Thread

Hello,

I’ve been doing some BASIC searches to see where my business shows up in Google listings and am very depressed with what I’m finding. I’m not aiming high ... actually I’m aiming very low and I’m not scoring.

I put my zip code/town in along with each of my keywords - what my business does - and for most of them we’re not being listed. What’s really baffling and disturbing is that we’re not even being picked up by Google Maps in the sidebar map that shows on the page. Though, when I include our business name in the search, along with the keyword, we do get a decent list. But if someone in my town doesn’t know about my business, and they just search on the zip + keyword, they won’t find us as things seem to stand now.

Our domain has been indexed for over 10 years and we have hundreds of articles, but not only are we not showing up, our competitors who don’t even have web sites are being listed, while we’re not : /

I know I have to work on my ‘titles’ and I’m studying SEO so I will get better in the near future.

But WHY is my business not being listed given that I already have lots of relevant content for the type of searches I’m after?

Any insights would bring some Christmas cheer back ...

Thanks.

Ramone

Can you share your web site address with us?

Studying SEO is likely to make little difference. If your web site is not being properly indexed or placed, there is likely a reason(s) for it.

Can you share your web site address with us?

Studying SEO is likely to make little difference. If your web site is not being properly indexed or placed, there is likely a reason(s) for it.

http://www.biom.net

My website is admittedly a very ‘clunky’ EE implementation. I’m in the planning process for updating the site (probably using an EE WooTheme) so I expect some of my design/dev errors will be addressed and (perhaps) lead to a better SEO structure.

And I very much appreciate any insight you can shed ...

Thanks, Handyman ...

Google only puts street addresses in Maps, not P.O. Boxes.

Google only puts street addresses in Maps, not P.O. Boxes.

Thanks, Dylan. Went into Google Places today and straightened that out. Thanks for the heads-up ...

Some quick comments…..of course, my opinion(s) only!

1. The “clunky” thing, at least when it comes to style and look,  does not harm your SEO…that is, the look and general templates. Google does not differentiate the “look” of the most admirable site from the look of another. Content is King.

2. Despite #1, there is somewhat of a lack of clear organization of the site content. If I or another web surfer are confused, then so is google, as it probably “thinks” in certain hierarchal ways.
An example of this…is when I navigate to a sub section of your site (a persons page), and then hit the “home” button, I am not brought back to the real home page, but rather to the home of that particular person. This may make google think it is more than one site….or at the minimum confuse their index.
The key is to have some sort of clear menu on the front page so that google ends up finding your site in the fashion of the enclosed pic of my site - that is, google found and indexes the site layout.

3. Your front page, and maybe other pages, could use a longer and more descriptive title as well as meta tags for keywords and description which are more complete.

4. I would suggest using more “longhand” on the front page when it comes to your real and actual name….not as much BIOM, but the long actual name it stands for. These are real words and better indexed…and then related to other subjects.

5. Your newsletters which are located on a remote server are not being indexed by google. Put them on your server if possible.

6. Google and other search engines use incoming and outgoing related links to help determine your rank. Try to get both going….to related sites, of course!

7. Open a google adwords accounts and place a small amount of advertising…..even if it is only $10 or $20 a month. Doing so means that your site is obviously relevant to the keywords you buy, so this may figure in to goog ratings.

8. Check out the webmaster tools in your google apps…....

Your regular site is all “found” by google, so there is no problem there….......

Thanks so much Handyman for taking the time to write out so much good advice and direction. I plan on integrating all of your insights into my site update. Thanks again for generously sharing your ‘SEO wisdom’

Regards,

Ramone

Have you used Google Webmaster Tools (or similar) to get some information on your site?  What keywords the SE’s are picking up on? Where you’re listing for various keywords? etc.
Here’s a couple of hints:
1. Make sure you Bold your keywords in articles. Google loves that.
2. you need meta tags.
3. make sure you primary keyword is in your title somewhere.

That’s a start.

Then, build backlinks!
JP

Have you used Google Webmaster Tools (or similar) to get some information on your site?  What keywords the SE’s are picking up on? Where you’re listing for various keywords? etc.
Here’s a couple of hints:
1. Make sure you Bold your keywords in articles. Google loves that.
2. you need meta tags.
3. make sure you primary keyword is in your title somewhere.

That’s a start.

Then, build backlinks!
JP

Thanks JP ... good points all ... and appreciated ... Ramone ..

your site has one “browser title” for most pages: BIOM - A Conscious Place for Health & Well-Being
to me that says all pages are the same - they need to be on topic for that page with your keyphrase. follow the basics below…

1. research and decide on your keyphrase
2. put it into browser title
3. put it into h1 tags (your home page does not have a h1?)
4. put it in meta keywords and meta description
5. put it in body copy - spread evenly throughout - start middle end
  also in alt tags for images (do not duplicate the same phrase)
6. bold it in a few places

7. link to that page from other pages in the site using that keyphrase

// ongoing
8. build offsite links with that keyphrase
9. work on other pages in the same way to make sure the whole site is “on topic”

in short read this article: http://www.seo-guy.com/tutorial.html

Just wanted to say thanks to all those that contributed to this topic!  It was a nice refresher of good SEO!

Me too : )

My experience indicates that there are really just two major components to good SEO, high rankings, hits from SEs.

#1 - links back to your site from relevant, high-ranking sites (that may exceed 90-percent or more of SE ranking)

#2 - density of Title, Keywords, Content, and URL string (in other words, they should match, but may equate to less than 10-percent of SE ranking)

#2 is very easy to do in EE.

#1 takes plenty of work and isn’t related to EE.

Absolute perfection of #2 won’t guarantee a high ranking among chosen search keywords. It doesn’t work that way. Whereas, a gazillion relevant sties that link back to your site can completely negate horrible #2 SEO and still give your site a high ranking on many keyword searches.

, a gazillion relevant sties that link back to your site can completely negate horrible #2 SEO and still give your site a high ranking on many keyword searches.

And the secret for getting a ‘gazillion relevant’ backlinks is (besides writing great content is) ...

Does anyone have any experience wit or opinions about using Wordtracker and ScribeSEO for designing SEO sites and content?

Thanks.