How do I get listed on Google

There are a number of ways to get your site listed on a Google search. Basically, the bottom line is, good web design and well thought out content. Google is changing rapidly and its primary focus is site content, therefore it is important to write content for users not search engines.

There are two kinds of search, Pay per click (Google Ads) and organic (free) search. 

Free Search

Free search, otherwise known as organic search, is when a search query is entered into a search engine, such as Yahoo or Google, about a particular topic or business. Search results are displayed on the left hand side and under the sponsored links. You will notice for some search queries the results listed at the top of the page or the right hand side have small text that states sponsored link. These are paid searches and not organic. The organic results are directly below the sponsored Ads whereby search results are found without any advertising. 

All websites have equal opportunity for free search.  There is no way to pay to get a higher listing for free search at least with Google. Google do not guarantee anyone results. It all comes down to relevant content about your business and good web design.

Some hints ans tips for a good search result when writing content

• Think about the key words your customers are likely to search for when looking for your business and place them throughout your content. For example, say a client is looking for a cake decorating service, think about what they would type into Google  More than likely it would something like "cake decorator in perth", in which case you can target your keywords around that phrase.
  
  Another thing to consider when writing content is what page the visitor is likely to land on, for example a visitor might type in "how to decorate wedding cakes". If you have a page that contains relevant content it is likely to show up in the search results so it is always a good idea to write your content in such a way that it is relevant to what people are searching for.
  
  It is important not to inject to many keywords or phrases within the content, this can result in your site becoming banned from search. Over the years Google has picked up on keyword spamming and deals with with this appropriately.
  
  
• Give your article a title that reflects what the page is about, include your search phrase in the first paragraph and possibly the last. If the page has only one paragraph then one mention of the phrase is sufficient.
  
  
• Ensure all images are named correctly, for example a cake on a page about wedding cakes would be better to have a name of wedding-cake-showcase.jpg rather than myimage.jpg. Images should always use descriptive text and alt text to describe the image.
  
  
• All links to other pages should include a "title" attribute, for example a link to My Cakes would look like this.
  <a href="/mycakes.html" title="My Cakes">My Cakes </a>
  
  This tells users and search engines what content the link is pointing to, it is very useful for screen readers and is good practice.
  
  
• Changing content is always good, it keeps search robots coming back to visit the site regularly so be sure to update your website frequently. A good way to do this is to install a blog and frequently write useful content relevant to your audience.
  
  
• Get going on Facebook, Twitter and Google plus to help generate more leads to your website. See our blog post Google+ and why you should pay attention
  
• If possible, get a YouTube channel and link to your website
  
  
• Register on free directories such as gumtree. There are many directories that will list your site for free.
  
  
• Register on Google Maps and Google Places. Google Places, also known as Google Local Business, is extremely important for search results. Every business should have a listing.
  
  
• swap links with similar websites. For example, if you are a cake decorator it would be a wise move to try and get links to wedding websites. It is important to note that is is not much use to place a link on a car dealership because a car dealership and cake decoration have nothing in common. Google is very smart and you can actually lose ranking for irrelevant links. The key here is to have link-backs to websites that reflect the content on your website.
  
  
• internal links on your site are a great way to increase your ranking, linking between pages on your site will help.
  
  
• Ensure you have relevant Browser Titles and Page headings 

These are just a few hints and tips. SEO is a very large topic and there are now professionals who do just SEO all day everyday. You can always consult an expert to see what your options are.

If you need an expert or need to take your SEO one step further Joogle recommends Media Blitz as a trusted and professional company for SEO.

Google Pay per Click 

Google Ads are a pay per click advertising campaign.  You sign up with Google Ads, create your ad, enter some keywords and then appear in the sponsored links section of the search results.

As described above, the sponsored links are generally located on the right hand side or at the very top of the page.

This is fast and effective but depending on your competition it can sometimes be costly if your keywords are to broad. Google Ads allows you to zero in on your customers using geographic targeting so your Ads only show in areas you select. You can pay as you go and opt out when ever you like.

Visit Google Adwords for more information