it to other sites is a dead end. Dead end websites are ranked lower than sites that provide links out from their site.
It works the other way too and in many cases this could be the most important piece of advice I can give you. You need to ensure that you are asking others to link to your website from theirs.
Google looks at the number of links to your site believing that these inbound links mean that others find your site useful and relevant. A bit of time spent here improving your inbound links either through exchanging links with friends and colleagues or through promotion of your site will go a long way in increasing your sites rankings.
Busy, messy, and confusing sites and those with blinking banners, a multitude of ads, and little actual content or content irrelevant to the sites stated purpose would receive little attention.
Keep your site clean, efficient, and up to date and you will find that Google will look favourably on you and you will be able to claim your little piece of the world-wide-web.
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