To have a website that is successful in the search engine rankings, you need links.

Basically, links are the most important factor search engines consider when ranking web pages. Nonetheless, a lot of companies struggle in getting good links for their website. Why is that?

Good links are hard to find

Links have become so important on the Internet in the last years, that the demand for them is ever increasing. This huge drive for new links has caused easily accessible link sources to diminish in value, as they have been overused by website owners desperate to improve search engine rankings of their own sites.

Secondly, many website owners have become less enthusiastic about freely linking to other websites, as they have come to believe that links are too valuable to give away for nothing. This has made link-finding even harder for the average web developer.

Links come in different shapes and sizes

It is important to understand that not all links are equal. Links carry a relative amount of power, depending on their source. A link received from the BBC home page will have a much larger influence on a page than a link from an average teenage blog account.

The difference can be so great, that a particularly good link, can be thousands of times more valuable than one from an insignificant page.

Additionaly, some links fall into special categories. Most links that can be published in user comment sections are marked as no-follow links, and have very little or even no influence on the search engine algorithms. Obtaining many links from one page is usually also of not so much value, as search engines tend to ignore links that seem duplicated.

Apart from that, search engines will try to classify links as being natural (genuine), or artificially created (manipulative), and value them appropriately.

Successful link-building

Despite these potential problems, links can be built successfully. Some professional SEO teams have spent many years  researching good link resources and teaming with partners to help their customer’s websites. You too can benefit from that kind of resources and experience. For more information, an assessment of your website’s performance, and a free quote, contact us at MatterSolutions.com.au.

Just like preparing a good dish, SEO is not only about having the right ingredients, but also about measuring the correct proportions and mixing the ingredients all together in the appropriate way.

What are the ingredients of a successfully search-engine-optimized website?

In essence, they are:

1. The website itself
2. On-site optimization
3. Links

This is not an all-inclusive list, but it covers the basic building blocks you should focus on.

The website

Obviously, you need a website. The thing is, you don’t just need any website. You need a website with good, relevant content. The more content you have, usually the better. When thinking about content think not only product descriptions, but also about Q&A segments,  how-to articles, customer testimonials or a discussion board for your visitors. These are all great ideas for additional content that will help your webpage. Search engines like sites with relevant, fresh content, so having a website with interesting, on-the-topic content is a great starting point.

On-site optimization

Your site should not only have interesting content for your visitors, but it also has to be search engine friendly. By getting your site optimized, you will make sure that search engines will not have any problems crawling, indexing and categorizing your content. And you DO want your content to be properly categorized. By analyzing a number of elements on your web pages, search engines determine what your site is about. This is a critical step to getting your site the right kind of traffic.

Links

Having well optimized content is yet most often not enough. Why is it? This is because of the way modern search engines work. Sites are ranked not only based on their content, but upon the number and type of links that point to them. To get the most out of what the Internet has your business to offer, you want your website to be well linked. This will boost its search engine rankings and drive relevant traffic to it. Without links search engines will barely recognize your site.

This is one of the hardest steps in SEO. The question a lot of website owners find asking themselves is: How do I find all these links? You can find free links yourself by using  free Internet directories or posting on topical forums. A lot of businesses that try to improve their website rankings, find the process very time consuming though, and the results hardly satisfactory.

Many website owners have realized that they managed to achieve great SEO results only after asking a professional SEO team for help. With the right resources a good SEO company can help your website gain customers quicker and more efficiently than you could do it yourself. If you have already invested in a professional website, do not let that money and effort be wasted. Don’t get left behind and don’t let your website be just another Internet billboard in the middle on nowhere. Make the investments you have already made work for you.

A final note – remember that just having all the ingredients won’t make your site instantly blast-off. You need to have all of the key elements perfectly fitted together. This is one the most important reasons why you should seriously think about having a professional look at your site. When you have it done, relax and watch the results.

SEO is about bringing quality traffic to websites. Both of those words are essential: quality and traffic. To benefit the most from what SEO can offer your business, you should take some time to think about both of these.

There are literally millions of Australians out there using the Internet every day. If you are a business owner, you are aware that at every moment there are probably tens, hundreds if not thousands of people that are in some way looking for a product or service you offer. They might be just thinking about it, looking it up in the Yellow Pages, or browsing the Internet to find it. The goal of every business is to find those people and give them what they want. How can SEO help you do just that? By making the search engines work for you.

When people use search engines they are usually pretty straightforward about what they are looking for.  A searcher who typed into the Google search box the phrase “Brisbane plumber” is probably in need of nothing else, but a plumber in the neighbourhood. This gives you, the business owner, a great opportunity. You don’t have to advertise to everyone in hope that someone will want what you have to offer. You can target your message straight to the very people that are already actively searching for your product.

So, the first step to take when preparing to improve the search engine rankings of your website is choosing the right keywords. Ask yourself: “What would my clients type in the search box if they were looking for my product?”. What search phrases would have the highest value for me?

You don’t need the most popular keywords. You need the keywords that are right for your business. Let’s go back to our plumbing example. Would a plumber located in the Brisbane area benefit from ranking high for the keyword “plumber”? At first it might seem as  a great idea. But not necessarily. Unless he is planning to expand his business on a nationwide scale, ranking for the word “plumber” will bring to his website a lot of irrelevant traffic, traffic from Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Tasmania and from all around the country. He will still find people looking for a plumber, but probably he won’t be able to turn most of them into customers.

Of course, even if you are a local company, you can benefit from ranking for a nationwide phrase. Usually that shouldn’t be your goal though. Your money can be spent more efficiently by targeting traffic that will convert better.

Choosing the keywords you want your business website to rank for is a critical step. Don’t neglect it. Think about it. Talk to your SEO company about it. By doing this, you won’t be just ranking. You will be finding great customers, with little effort. This is what SEO is about.