How to Rank Highly in Google and Get Visitors to Buy Your Products
by Sinead Hoben
Looking for a few key tips to help your website rank well on Google? Well, sadly there aren't really any key tips as such - it's more about lots of very long and sometimes laborious work!!
Having run a health website for a number of years, much of what I learnt in terms of seo was simply trial and error. However, when I eventually decided to spend some hard cash on a few recommended books the whole area of seo became much more understandable!
I bought and read (you must actually read them!!) loads of books on seo and can highly recommend these two:
Search Engine Optimization: An Hour a Day
and
Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable
I also learnt some CSS techniques enabling me to use stylesheets that to help make my website more unique, quick loading and easy for search engine spiders to read.
I can highly recommend Beginning CSS Web Development: From Novice to Professional
It took me a very long time to understand the concept of search engine optimisation, but what I did learn that was of vital importance is that you must keep updating your website. I can't emphasise that enough.
With my health-focused website, www.BreastfeedingMums.com, I designed it using Adobe Dreamweaver
Dreamweaver makes it very easy to add content to a html site and once you've got the hang of it you should be up and running fairly quickly. In my own case, my husband was able to start me off as he was already familiar with Dreamweaver and his background is IT. However, many colleges run evening and part-time web design courses so it is definitely worth looking into if it's an area you're interested in.
Alternatively, you could pay a web designer to get you started, but if you do decide to go down this route, then make sure to buy a package that allows you to make your own updates and add as many pages as you want in the future without having to pay out more each time you want to add to your site.
In my case, after setting up my site, I added content every single day for at least the first two years. It's worth noting here that if your site is likely to be image heavy, you should use a programme like Adobe Photoshop
In addition to my website, I started a blog (http://breastfeedingmums.typepad.com) which allowed me to make my website much more personal. I find my blog tends to be indexed very quickly but in my experience the website has much more staying power. Even though both have been online for around the same length of time, are updated around the same time and have a similar mount of content, the blog has only around around one tenth the number of unique visitors per day compared to the website.
I've also found people rarely purchase products online from a small website like mine - I created a few pregnancy, breastfeeding and parenting cds and an e-book - so Google ads work better for me although my mp3's sell well on iTunes and Amazon. I had them distributed via CD Baby. It may be a trust issue thing but if you are intending selling actual products, then it might be worth exploring other avenues of distribution in your niche.
Perhaps Amazon is something you could look into and then link to your products on Amazon rather than, or in addition to, selling them directly. This is something that may or may not apply in your own particular case. For me, my stuff sells better via reputable online distributors. Other online entrepreneurs seem to sell their own stuff better on their own...
Basically, however you decide to get your products to your customers, you need to create interesting content first of all to help sell your products and get them to show up in Google. If I was selling a unique product such as handmade jewellery for example, then for every piece of jewellery I created, I'd also post a web page showing it off and giving some key information about it, such as what materials were used to make it, the price etc. Use keywords in your page title, images and meta tags and research these beforehand using a keyword tool to find out what your potential customers are actually looking for!
Then, I would turn to my blog and write a post for each individual piece of jewellery and link it back to my product. I would emphasise my inspiration for each piece of jewellery to add a personal touch and then I'd tweet it and facebook it. There are lots of creative people online who will love to read your blog posts and may share information with you, recommend your site to others etc.
Because I was more interested in making money from advertising rather than from a product, I studied loads of stuff about Google ads and for me they work pretty well. Even if you're selling a product I would still advise perhaps considering a few Google ads to your website, as opposed to your blog, as you may make an additional income from them. However, you may need to experiment with this as it may mean you sell less products. Try Google ads for a few weeks and if you get good results stick with them, if not, get rid!
My final tip is something else that is great in terms of seo - online press releases. I like PRWeb.com and any time I use it I find my releases appearing all over the place. Most press release websites offer a free basic option, but it's worth paying extra for the added seo benefits these offer and to get possible newspaper and magazine coverage. In addition, if your niche is something that may also be of interest to your local market, then it's worth contacting your local media directly. Send them a press release and you might just find you get some great free coverage which gets the word out in your local or regional community.
Like I said, you have to work at it. If you have lots of fabulous products for sale it's up to you to tell the world all about them.
Bloggers are always looking for guests to help add unique content to their own sites and you can also use this to your own advantage too. Back to the jewellery seller - I run a blog. I need guest bloggers. You sell jewellery. Why not target your jewellery to my readers?
Tell mums reading my blog about your wonderful products. Tailor your post to their requirements. You could tell the mothers reading my blog that your bracelets, for example would make great breastfeeding bracelets, be a welcome gift for a new mum friend of theirs or even be a future treasured keepsake for their newborn baby etc. Tell them you can make jewellery for their children, say to match your own jewellery - little girls love to copy their mothers and mothers often can't resist giving in to them! You may just make double the sales you thought you would!
Always target any blog post you write, whether it's on your own blog or if you're writing a guest post, to your potential buyer. Many of my visitors tend to be from the US. Many people in the US have some form of Irish connection so if I was selling jewellery made in Ireland I'd emphasise the Irish connection or the unique, collectible nature of my product. I'd tell husbands that their wives would love it. I'd tell boyfriends it's a must-have for their girlfriend. Make your product sound special, unique, something they can't afford not to buy!
There's lots more you can do to get noticed online by Google and by your visitors, but the above will certainly get you moving in the right direction. Now why are you still here? Go buy the books and software recommended above and get working!
