with vista that is part of the package I dont know all the details but have alook at vista print it should advise you.

Also by putting your link on as many websites as possible helps..hth x

Search Engine Optimisation is often shrouded in mystery, when in reality a lot of it is just common sense.

A lot depends on how you word the text on your site. For example, if you are based in a particular town and only mention that town, then people will likely only find your website if doing a search for a salon in that town. But if you also say that you welcome clients from other towns in the surrounding area (and mention each of those towns by name) then you will also likely get hits from people searching for those towns too.

Likewise, it also makes sense to explicitly mention the brands of any products you use, especially if they are "prestige" products, e.g. CND and Creative Nail Design if you are a nail tech and use CND products.

Then there are the "meta tags", which are special tags in the head section of the HTML code that are read by search engines. The most important ones for search engines are "robots" (which give instructions to search engines on which pages to index on your site), "description" (where you should give a brief description of your site) and "keywords" (where you would give a list of keywords, e.g. names of treatments you do and brands that you use). I am not sure if VistaPrint or Moonfruit allow you to set your meta tags or not, but they would be missing a trick if they don't.

Then (especially for Google) another critically important thing is the number of links IN to your site from other sites. So it is always a good idea to have a text based link to your website in your signature on Geek, as then it will appear in every post that you make on the site (although not currently any posts that you make via the mobile phone interface incidentally). Then get your site listed on as many free index web sites as possible, and also consider swapping reciprocal links with other salons (preferably those a fair distance away from you who are not in direct competition).

But you would certainly not have to pay search engines to come higher up in their main search results, even though it is possible to pay for adverts that appear in search results, e.g. Google AdWords. But it is up to you if you think that is necessary - you would need to work out the maths to see if it would be cost effective for you.

Hope that helps.
Posted via Mobile Device

thanx ruth for the reply!!!
ur the first person who has managed to answer this question for me in a way that I can understand it!!!!
So basically your saying that the content of my website is extremely important!!! and I need to work on getting as many links to my website as possible!!

I've got a lot of research to do!!! lol

thank you xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

That is the gist of it, yes (there are free tutorials on Google that will explain things in more detail too).

But, in essence, what search engines will do is read the text on your web site and store the words in their database. So if you don't mention something in the text of your website, then the search engines won't find it, because it won't be there for them to read (they arent telepathic). Neither can they understand images or Flash, so if you have an image of some text (in a nice fancy font, say), then always make sure you supply alternate text for the search engines and people who need to use screen readers (e.g. blind, partially sighted and disabled people). So really a lot of it is down to common sense, and making sure you say enough relevant things in the text of your site. But avoid making it sound contrived just to score brownie points with the search engines, as that could put people off when they visit your site.

And having as many links in to your site is especially important for Google, as Google uses something called "PageRank" where they count the number of links in to your site to work out how important you are.

I do think that a lot of companies will try and shroud search engine optimisation with an air of mystery though, so that they can make it sound like rocket science (when it isn't) so that they can make rash claims of getting you to the top of Google and then charge you exorbitant fees for the privilege! My advice is to avoid companies like that like the plague, especially if they cold call you or send you spam emails! There are just too many people out there to take advantage of you and make a quick buck at your expense if you arent careful!
Posted via Mobile Device

so in your opinion who would you suggest is the best host? (is that what they are called? lol)

I'm not allowed to say, as it would break Geek Commandment #6
Posted via Mobile Device

oopsss sorry!!!

LOL, don't worry - you've done nothing wrong by asking the question
Posted via Mobile Device

Wow I'm so glad I read this post, and thank you Ruth from me too, you also explained alot to me. I'm doing a local 'start a business course' next week and I think at the end they help you with a website or give you a domain or whatever, so am sifting through to find out some info as I'm thinking of going mobile. So, thanks again x

Yes thanks Ruth you have been very helpful.

I use freewebs it's pretty basic but works for me I used to have a domain name attached to it but gave that up as I moved back here.

I dont pay anything for this site either which is what appealed to me at the time. hth

My main criticism of the "free" Freewebs sites is the Google advertising that they put at the top of the page - to me it detracts from the look of the site and makes it look less professional - as well as the risk of finding one of your competitor's adverts there!

They will probably allow you at add what are call "Meta Tags" which are words or phrases that search engines look for but most companies will charge a lot of money for search engine optimisation. The cheapest way to get your ratings up would be to get other sites to link to yours (this can be friends), plus the more your site is used the better the listing will be.

Make sure you get a web name that contains your company name or what you do i.e. Hairdressers, Beauty Salon, Mobile etc

Hope this helps!

Mark

Hey Ruth

I dont have any free ads at the top on my page (none that I see anyways).
Can you see if you see any maybe I don't see it because it's my site.

Guilty Pleasures - Home

Thanks
Angela xx

No, it's not displaying any Google adverts for you. But I have seen them on other geeks sites who use Freewebs. Strange!