“Search engine optimization” (SEO) is a buzz phrase that’s catching the attention of Web site owners everywhere. It refers to the strategic design of a Web site and its content to get the most possible hits. A well-designed site gets premier placement on search engines, giving your green business a sales advantage and added credibility.
Domain Name and Page Names
A short, easy-to-remember domain name that includes popular search engine key words is best. Page titles should have a unique heading that also includes common search terms. Shorter page titles are usually better than extended ones and should be fewer than 70 characters, spaces and punctuation marks. The most important words should be first. Remember that page names will be picked up as bookmarks. If they aren’t short and descriptive, a visitor who wishes to return might not recognize the site in his or her favorite’s list. A site for a landscape maintenance company could include pages such as “landscape design in Jacksonville, FL”, “irrigation design in North Florida” and “Jacksonville landscape maintenance”.
Key Words
Words impress search engines. Music, graphics, font style and color don’t. Key words are words included in site content that are recognized by search engines as an important destination for users searching those for those terms. “Landscaping” could be an example of a key word that would be entered by someone looking for that particular service. However, this key search word would also return many of your competitors’ sites, so it’s imperative to find ways to route people to your site first. Always remember to include your region, city and state.
Text
The text on a site should be, first and foremost, informative and interesting. Rather than key words, it should preferably include key phrases that the average person may enter into a search engine to find you. For instance, “sustainable, personal landscape design for the discerning Atlanta resident” would be better than “landscape design” in a list of services. It can be tempting to use a key word as much as possible in the belief that this strategy will result in a higher ranking. For example, “Our landscaping is the best landscaping in this area and the oldest landscaping business in Atlanta”. This will not only be unimpressive to potential clients, but search engines are smart enough to spot if text is overdone and will likely classify your site as spam. As a result, the site would rank lower than it might have without key word repetition.
The text should also utilize key words other than the most popular ones. According to Understandgoogle.com, a business can get just as much traffic from 100 noncompetitive key words as it can from some single, highly competitive key words. Use words that refer to the nature of the business, but not ones that everyone is using, such as “landscape care” rather than “landscape maintenance”. “Landscape maintenance” could also be used on the same page, but the alternative term could bring in people who don’t go to the sites using “landscape maintenance”.
It’s imperative that any important information you want to convey is not in the graphics section of the Web site. Search engines won’t pick up these words. If you can highlight the words, they are considered text. If not, the words are either graphics or Flash software. Flash is best used for a small introduction. However, Flash navigation may keep search engines from seeing other pages on your site.
Text should be updated frequently to keep people coming back. The updated information can include awards, new customers, staff changes, etc. Updates with newly completed projects or industry trends work well.
Meta Description Tags
Meta description tags are brief descriptions of each Web page’s content. It shouldn’t be longer than 170 to 200 characters and should be unique (but consistent) from page to page. Although some search engines still put emphasis on Meta tag indexes, Google no longer does.
Alt Tags
Alt tags are used to describe photos so that they may be recognized by search engines. The photos should be named with important key words – never with generic names such as “photo 1”.
Contact Information
Contact information should be on each page of a site and should feature your domain name and e-mail address in order to gain recognition.
Links
If there is interest in linking with another site, it is important to evaluate the other site for quality and content. Usually site owners will trade links. A link with a Chamber of Commerce or Better Business Bureau site would probably impress visitors and provide them with an opportunity to check a business’s reputation. However, remember links take visitors away from the original site, so it’s a good idea to place them strategically.
Search engine optimization has become something of a science. In the end, though, no amount of optimization tricks will substitute for quality content. Understandgoogle.com suggests to write intriguing, insightful content, and then promote that material to induce linking from relevant sites. In other words, write well and passionately, and the response will come.
Laurie Prescott has been the president of Green Schemes, a landscape design/build firm in Jacksonville, Fla., for 23 years. She is a graduate of Lake City Community College’s Landscape Design program, a Florida Certified Landscape Designer and is certified by the Association of Professional Landscape Designers.
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