This article covers why a Google SEO guide holds great importance for small business internet marketing. While SEO in general, boosts search engine ranking on major search engines, smaller businesses can get a much better edge over their larger competitors by having a higher ranking on search giant Google resulting from close adherence to a Google SEO guide. Thankfully, although search engine optimization or SEO may sound too complicated to the average business owner, there are a number of qualified SEO professionals who can easily take care of this for them.

Google SEO guide basics

Discovering targeted keywords: Keywords are any words or phrases that are used by web surfers when filling search fields to find websites that offer the products, information and services they’re looking for. A website using the most common keywords for its specific industry niche has the correct foundation of SEO. Such keywords are determined through a measure of research, brainstorming, testing and analysis.

Website optimization: Targeted keywords should be assigned to the following areas of a web content: meta description, title, H1, Alt image attributes, textual content, video transcripts or descriptions and site URLs. URLs for each page should be made of simple text. Local search results can be greatly increased by making sure the company name, address and phone number are located at the footer of each page. Also, be sure to place no follow links on pages that aren’t meant for indexing and robot.txt files on pages that are meant for search crawlers to index.

Making submissions to site directories: Online site directories are excellent sources of regional traffic as they drive web users to websites as well as to the doorsteps of bricks and mortar establishments. Submitting website and business details to these directories is free. Regardless of the number of directories submitted to, it’s important that all the information is consistent, as this results in greater visibility in Google’s local search listings. First, search the Internet for all industry relevant directories and submit the site URL to each of them.

Have a sitemap to submit: An XML sitemap is used to show Google search crawlers every page of a website so they can each be crawled and indexed. These sitemaps should then be submitted to Google Webmaster Central.

Establishing inbound links: Popularity is indispensable for improving a website’s search results and the best way to demonstrate a site’s popularity is by having a considerable amount of links leading back to it’s URL. The source of these links is also important and should always be an exchange between relevant sites. Social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, forums and blogs are also good places to build inbound links and should be integrated into websites for link sharing. Using blogs and forum threads to post regular comments accompanied by URL signatures is also helpful.

Google uses a special search algorithm to rank web pages. While this search algorithm analyzes and weighs hundreds of elements in its page ranking process it also fluctuates as Google’s team of search engineers constantly alter the algorithm to match changes in Internet search behavior and Internet technology. Although this is important for search result efficiency it makes it more difficult for business owners to keep up with SEO necessities. A quality SEO service with the right experience can help any small business stay up to date with the latest Internet trends and act as an effective Google SEO guide.

As Google is the leading role model for other search engines, it’s easy to undersatnd why search engine optimization rules and practices are constantly changing to match the Internet giant’s continuous search engine algorithm adjustments. Internet marketers and webmasters alike rely on Google search engine optimization criteria as a way of ensuring almost guaranteed visibility and to avoid potentially being wiped from search listings all together.

Main Google search engine optimization tips

Delivering highly relevant search results to web users and user satisfaction, are Google’s foremost objectives. This is why it’s imperative that SEO principals need to be used in the construction of webpages. Google’s top suggestions are:

• websites should have a straightforward structure with each page having a static text link leading back to it
• place relevant keywords in the page title, content, site name and image alt attributes
• repair any flawed HTML codes and broken links
• include a sitemap for user friendly navigation and an XML sitemap to facilitate discovery by web crawlers and search bots
• incorporate enough keywords and links on every page
• always keep human users in mind when developing content and provide them with the valuable information they’re looking for in a webpage
• preview webpages in several browsers to assess compatibility
• provide a mobile compatibility version to gain access to the expanding market of mobile users
• make sure webpages load quickly to satisfy web user’s needs
• include strong aesthetic appeal in a website’s design

Ensuring site quality: Google is fairly strict about it’s anti-unethical, anti-black hat SEO search manipulation and useless content policies. Things to avoid are:

• the use of cloaked or hidden text and links
• publication of identical content
• content saturated with irrelevant keywords
• setting redirects to non-relevant sites
• constructing intro pages just for Google search bots to pick up
• automating Google queries
• including harmful malware, Trojan files and virus in webpages

Choosing the right SEO service is critical to a business’s success online because it dictates effective traffic generation and the bringing in of targeted consumers as well as preventing Google search removal. In Google search engine optimization guidelines you’ll find that there are warnings against SEO services that offer either instant results or number one search ranking as these most likely use unethical SEO strategies. Ethical SEO techniques and strategies do take time to deliver the desired search rank results, however, they’re much longer lasting and worth the extra wait.

Go to Touchdown Marketing to improve search engine ranking!