can anyone tell me how one goes about getting their company name to come up early/near the top in a google search. Got a call today from a con artist offring to do it for $200, then $150 a month after that.
Knew the call was BS, but it got me wondering. Now I am all word of mouth, but shifting my business to energy audits/insulating… so I might have to take cold calls.
thanks
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Go to the Google site and sign up for a free account. Once you log on to your account look for a link to 'Local Business Center' and go there to register your business.
If you have a web site, the process of getting 'search engine optimized' is more complicated. It has to do with having relevant key words on your pages, in the titles, and in meta tags, and with having links to your site from outside sources. Google has a good section about this, under a link called 'Webmaster Tools'.
Never, ever pay someone to "get you good search results" or anything like that.
It's very frustrating, seems to be a real weakness of the search engines. My web designer basically said that getting on the first page was practically impossible. Would also like to hear any success stories.
One way would be to join a local builders association that is on the first page.
John
It depends a lot on what search terms you want to hit, and how crowded that search is. It was very easy for me to get to the top of the list in my podunk area, but if you want to be on the first page for "New York City remodeling contractors" then good luck, since there are hundreds or thousands of sites.
That's interesting because I am in a podunk area. If you search four corners home builders, Cortez contractors, Mr. Wonderful, or any of the other pertinent SEO terms I have included, I do not come up. Nor do several other contractors that I know who have been here longer. But the local building group does and it lists websites which is why I suggested that.I'll look into the google information that you posted and see if I can make an improvement.Thanks, John
Post or send me your website link and I will give you some .02
Depends on how you are placing those terms.Best thing you can do is use a domain like cortezhomebuilders.com or cortezremodeling.com - I find more people include their area in a search like that, and by including it in the domain itself, you better position your business to be found by them.Google, especially, weights the domain terms heavily in matching search requests.Next thing you can do is make sure you've got plenty of text on your site. If your pages are nothing but images, or Flash content, you are behind the curve when it comes to being indexed by the search engines. In fact, the search engines are going to pass most of that content right on by without bothering to even sniff it.In your text be sure to use the headline tags <h2> and <h3> to highlight terms/phrases that you think your likely clients will be trying to use to find you. Again, Google will pay more attention to what's in these tags than it will to what's just paragraph text.Forget about the Meta tags and the keywords that used to work. Those are dead zones as far as most search engines go.Lastly, there are decent web developers/marketers out there that will help you organize your site to follow best practices and aid you in the best ways to position your site to return the most search hits. Steer clear of anyone that offers/guarantees/swears that they can/etc stick you on the first page of Google for a search return.'Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt man doing it' ~ Chinese proverb
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I made sure to have meta tags wherever possible on my site, and they do return search results--at least the image tags do, that much I know. Main thing that seems to have an impact is titling individual pages with relevant keywords, i.e. instead of titling it "portfolio page 1" I used stuff like "maple kitchen with slate floor" etc. Google eventually crawls all of it and indexes it.
The image tags are different than the meta ones.You tag an image with an alt tag like so:alt="Maple cabinets and a slate floor made a Friday Harbor, WA kitchen renovation shine. All work is by Bailer Hill Construction"and that will certainly be picked up by the search engines.But the actual meta tags that get placed in the <head> tag at the top of your HTML are like this pair:<meta name="keywords" content="maple kitchen, slate floor, Friday Harbor" />
<meta name="description" content="Bailer Hill Construction serving the Friday Harbor, WA community since 1899" />People used to load up those meta tags to the point that they became a bit of a joke, so while they may still show up as searchable items, the search engines have really reduced the weight that they assign to those values. Meaning that you can stuff them full of search terms and it's not going to help tremendously.It's much better to use a headline tag in your HTML like so:<h2>The maple cabinets and slate floor in a new Friday Harbor kitchen remodel</h2>and then put in your regular text and photos to go with that article. Do still put in your alt tag for your image, too.That way anyone looking for maple kitchens in Friday Harbor will have a better shot at finding you quickly.
'Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt man doing it' ~ Chinese proverb
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If you want to get sneaky, there are ways, with CSS et al, to have a regular tag (eg, h2) present in the HTML where the crawlers will find it, but hide the tag from presentation.Don't know whether this is better or worse from the crawler evaluation perspective, though -- they are rigged to detect sites that are "trying too hard", and those get down-graded.
As I stood before the gates I realized that I never want to be as certain about anything as were the people who built this place. --Rabbi Sheila Peltz, on her visit to Auschwitz
I guess that is what is happening when I do a google and in the summary that is shown with each listing are some words/phrases that make it look like it is right on for what I am looking for.Then go to that site and there is nothing like it there.Often find that on the sites that don't have any contents of their own, just like of other sites..
William the Geezer, the sequel to Billy the Kid - Shoe
Some of the worst are sites that ONLY consist of lists of words, such that you're almost certain to get a hit on them. Never have figured out the point of these sites, but there seem to be a lot in eastern Europe.
As I stood before the gates I realized that I never want to be as certain about anything as were the people who built this place. --Rabbi Sheila Peltz, on her visit to Auschwitz
One of my friend's sons had a part time job in college working for a doctor who prescribed Viagra on line. He had to check where his ad was on Google every six hours and give it enough hits to get it onto the first page.
Needed a little assistance to keep it up there, eh?
As I stood before the gates I realized that I never want to be as certain about anything as were the people who built this place. --Rabbi Sheila Peltz, on her visit to Auschwitz
It's not for me, it's for my friend...
>>I made sure to have meta tags wherever possible on my site, and they do return search results--at least the image tags do, that much I know.
Meta image tags?
Do you mean alt tags for images? That is said to be key, as you get points for good accessibility for blind folks....
"Ask not what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive... then go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."
Howard Thurmanhttp://rjw-progressive.blogspot.com/
>>Best thing you can do is use a domain like cortezhomebuilders.com or cortezremodeling.com -
Many articles on SEO suggest a name like cortez-homebuilders.com or cortez-remodeling.com - (and NOT cortez_homebuilders.com with an underscore-- see all the articles under a google search for "seo hyphen vs underscore")
That will boost you ratings for searches for, say, "cortez builders" as the cortez will, with a hyphen, be treated as a separate word
"Ask not what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive... then go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."
Howard Thurmanhttp://rjw-progressive.blogspot.com/
I had those same calls when I was actually offering or selling services and products. It was funny as it went something like this:
"We can get you on the first page of Google for this that and the other thing"
"Have you done your research? I'm already there."
That usually shut them up. Of course they didn't do enough research to realize what terms work best for my site.
Nowadays it's extremely competitive to be seen on the web compared to when I started in 2002. The mish mash of lousy article sites with people trying to make $$ on ads has made it a freaking mess. It actually hurts legit businesses trying to get visibility. I hope Google cleans it up one day.
Google business/maps/local as someone mentioned is a good start along with adwords. The latter takes some time to get the hang of it to make it work effectively.
>>Next thing you can do is make sure you've got plenty of text on your site.
That's my understanding, as well, but I have also read that trying to get "invisible content" with text colored the same as the background will loss you points - the spiders supposedly are onto that "trick."
Link farms can help, but you have to be carefull - get a nasty site linking to yours and you'll lose points or end up in the dumpster.
"Ask not what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive... then go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."
Howard Thurmanhttp://rjw-progressive.blogspot.com/
I come up personally more often than anything else because of press releases and because of my name in interviews and other articles where I am quoted.That doesn't help with getting the business name linked to searches for tth kind of work that I do, but it is a hint in that direction
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Well, I guess it works. I Googled "piffin screws" and sure enough you were at the top of the list -- on bobvila.com.
As I stood before the gates I realized that I never want to be as certain about anything as were the people who built this place. --Rabbi Sheila Peltz, on her visit to Auschwitz
LOL, I'lll have to try that one, but I meant googling under my real name
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
There is a lot of theory, speculation and a few actual real life facts.
Do a google search for SEO - search engine optimization.
If you find anything definitive, let bus know.
"Ask not what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive... then go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."
Howard Thurman
http://rjw-progressive.blogspot.com/
Advertising on Google is pretty cheap, if you go for one of those ads on the right-hand side.
Otherwise, just get your site listed on all the local reference sites like the C of C, Downtown Business Association, etc.
People that claim they can do it MIGHT be able to, for a few weeks (using "zombie" computers and off-shore servers that operate "honey pots" for web crawlers), but it would only last long enough for them to collect their money.
The guy asked "which credit card do you want to use" about 4 sentences into his speil. Told me I had to pay right then or no deal. Googled the phone number when I got home it was found to be credit card scamming company usually offering to lower your rates. Didn't just fall off the turnip truck ya know.
How cheap are the ads? is a pay per click thing? I have heard stories of no recourse if there is dispute with pay per click. ( your word against the servers)
It's pay per click, but you get to decide how much you pay, with the ad being displayed with a frequency based on that. You pick the search terms, so you can zero in on someone who types "plumber baltimore md", eg. Even if you just pay the minimum (which is something like a penny a click), you're guaranteed that your ad will be shown SOME times. If you pay more it is shown more often.
As I stood before the gates I realized that I never want to be as certain about anything as were the people who built this place. --Rabbi Sheila Peltz, on her visit to Auschwitz
I asked the very same question to a friend of my wife's who works for google, and he basically said that there are "shady" ways to boost your returns temporarily, but that they watch for them and may ban your site if you employ such tactics... anyone offering to boost your ratings is probably BS-ing
I get those calls all the time. I sometimes amuse myself by asking him how many people he calls each day. I then ask him if he promises to put everyone on the first page. I then offer to take his deal if he will stop calling everyone after he signs me because I want to stay on the front page.
>>anyone offering to boost your ratings is probably BS-ing
Some, maybe many, yes.
But not all. This is a legitimate area for web design and projects.
"Ask not what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive... then go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."
Howard Thurmanhttp://rjw-progressive.blogspot.com/
Post the URL to your site. I'd be glad to offer suggestions.
Typically, it's just a matter of proper markup (making sure you use proper heading tags in your HTML) and proper copywriting (make sure the content on your site makes sense for what you want people to search you by).