9. Hiding From Google

Steven Krug, author of Don't Make Me Think! A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, points out that many would-be webmasters miss the essential truth that, for most users, the Internet starts and ends with Google, MSN Search or Yahoo!

We’d all like to be at the top of any search prospective customers do for dive equipment, training or travel in our area. But, absent this, we at least need to be near the top and not “missing in action.”

In 2006, we did a search for diver training in the Cleveland metro area using every set of keywords we could think of. We tried scuba lessons, PADI certification, SSI courses, learn to dive and dozens of other combinations. From the results, you’d think there was no such thing as a full-service dive store anywhere in the Cleveland area. They just didn’t show up.

If nothing else, you must be at the top of the list when users type in your store name and the name of the city or metro area in which you do business. You will see why shortly.

Getting Noticed Isn’t Rocket Science

There are big-buck consulting firms that do nothing but help large corporations do better in search-engine rankings. There are also more than a few charlatans claiming to be able to do the same thing. Fortunately, you most likely don’t need either one.

Here are simple steps any business can take that will help improve their search-engine rankings. These include:

• Use Descriptive Page Titles: That’s the text that appears at the top of the browser window. Search engines weigh this heavily. Be sure the title of your home page includes:
  • Your store name.
  • The name of your city and/or metro area.
  • The word Scuba.
  • The name of your primary certification agency and major equipment line.
  • The words lessons, classes, courses and certification.

• Use Common Keywords Throughout Your Home Page: The key here is to use them in meaningful, informative sentences that make sense to readers and add value to the page. Don’t stick these in lists or in nonsense paragraphs hidden at the bottom of the page (Google is on to this one).
• Get Other Websites to Link to Yours: Google weighs this heavily as well — as long as those other websites are legitimate and not commercially operated “link farms.”

It may surprise you to know that the keyword(s) most visitors enter when looking for your website is your store’s name. This reinforces the long-held belief that word-of-mouth recommendations from friends and family members are a critical factor in dive store marketing. The difference today is, where prospective customers once looked you up in the yellow pages, they now use Google, MSN or Yahoo!

Should You Pay for Better Rankings?

Beware of companies that promise to improve your search engine rankings for a fee. They may in fact be able to improve your ranking for a specific set of key words that they think are relevant. It is unlikely, however, that anyone outside the dive industry really knows the exact keywords your prospective customers will use.

If your site takes advantage of Google’s free Analytics program, you can actually see the keywords visitors use to find your site (along with an incredible wealth of other information). While this is valuable, its shortcoming is that it doesn’t tell you what keywords were being used by visitors who didn’t find your site. Thus, it’s no substitute for common sense.

Some of these search-engine ranking companies don’t actually drive traffic to your site, but to a separate page that they have created, and over which you have no control. Never use a “service” like this. You want traffic driven to your actual website and nowhere else.

It’s no secret that you can pay Google, Yahoo! and MSN to place you at or near the top of the list when users search for certain keywords. If you have competitors who are doing this, you may want to consider it. Otherwise, try the straightforward (and free) approaches listed above first.

The free website HTMLhelp.com offers a wealth of information on how anyone can improve their search engine rankings without resorting to tricks, deception or paid “consultants.” It’s a worthwhile read.

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