MaineBusiness.com

What Do Search Engines and Love Have in Common?

They're both blind.

Search engines can read text, but they can't "see" images. So, if a lot of the "words" on your home page are actually images and not HTML text, search engines may not be able to determine what your site is about.

How is Google going to rank you on page one if it can't read what you have to say about your products, your company, or who you work with? And how can you tell what Google or Yahoo is able to read from one of your Web pages? For that, we turn to a tool called SEO Browser.

Let's take a look at a search I ran this morning on maine construction company. The first result is from Wright-Ryan Construction's Web site. (This may seem biased because they're a client of flyte's, but I swear that was just happenstance.)

The result was not actually Wright-Ryan's home page, but rather an internal page on the Merriconeag Waldorf School in Freeport. (Remember: every page of your site is an opportunity to rank well.) To see this page as the search engines see it, we turn to SEO Browser.

This is what the page looks like through the eyes of a search engine. Although this page is short on copy, there's still quite a bit of content for the search engines to grab onto. The fact that the page title includes the word "Maine Construction Company" is a big help as well.

The second result is from Ryder Construction who is not a client of ours. (See, you can rank well on your own if you know what you're doing!) Here's what their pages look like from Google's perspective.

The next three results are a little off topic, so if you're a Maine construction company looking to drive more traffic through the search engines, opportunity is knocking!

What can you do to improve your own ranking at the search engines? Put yourself in the shoes of these search engines by checking out your site at SEO Browser. If what you see is confusing, or doesn't do a good job of explaining what you offer, or doesn't include any of the words you'd like to rank well for, rewrite your copy.

Make sure you get that new, keyword-rich copy where it can do the most good:

• titles,
• headers,
• body copy and
• intra-site links.

Then just sit back and get ready for more qualified leads at your Web site.

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