SEO Support | bBold Web Design : Troy, Michigan Web Design, Websites, Web Hosting

Search Engine Optimization has become the buzzword of the moment. You want your site to show up at the top of the listings when a visitor searches for keywords, but how do you get there? Unfortunately, there’s no easy answer - and no guarantee on what ranking you can achieve. That’s because search engines frequently change their criteria for ranking pages. Submitting to the major search engines is an important step, but submitting too often can cause some to lower your rankings.

bBold Web Design is not an SEO company, however we do design your site with search engine criteria in mind. Here are a few suggestions to help your website establish search engine rankings.

Title Bar: The bar at the top of the browser window that displays your page should contain about six to eight words including your company name. The title bar can have a few additional words to describe your business, but should not repeat words. The title bar should be different on each page. Some search engine experts recommend that on inner pages, your company name is listed after the title. e.g. "Portfolio: bBold Web Design”
Metatags are keywords that are hidden in your page code but keep in mind that they are not the ultimate solution to search engine rankings. Many engines ignore them completely. Others can even lower your rankings if they find words in your metatags that aren’t also displayed in the page's content. We suggest using metatags that only reflect the text that is visible on your pages.
Content: Search engines read words, not graphics. So we recommend that you concentrate on that text. Include your most important keywords, the ones potential customers would use in a search to find you. Put these words in your headings and repeat them as often as possible (without being obnoxious to your potential customers).
Images: We make sure that every graphic we use contains an “ALT” tag that describes what the image shows. This wording will appear before the actual images load so that search engines and visually-impaired browsers can read it.
Incoming Links: Most search engines raise the ranking for sites that have incoming links. These links should be from high-quality, related sites. If you don't have many, consider starting a link-building campaign. Seek out non-competing sites in your industry and ask them to exchange links.
Site Map: Good for visitors and search engines, too!

Other than paid or sponsored search engine listings, there’s no way to guarantee page rankings for all your keywords. But improving your page content and incoming links is a great way to start and will benefit your marketing efforts in many ways.

The Basics of Internet Search Engine Submission
The three major search engines in the U.S. today are Google, Yahoo and MSN (Google having the largest market share). The search engines are usually the main internet traffic source for any website. Therefore, it is reasonable to verify that your site is listed in their databases. Once the search engines do know about your website they will send their crawlers on a regular basis to check and record what is new. If your domain name is brand new with no external links, it is suggested that you submit your URL to Google and other search engines. This DOES NOT guarantee you listings but it is definately worth the effort.

Directory submissions and links

Yahoo Directory Submission – Yahoo maintains its own directory where human editors review the websites and compile the listings. Being listed in the Yahoo directory helps to get your site included in search engines’ databases and to increase its popularity. For commercial websites, Yahoo directory has an annual submission fee. The fee does not guarantee you listings. It is applied to get your site reviewed and your request for submission answered within seven business days. All websites that comply with the Yahoo directory requirements are accepted and listed under the proper category.

Open Directory Project - DMOZ (www.dmoz.org) – is a volunteer supported web directory. The submission is free but there is no guarantee on listings and on turnaround time. No notifications are sent on whether and when the site is accepted or not. To submit your site you have to determine the right category and use the “add URL” link under that category, and then complete the registration form. Check regularly to see if the site is listed. Note that it may take more than 6 months to see your listing.

Consider additional directories related to your business category. Crawlers analyze links across the web to decide which pages to pick and potentially rank well. Your listings in Yahoo and DMOZ human-compiled directories are among the best links you can get to influence the crawlers.

Local Internet Search Engine Submission

Submissions to Google Local and Yahoo! Local, Superpages, etc. are also recommended. If your site targets local traffic it is essential to have well-established presence in the local listings. The ultimate goal of every search engine marketing program is to increase qualified traffic to the website.

Paid placement and Pay-Per-Click If you have launched a brand new website and you want to get noticed quickly, consider using paid placement programs. Paid placement or pay-per-click programs are offered by all three major search engines. Paid search advertising (PPC management) programs are: Google AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing and Microsoft adCenter. They all have an activation fee of $5 and a minimum charge per click. You can set daily and monthly budgets.

SEO Disclaimer

bBold Web Design is not an SEO company, however, we will undertake reasonable measures to ensure that the website is optimized for satisfactory search engine results. This does not constitute a guarantee that the site will appear for any given position or rank for any given search term within a search engine’s results, that a currently unlisted site will appear in the search engines' results, or that a currently listed website will remain listed within the search engine results indefinitely. It is the search engines and not bBold Web Design who determine whom the search engines list and whom they will not. bBold Web Design does not guarantee placement or rank on the search engines and it is possible that a new website may never appear within search engine results at all. bBold Web Design does not control search engines’ algorithms and changes in search engine ranking and listings may occur daily, weekly or even hourly.

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