How do you get websites high up on searches?

[MrsR]

Wondering about how on earth do some websites when you google something like "Nottingham Nails" come up first - how do they do that when other are 3 pages in? Anyone know? I want a website that I know will come up high on the rankings on a Google or Yahoo search for example!

 

[hippy-chick]

when you do your website, you then type in keywords for the search engines, this goes to helping you get on first page.

My website provider gets me into about 50 search engines.

I also access my website often, through google and such like.

salon geek also helps to bring your name up in the search engines.

then sign up for lots of free ads that allow you to put your web address on, this helps too.

I wouldn't pay for anyone to help me get my ratings up higher. but believe me, you will get inundated with offers.

also enlist your friends and family to access your website through search engines for you.

Last month, I had 140-ish hits on my website just from one day, and most of those were from salon geek (must have said something controversial on that day!!!).

 

[MrsR]

So paying an IT person who does websites for a living won't necessarily get me high up on searches then when people are googling things then? It is something you can do yourself if you pick the right website provider and DIY?

 

['chelle]

I pay a subscription to traffic driver. Its got my website at the top of a Google search almost instantly, and its not expensive to subscribe to (about £30 if I remember rightly).

 

[hippy-chick]

So paying an IT person who does websites for a living won't necessarily get me high up on searches then when people are googling things then? It is something you can do yourself if you pick the right website provider and DIY?

mines DIY I pay about £30 a year and you choose the templates. the benefits of doing it yourself, is that you can make instant changes. eg change your monthly special offers.

the downside is that you have to type all the info in and put all the pics in yourself. but whats nice is if you put pics of your salon in, and your nail work, etc.

a lot of geeks have started with the free webs site, its a good starting point AND it does show up in the search engine ratings.

 

[Blue Rose]

It also helps to have lots of 'content' and info on your site that your prospective client would be interested in. You can find lots of articles to add to your site on somewhere like Ezine Article Submission - Submit Your Best Quality Original Articles For Massive Exposure, Ezine Publishers Get 25 Free Article Reprints.

 

[Ruth Mills]

One thing that can help is paying attention to your "meta" tags, which search engines read along with the main text of your site.

e.g. for the website I did for 1999judy, Judy Archibald - Nail Artist and Nail Creation Team UK Educator I put in the following meta tags:

<meta name"robots" content"index, follow"/>

<meta name="author" content"Judy Archibald - Nail Artist and Nail Creation Team UK Educator, Manchester, England, UK"/>

<meta name"description" content"Judy Archibald - Nail Artist and Nail Creation Team UK Educator"/>

<meta name"keywords" content="Nails, Nail Enhancements, Acrylic Nails, Gel Nails, Training, Infill, Rebalance, Toenails, Nail Repair, Nail Art, Manicure, Pedicure, Nail Shape, Nail Polish, Ear Piercing, Bali Sun Airbrush Tan, Nail Creation Team UK, California Nail Academy, EzFlow, Caflon"/>

The "robots" meta tag is telling search engines to index the site and follow links in the site.

The "author" meta tag just lists details about the author of the site - in this case I put in Judy's details.

The "description" meta tag gives a brief description of the site.

The "keywords" meta tag gives a list of keywords of what the site is about. I will probably tweak this further in due course.

What also works well is to ensure that any images you have on your site have "alt" tags which give alternate text (search engines, just like people visiting your site using screen readers, won't be able to "read" text that is embedded in an image - e.g. if you want to use a fancy font for the title of your site so you create a GIF image with the text in a fancy font in it) - but if you include an "alt" tag for the image, then the search engines will read that.


Also, think about choosing a good domain name for your site that reflects your business name and what you do. Don't be tempted to skimp by using "framed" web forwarding, where the domain name provider generates some default HTML with a "frame" in it, but the content from your site is pulled in from some free webspace somewhere - as this will have an adverse effect on your site's placing in the search engines.

 

[Helen Keating]

ooh well i like the sound of it all but you sure lost me on the "meta" what..??? H x

 

[Michidda]

Ruth

Thats why you are an IT Geek and I am not.

I have no idea what you just said. LOL

But it sounds soooooooooooooo clever. :hug:

 

[tinkywinky]

You can pay for google ad words, they get you an advert at the top side of google. I did a trial for 30 days free and had quite a good response. THinking of doing it when I move to get some new clients in!

 

[Alimac]

I got fellow Geek Seanny to do my website - and I am up there on p1 all the time! I am a home bsed Salon based in auchterarder (where??) so if you type in 'Auchterarder Beauty' into Google you will see that I am listed near the top (and above my competition!)

Details of what Sean offers can be found here: Find a Nail Tech, Locate Nail Salons & Nail Suppliers

 

[MrsR]

What is really confusing is who provides what!?!?!?!

 

[Sassy Hassy]

I did mine for free! I just followed all the advice Seanny has given in his precious threads ... which includes the metatags that Ruth mentions, and the alt tags, and the frames ... plus a bit more!

 

[MrsR]

I did mine for free! I just followed all the advice Seanny has given in his precious threads ... which includes the metatags that Ruth mentions, and the alt tags, and the frames ... plus a bit more!

Where are these wonderful threads?

 

[Sassy Hassy]

Where are these wonderful threads?

If you do an advanced search and type in the user name Seanny then they will come up ... it's what I do whenever I want to know something techy! (plus he has some great joke threads too :lol

 

[MrsR]

Fabulous, thanks hun x