The Google Dilemma – Why Doesn't Google Like My Site?

Google search result page one is the most coveted real estate online especially for businesses that have their eyes set on a marketing plan that involves traffic that is organically generated. In the past few years however, Google has made improvements in their search algorithms (namely Panda and Penguin Updates) that aim to provide the best and most relevant search results for their users. It has drastically changed the way SEO is done and a good number of websites either dropped in ranking or was completely dropped (penalized) by Google. 

If you have lost the site traffic you once had because of the Google Updates, here is a list of  the most probable reasons why you are not ranking or why Google or has penalized your site. The list is also for webmasters who have ranking issues or who wants to avoid being penalized in the future.

1.       Keyword Overuse – This refers to content with high keyword density (keywords appearing too many times) and keywords used as anchor text over and over.  There was a time when SEO was all about the keywords and links – what used to be the reason for achieving ranking goals is now the reason why the website falls behind. 

2.       Poor or Thin Quality Content - the search algorithms nowadays apparently are able to detect articles that are irrelevant.  It can distinguish between content that are written simply to for the links created and content that are written to inform and make sense. 

3.       Making use of Traditional Article Marketing – If your site gets its inbound links from the same article viscously spun over and over then distributed over dozens of sites, you website is likely to be penalized.  Somehow the Google bots have found a way to detect websites that use spam-like strategies to generate backlinks.

4.       Link exchange - A few relevant exchanges make sense but aggressively doing it is bad for business.

5.       All Flash and Images but No Content – while graphics, images are very entertaining and engaging, it does little in ranking because search engine crawlers index the texts on the site.

6.       Indexing Errors – It may all be just technical errors – missing or broken links, the disallow line on robot.txt etc.  So do not panic, do a little website housekeeping first before doing major renovations. 

7.       Hiring Cheap SEO – It is the most common mistake. Most SEO who offer low rates use fast and easy link building techniques that are usually more costly to clean up. If you wish to outsource your SEO needs, sign-up with a SEO team who are transparent in their strategies and adhere to webmaster guidelines.

It is obvious that Google is pushing for the better and more relevant sites to rank higher so that their users get what they are searching for. This then pushes everyone who wishes to take advantage of the search engine’s influence by setting up websites that are of better quality and more useful content.

References:

http://www.phriskweb.com.au/blog

http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/webmasters/au6eqapfOBU

http://www.ecommercefuel.com/seo-mistakes-organic-traffic/

http://www.ecommercefuel.com/ecommerce-marketing-strategies/

http://moz.com/ugc/8-reasons-why-your-site-might-not-get-indexed

Google Search Result Pages – Why It Matters

This one is for the newbies.

A few years ago, a small group of entrepreneurs were invited to a talk regarding online marketing and why it is an inevitable advancement that can no longer be ignored.  Small businesses have thrived for years using conventional marketing strategies but technological developments have changed market behavior drastically. The market is getting more tech savvy every minute – and gadgets get smarter as they get smaller, browsing and shopping online is now more commonplace than ever.

Now, you may imagine that the said group of entrepreneurs found themselves completely overwhelmed – some even have an aversion to opening an email account because they might break something somewhere and it will cost them an arm and a leg.  And if you are like these entrepreneurs, what I am about to say will come as a surprise.  Here is the truth – having an online store or a business website is the beginning but that is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.  But before anyone goes on a panic attack, here is another truth – internet marketing it is not rocket science.  If you have managed to pull off running your small business, then learning and understanding internet commerce is not a big deal.   I am not saying that reading a few How-To articles will get you the website traffic that you want but it will ensure better planning with your marketing manager or SEO service provider.

The Search Engines

            In the beginning, there were five – Yahoo!, Google, Bing, Alta Vista and MSN.  Then there’s three, Google being the most used search engine and Bing and Yahoo! coming into second.  Search engines are the gateway into the daily internet experience, and what the SRPs (search engine result page) say will dictate where the internet user goes. The goal is to get your website URL on the first page of the search results, because there is a perceived relevance to the first few results. Google has worked hard in the past few years to give the most relevant results for every keyword searched and these innovations have placed Google on top of the search engine race.

Keyword Searches and Web Content

          Search engine results are dictated by the keywords typed into the search box.  This is why keywords are so important in writing the content of your website. And the choice of keywords is crucial to get you on page one of the SRPs.  The idea is to identify what word, phrase or group of words your target user/customer is most likely to type in when looking for a product or service that you provide.  Once the intended user gets to your website, it is the magic that was done by the web designer and developer that will ensure that your visitor converts into your customer and hopefully a regular one.

SEO or Search Engine Optimization

          SEO is just one of a number of marketing strategies available today. It is the strategy most small businesses employ because it is the most cost-effective.  As the term implies, SEO means to optimize your website or landing page so that search engines especially Google, consider it a high ranking page and therefore listed on page 1 or 2 of the SRPs.

Making Your Investment Do Its Job

          Setting up a business website, especially if it’s an online store is a big investment, and the costs should be justified by the income it makes.  In the world of e-commerce, generating substantial online traffic is the next and crucial step after creating the website, otherwise, consider your website a classified ad entry on a little known national newspaper – you know it’s there, but no one else does. 

Why You Need Search Engine Optimisation - For Your Online Business infographic

References and links:

http://www.google.com/business/placesforbusiness/

http://googlecommerce.blogspot.com/

http://seoquestionandanswer.blogspot.com.au/