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Algorithms: How to Stay on Google’s Good Side

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Over 40,000 search queries transpire on Google every second. That’s over 3.5 billion searches per day! It’s become a shared theory that if you have a question, Google has the answer. This search engine seems to be an all-knowing entity, but where does it get its power from?

Does it have access to a secret pool of wisdom?

Is there an alien base unit hiding at the Google HQ feeding out info to the giant search engine?

Nope, not even close.

syour queries into answers. Each of these algorithms rely on over 200 different signals to best judge which web pages contain the most relevant data.

So, how can you make sure Google’s algorithms pick up on your web pages?

Remember those 200+ signals we discussed before? Those are the secret ingredients of algorithms. In their core essence, they are basically a range of unique ranking factors.

Below we will go through 10 of these important ranking influences:

1. Domain Existence Period – Google can predict the legitimacy of a domain judging by how long it has been used. Valuable domains are usually booked years in advance whilst the less beneficial ones fade away. The expiration date plays a huge role in determining a domain’s legitimacy.

2. Keywords in Domains – Keywords in a domain shows that the webpage is relevant. Google hasn’t been favouring this one as much as it used to but it is still effective. If you are going to do this, try to have your keyword appear as the first word in your domain because this gives your page an advantage.

3. Content Length – The longer your content is, the better. Google favours web design that uses more words because they offer a wider pool of information and are seen as being more relevant.

4. Keyword Density – This is a tricky one. You don’t want to go overboard with keywords but you still want just enough to grab attention. Google uses keyword density to evaluate a website’s topic.

5. Page Loading Speed – Google uses the time it takes for your page to load as a factor towards ranking. A page’s code and file size are just two components measured by Google’s algorithms to help determine the speed.

6. Duplicate Content – Avoid duplicated content like the plague. This can have a seriously negative impact on your website and it’s search engine ranking placements.

7. Optimised Images – Images play a role at determining how relevant a webpage is to the search query. Make sure that your images are optimised and include a file name, alt text, title, description and image caption.

8. Outbound and Internal Link Quality – The links connecting to and from your website are important. With regards to SEO, linking to high quality and influential sites will help to establish credibility and trust signals to Google. Internal links are also essential to Google’s algorithms. Internal links from sites with low PR or none at all won’t do your site any favours.

9. Usability – Your site must be user friendly. The main content should also be immediately visible. These are the sites that tend to rank higher on Google’s search results.

10. Mobile Optimised – Google ranks sites that are optimised for mobile higher than others. If your site is not mobile friendly, Google may penalise it in mobile search.

Follow these SEO guidelines and you will have a better chance of staying on the good side of Google’s strict algorithms. Algorithms change all the time though so it is important to change right alongside them to stay on the top of search results.

Our team of digital marketing experts and web design Belfast and web design Newry teams can help with any digital marketing adwords video production social media SEO Belfast Magento PPC Agency Belfast or web design questions you may have.

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3 of the Most Common SEO Mistakes to AVOID

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SEO will either send your e-commerce website skyrocketing to the top of search result pages or send it plummeting to the bottom of the barrel. Don’t let your e-commerce website fall victim to common SEO pitfalls which will not only drop your rankings but can drop your online revenue.

Here are five of the most common SEO e-commerce mistakes that are best avoided:

1. Un-Optimized Product Pages

Changes to the site, such as adding new pages or products, can dramatically influence your organic search engine performance. One of the biggest SEO errors made by e-commerce sites is having poorly optimised product pages. For example, having no product reviews, missing image ALT tags, low quality content and poor keyword targeting are all factors that make up low ranking product pages.

Product descriptions play a huge part in the buying process. After all, people rely heavily on detailed descriptions before deciding to make a purchase.

So where can you go wrong with your product descriptions?

Using the manufacturer’s product description is the most common mistake that e-commerce sites make. This description is likely to be used by dozens of other retailers who also sell the same product, thus resulting in duplicated content. This is a huge disadvantage for e-commerce sites because search engines rank pages containing copied content extremely low. Writing unique product descriptions for each of your products may be time consuming but it will solve this problem and improve your website’s SEO.

2. Incorrect Keyword Research

Your website will only appear in search engine results if it uses relevant keywords. It is important to carry out proper keyword analyse and research to define which words will best benefit your business. Relying on broad keywords such as “Laptops” will help drive basic traffic to your site but you may want to target a more specific audience to drive solid sales. For example, if you sell specific laptop brands such as Apple, Lenovo or DELL, you can include these as keywords in order to reach searchers who already have a clear idea of the product that they want.

Failing to use both broad and specific keyword targeting appropriately will only result in your potential traffic being drastically narrowed. Long tail keywords should not be neglected. Make sure that your keywords target specific products and try to include relevant information such as brand name, colour, size and model number.

3. Sites that can’t be indexed

A website must be indexed before it can appear on search engine result pages. A search engine has its own ranking algorithm which web pages must adhere to if they wish to appear on Google, Bing or Yahoo, for example. If your ecommerce website cannot be indexed properly, it simply won’t make it onto the list. Some of the most common reasons why a website can’t be indexed include using too many images with important text embedded (search engines cannot read this text) and flash animations.

Our multi-award winning marketeers and developers are also waiting to help with any digital marketing, adwords,  social mediaSEO Belfast or Magento ecommerce web design questions you may have. We also provide training for third party SEO software tools such as MOZ to ensure you can clearly monitor progress and ensure your campaign is of the highest quality.

If you are worried that your e-commerce website may contain potentially harmful SEO mistakes, contact RYCO Group today for the solution at 028 3026 1861