Getting your site ranked well on Google

Hey everyone,

I posted this elsewhere but figured it could maybe do with a post of its own incase it helps others in the future...

Are you ranking highly on Google? If not, it might be worth having a read -

I have two paid domains - www.fabfaces.co.nz and facepaintingauckland.co.nz (Fab Faces is my main one and Face Painting Auckland just picks us randoms.) Having face painting auckland really helped to start with as that's what people were searching me under, but now that Fab Faces ranks highly I don't think it makes a difference - will see when the domain expires though.

I also listed back to my site as much as possible by commenting on blogs and the like (only relevant ones, eg. face painting, kids birthday entries etc.) and got myself on all of the free listings and directories, changing the wording a little each time so google didn't think I was spamming (which apparently works against you.) I used local ones, international painting ones, party sites etc. Don't know if you'll get the same results as I do, but if you google search Fab Faces Auckland you'll probably see some of the sites I'm listed on.

Also, I used my key words in the description for google (have you registered it with google? http://www.google.com/addurl/?continue=/addurl ) and the site title (Fab Faces | Face Painting, Glitter Tattoos & Balloon Twisting in Auckland) I also made sure I had a decent number of words on my first page, reusing my keywords as much as possible without ruining what I was writing (or at least tried to haha.) I renamed my 'home' page from 'home' to 'face painting'

I claimed my 'google place' http://www.google.com/support/places/bin/static.py?page=guide.cs&guide=28247

I have a h1 heading to help rank me with my keywords.

and I think that was most of it I did have a blog on the site which helped to get my keywords up but don't need it anymore to keep my ranking so got rid of it and just update quickly via Facebook as it's easier for me.

phew!

Are you with Google Analytics and Webmaster? If not, they're both free and give you a better insight into the keywords google is picking up etc. You should also submit sitemaps if you don't already - they'll also help pick you up in the search engines. PM me if you'd like a hand setting anything up. Happy to talk you or anyone else through it or do some stuff for you guys.

I'm far from a pro but manged to luck out with mine I think - I ended up paying a friend who was doing SEO and she ended up having to refund me as she actually took me off the front page lol.

I get most of my business through google so well worth it

Thanks so much. I did not know how to go about that and I always thought you had to pay for it. Yay I await activation now.. I'm stoked..

everything I did was free and I rank pretty well - infact, could you please search face painting auckland and see where fab faces ranks? not sure if it's the same on my computer as it is everyone else's my computer might be biast towards me haha.

if you need a hand just sing out

Same here...

I made sure that I had all the possible meta tags on my main pages I could think of, made sure that I had keywords on every page, have lots of links to and from my site (to relevant/related sites), submit my page to ALL search engines, use all free listings and directories, etc.

If you google Face painter Grande Prairie... I'm what comes up, repeately.

AND another important thing is to keep your site current - meaning, edit/update the text regularly. The bots scan for new material, so if you haven't made any changes to your pages the bots lower it down the lists... keep it "fresh" and they keep you higher in the rankings. It doesn't have to be a complete re-write, but make some changes, update text, add news, etc.

Wow Shannon - nearly the whole first page of google has links back to your site! That's fantastic!

And SEZnz - thank you for reposting all this info - it's really helpful. You're the second on the list when I google face painter auckland.

What are meta tags?

Meta tags are hidden words that usually are on you main page in HTML.... just a collection of all possible search words that someone could use to find your site.

Go to any website, right click on your mouse, then select "View Source" from the menu list that appears... what you will see is the meta tags

How interesting! Very cool to know. Thank you

I need help, Im so confused, but trying.. cant seem to figure the google thing. I verified my site.. where to now?

Kye wrote:I need help, Im so confused, but trying.. cant seem to figure the google thing. I verified my site.. where to now?

Search "face painting your city" and find any of the free directories that come up and put yourself on them. Even if you can't figure out how to add keywords to your website, all of the links to your site will help.

Does anyone know if it matters in the ratings if I have a free site, instead of a regulare domain name. Example my website is www.airyfairy.weebly.com compared to say www.airyfairyfacepaint.com? Thankyou

yes, it will affect your ranking. It doesn't mean you won't show up, but it will make it harder to get to the top of the list.

Thanks Perry, I probobly should invest in a domain name to look more proffesional anyway

I'll definitely be coming back to this once I've got a website up and running, I'm still working on that. But this is a great guide for Google ranking, it can be so difficult... Thanks!

Airyfairy wrote:Does anyone know if it matters in the ratings if I have a free site, instead of a regulare domain name. Example my website is www.airyfairy.weebly.com compared to say www.airyfairyfacepaint.com? Thankyou

All you have to do is buy a domain name and forward it to the weebly site. They cost about $15/year.