Why Is My Website Not Ranking Well?

It has come to my attention recently, how many websites I look at don’t have the basic “meta” tags search engines crawl in order to identify the basic title and description of a site. Then my clients, whose websites I’m re-designing, wonder why their websites weren’t being found by search engines.

Title Tags

Let’s start with the “Title” tag. The title tag is at the top of the page code. They are the first thing search engines look at, if a keyword is in the title tags, search engines flag the page as relevant to that phrase.

Description Tags

A well-written description tag will increase the odds that a potential customer will click on your link. If you own a local business, start with the location first, for example “Phoenix Motorcycle Suspension Tuning”. It combines location with the optimal keyword phrases. The max length of a title tag is 62-70 characters for Google, other engines have similar length requirements. Ask your webmaster to be sure.

The “Description” tag affects your ranking, but is shown as the page’s snippet in the search engine’s results. If you don’t have a description tag, search engines will take other text from your page randomly. Search engines bold face the keywords the user is searching for, so it’s a good idea to insert your keywords in your description. Google’s max length of a description tag is 160.

Keyword Tags

The “Keywords” tag is overused to the point that search engines virtually ignore it. However, in my opinion they should still be used. Order your keyword phrases from longest to shortest: Four words phrase should be listed first, then three word phrase, two word phrases, and then single words. Try not to repeat any single keyword more than twice.

Order Matters

Make sure your webmaster inserts these meta tags in this order, it will cause a validation error if they are not in the correct order.  Some webmaster’s don’t validate their web pages, so make sure you ask. It can affect your ranking.

Local Searches Get Top Billing In Search Engine Results

Late in October, Google made a major transformation in the way Search Engine Results were displayed for searches with a local intent. The result of this change was that the Google Local 7 Pack is no longer always in the SERPs in the way that it used to be. Instead, Google has begun to integrate the local results within organic results and provided more prominent presence for local results on the SERP, while pushing the Web results below the fold.

As a result, the significance of being number one in the organic results has lost its meaning dramatically. At the same time, due to the competitiveness of the local space, obtaining and maintaining a Google first page results has become even more difficult; therefore local businesses should claim and ensure their presence in local before it is too late.

Google’s update places more emphasis on Google Places Page. It seems what is on the place page can be more important for the Local results than what is on the website. That said, the following are a few important things that you should consider:

• If you are local, it is imperative to claim your Google Place Page.
• The more information on your Place Page, the better. Our research shows the top local results all have very complete place pages (address, phone number, hours of operations, pictures, reviews and so on). Google is committed to user experience and shows listings that can provide thorough information and therefore enhances overall user experience.
• Google put emphasis in Place Page reviews to the point that they are showing reviews not only from Google users, but also from other review sites like Yelp.com, so don’t underestimate the importance of Reviews in its impact on local ranking. But please Avoid Fake and Untruthful Reviews! As a local service provider, your reputation and client’s trust is worth far more.
• Try to optimize your place pages for your keywords.
• Categories listed on Place Page influence your Place Page’s ability to rank in local results directly, so it is imperative to have the right category on the Place Page. For example, if you own a local Mexican restaurant, make sure to use “Mexican restaurant” as your category as opposed to just the generic business category “restaurant”.
• Acquiring listings in local directories which verify your local presence can also help your local search rankings.
• Last, but definitely not least, traffic, click-through and your overall Place Page’s popularity are important, so make sure your Place Page is built with users in mind.