Maximise the traffic on your website

Your website is uploaded, fully functional and looks great, but how do you usher traffic towards your online presence? USA Today interviewed Google tech fundi and engineer Matt Cutts to find out more.

By Craig Falck for Africa Report

Google holds an impressive 62% of all Internet searches. This means that six out of every 10 people online are using Google as their search engine. So it makes sense to make your website “Google-friendly” when it comes to searching. Matt revealed some quick strategies to USA Today to improve a website’s “searchability”.

First, use keywords that your customers are likely to use. If your business is an ice cream company in the southern suburbs of Cape Town and customers are going to search for “ice cream company in the southern suburbs of Cape Town”, put “ice cream company in the southern suburbs of Cape Town” on your website, preferably near the top of the text or at least on your front page. This makes it easier for Google to locate and link, which will push your website up in the results list.

Next up is linking with other websites. The more times your website is linked on other websites through hypertext or logo buttons, the better. This is because, according to Matt, Google uses up to 100 different search parameters and criteria when ranking a website in its search results. The more you’re mentioned with links, the better your website’s results will be.

It’s also important for websites and companies to have blogs and involve themselves with social networking sites such as Twitter and facebook. The more interaction you have with customers, through facebook, Twitter and posting blogs, the more you will be searched for and clicked on. This will see traffic increase towards your site as people want more content from you. Just make sure that you don’t use the same terms too many times on your page. If you’re selling auto spares for a specific car, mention the term three or four times, but that’s it.

Lastly, use a simple and accurate URL address. If your business name is “WebWrite Editing”, reserve the domain www.webwrite.co.za for your website. This will make it easier for people to search for, as well as for Google to find accurately.

Websites are a vital part of any company’s business plan and model, and cannot be compiled and put together half-heartedly. They need to be carefully structured and with the users in mind. Your customers will be searching for you through search engines such as Google, so make sure that you optimise your website to be found and ranked on Google’s results list.