quote I know how important it is to get listed on the first page of Google. But when I search for my own products and services, my web site is nowhere to be found!quote

Even worse, some of my competitors appear on the first page. How can I make sure I join them there?

With a global market share of more than 70%, there's no doubting the importance of Google to your search marketing success. That's why Google should be at the heart of your internet marketing strategy.

To find out how we can help you to market your business successfully on Google and other search engines, contact us using one of the methods below.

Telephone01865 205069

Emailsales@oxfordwebwise.com

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HOW TO
GET TO THE TOP OF GOOGLE!

TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES
FOR SUCCESSFUL
SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING

Before we go much further, let's pause a moment to understand what it means to 'get to the top of Google'. Even the worst performing web site can get to the top for some keywords. Try searching on your business name and address or telephone number and see how well you do.

Of course, it's useful if people can find your web site by searching on your business name. But the trick is to get ranked for the keywords that really matter - keywords your potential customers are using every day to find products and services like yours. Getting a high search engine ranking for those keywords is much more difficult, but a first page listing is vital if your internet marketing strategy is to be a success.

So the question you should really be asking is "how do I get to the top of Google for my most important keywords?"

KEYWORD RESEARCH

Before you begin, it's important to establish what your most important keywords are, as these are the keywords you will target in your internet marketing strategy. The best keywords are:

  • Highly relevant to your products and services;
  • Searched on frequently by your potential customers and
  • Targeted by as few of your competitors as possible.

Low competition from your competitors means that you will stand a good chance of ranking well. High search volumes and relevance maximises the chance of a visitor clicking through to your web site and converting to a customer once they get there.

But how do you discover what your most important keywords are?

Most major search engines provide basic keyword research tools, enabling you to see how many people search on particular keywords and how much competition there is from other advertisers. But professional keyword researchers prefer to use commercial keyword discovery services, which are independent of any one search engine. The best of these services have access to billions of search phrases that have actually been used recently on hundreds of search engines across the world, including Google, Yahoo and MSN. They also have features that can suggest new keywords as well as researching the keywords you provide.

Your entire search marketing strategy will be built on the keywords you choose, so it's vitally important to get it right from the outset.

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION

Once you have your target keywords, it's time to weave them into the content of your web pages in a way that makes your web site as attractive as possible to search engines for those keywords.

Successful search engine optimisation requires a thorough and up to date knowledge of how search engines work, from how they find your site in the first place to the methods they use to rank your web site against others for given keyword searches. All search engine optimisation (SEO) consultants have their own methods and best practice is constantly evolving.

However, there is one golden rule. Make sure you avoid schemes that employ techniques designed to subvert the ranking methods used by search engines. These usually succeed for a short while, but when the search engine catches up, you will certainly be penalised and quite possibly banned. Make sure you understand the methods being used by your SEO consultant and don't incentivise them to cheat!

THE PAY PER CLICK ALTERNATIVE

The problem with relying on search engine optimisation is essentially one of control.

The search engine decides whether your web site is listed on a search results page and where it ranks relative to your competitors. The search engine also decides which page your visitor lands on when they click through to your site, so you also lose control of the crucial early stages of the visitor experience. But with a pay per click campaign, you decide the keywords that trigger your ad, you decide the position your ad appears and you decide which page your visitor lands on when they click through to your site.

Your ad appears on the first page of results and you pay only when somebody clicks through to your web site, no matter how many times your ad is shown. The cost of each click is settled by a bidding process, whereby you bid against your competitors to appear on result pages for specific keywords. With careful keyword research and bid management, you can expect to pay between 5p and 25p per click in a typical campaign. And you can set your total budget up front, so you will never overspend.

CONCLUSION

Unfortunately, there is no method that will guarantee you a first page ranking on Google, or on any of the other major search engines for that matter. But that doesn't mean you can't run a successful search marketing campaign with the right approach.

FURTHER INFORMATION

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