Let’s start with your website. You’d think this would go without saying, but your website should absolutely come up as the first result when someone searches for you or your business. Follow these steps:
1. Make sure your business’ name is in the domain name. For example the name of my company is Oudneys Studios and I own www.oudneysstudios.com If you are a professional, such as a lawyer, you’ll need to own a domain for both your law firm and name. If your company name is Oudneys Studios then your website should be www.oudneysstudios.com. If your name is Oudney then your personal website name should be www.oudney.net Your business’ name should be mentioned on the homepage in words, not just the logo, since search engines can’t “read” images. It should also appear in the title tag of your website and in the meta description.
2. Mention your or your business’ name on the “About Us” page. This is where you’ll get the chance to explicitly state what your business does so the search engine can associate it with keywords that people are actually searching for, such as “Wed Designing" Write a 500-word description of yourself and your business. You’ll need this for the other listings anyway, so get it done now, put it on your website, then set it aside.
3. Put the business’ name again on the "Contact Us" page. You’d be surprised how many people leave this off or bury it on a page that is hard to find. Make a separate "Contact Us" page where you again state the name of your business, then put the address and the phone number. In an era where more and more people are using their smartphones to look up numbers for businesses before calling them, your website should come up in seconds, and your phone number should be clear. If you’re a traditional brick-and-mortar business, including your address and phone number will help the search engines properly match up your website with business directory listings.
4. Now move on to the Facebook Page for the business. Your business should have a dedicated Facebook Page, if for no other reason than you have 10 slots to fill on Page One of Google, and each one should be one you can control. If you haven’t already, set up a Facebook Page here. Be sure to change the username of the page to the name of your actual business for which you’re trying to rank. You might need to have 25 people as fans before you do this, so make a note and go back to http://facebook.com/username once you do. This is important because until the Facebook username is changed, the search engines are unlikely to associate the business with its page.
Of course, there are many other things you’ll need to find, claim and update so that you are in charge of your Google results. Putting a little time into this every day is a necessary part of your business, so don’t put it off!
1. Make sure your business’ name is in the domain name. For example the name of my company is Oudneys Studios and I own www.oudneysstudios.com If you are a professional, such as a lawyer, you’ll need to own a domain for both your law firm and name. If your company name is Oudneys Studios then your website should be www.oudneysstudios.com. If your name is Oudney then your personal website name should be www.oudney.net Your business’ name should be mentioned on the homepage in words, not just the logo, since search engines can’t “read” images. It should also appear in the title tag of your website and in the meta description.
2. Mention your or your business’ name on the “About Us” page. This is where you’ll get the chance to explicitly state what your business does so the search engine can associate it with keywords that people are actually searching for, such as “Wed Designing" Write a 500-word description of yourself and your business. You’ll need this for the other listings anyway, so get it done now, put it on your website, then set it aside.
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| Great Steps to Take Today to Improve Your Google Search Results |
4. Now move on to the Facebook Page for the business. Your business should have a dedicated Facebook Page, if for no other reason than you have 10 slots to fill on Page One of Google, and each one should be one you can control. If you haven’t already, set up a Facebook Page here. Be sure to change the username of the page to the name of your actual business for which you’re trying to rank. You might need to have 25 people as fans before you do this, so make a note and go back to http://facebook.com/username once you do. This is important because until the Facebook username is changed, the search engines are unlikely to associate the business with its page.
Of course, there are many other things you’ll need to find, claim and update so that you are in charge of your Google results. Putting a little time into this every day is a necessary part of your business, so don’t put it off!