KW Agent Website Training Getting Good with Google
What We Will Discuss Google webmaster site verification and uploading your sitemap.xml Google tool bar, cached snapshot button. Meta tag Description Meta tag Keywords Checking up on your competition to see which keywords and other data they are using. Using content to improve your page rank with search engines
***Reminder*** In the Basic Website Training session, aliasing your domain is covered in detail. Please be sure you have set this up for your site using either of the two links below, before you continue with your website optimization. KW Domain Store domain users, click here to see the set up video. Godaddy.com users, click here to see your set up video. Submitting your ###.yourkwagent.com domain to Google for verification will likely not provide the results you are looking for. This is because yourkwagent.com is a sub domain shared with more than 70,000 users. Google disregards duplicate information. Renaming your website with your domain name shows Google that the website is unique.
Key Terms Meta Tag Keyword: Meta data is used by Google’s computers to see what content is behind the scenes on your website. Google sees your keywords and compares these to the content on your site looking for consistency of theme. Meta Tag Description: Also used by Google to verify the consistency of your website’s content and theme. This description will appear below the link to your site when found on a Google search. This gives information about your site prior to the viewer clicking your address. This is helpful in reducing the amount of false entries, or Bounce Rate, which are determined by how quickly someone leaves your website. Webmaster Verification Meta Tag: This is a meta tag given by Google to be placed in the <HEAD> field of your website. It is entered in section 2.4 under the Google Webmaster Account ID field. Google Analytics Tracking ID: This is a tool used to determine where traffic is coming from and going to and on your website.
Submitting your site for Google verification http://Google.com/webmaster Sign up for a Google account. Obtain your Google Webmaster Account Id Insert account ID into section 2.4 of your website admin tool Verify Site. *Please note that it can take up to 90 days for Google to index your website Add site map to Google webmaster account. (www.domain.com/sitemap.xml)
Sign up for a Google account. Already have and account? Sign in here with your Gmail login. Great source of tips and info on optimizing your site for Google. Google offers many useful features to account holders. In addition to unlimited email storage, you can sign up for a Google Webmaster's account to place your site en queue to be verified and indexed by Google, rather than waiting for them to find it through random indexing of websites. Create your account here.
Submitting your site for Google verification, Step 1. 1.) Click here then enter your domain name into the box that pops up. 2.) The next screen will present your verification meta tag. Copy only what is inside the quotation marks. This will be pasted into the Google webmaster account ID field in section 2.4. Verifying your site lets Google know that you are in control of the content featured on it. *Note, to avoid errors, do not click verify until your verification meta tag has been entered into section 2.4
Submitting your site for Google verification, Step 2. 3.) Enter your verification meta tag here and click “save.”
Submitting your site for Google verification, Step 3. 4.) After you have entered your meta tag in section 2.4, wait a couple of minutes then return to your Google webmaster page and click verify. 5.) Once verified, you will be returned to your dashboard. From here, click on your domain name.
Submitting your site for Google verification, Step 3. Continued 2.) Click on “submit a sitemap. 1.) Expand the “site configuration” link and click on “Sitemaps.” Submitting your sitemap tells Google exactly what is on your site so that their computers, or robots/spiders, only have to confirm what your sitemap says is there 3.) When you see your domain name pop-up, enter Sitemap.xml in the open field and click submit. Without submitting a sitemap, you would have to wait until Google made it through billions of websites to index your website. This method saves time for the website’s owner.
Google tool bar, cached snapshot button. http://www. google The Google toolbar has many useful features, one of which is the page rank button Click the page rank button on any page to see when Google viewed it last. The more often content changes, the more often the site is crawled by Google. This is a great way to gauge the success of the changes made to your website.
Meta Tag Description Used by Google to verify the consistency of your website’s content and theme. This description will also appear below the link to your site when found on a Google search. This gives information about your site prior to the viewer clicking your address. This is helpful in reducing the amount of false entries, or bounce rates, generated by your site, which are determined by how quickly someone leaves your website. The amount of time someone spends on your site helps to establish with Google whether or not it was the best match for the terms used to present it in the list of results.
Meta Tag Description The meta tag description is used by Google to verify the consistency of your website’s content and theme. Notice how your meta tag description is also displayed below the link to your site on a Google search. If it is stated clearly what the purpose of you site is, then you are less likely to have viewers accessing it by mistake.
Meta Keywords Meta data is used by Google’s computers to see what content is behind the scenes on your website. Google sees your keywords and compares these to the content on your site looking for consistency of theme. Using the Meta Tag keywords field in section 2.4 for your home page, and in the same fields for pages you create in section 3.7, you can establish the general theme of your site. These are the terms you want people to find your website with. Use specific keywords. For example, the term “Real Estate” will not generate very good results for you because it is so general. Be specific, “Denver Real Estate Listings,” or “REO Listings in Portland Maine.” Separate keywords with a comma. The comma is recognized by Google as the end of one key word and when the next begins. In addition to entering key word meta tags, you will add them to the content of your site, sprinkled about every 200 words. Make sure that these are in context with what you have written. Avoid entering keywords only in the content of your site. Google will see this and penalize you for offering misleading information. Keywords are to accompany content but not serve as the only content on your site.
Meta Keywords Enter the words and phrases you want used to find your site on Google. Remember to separate words and phrases using a comma.
Checking up on your competition to see which keywords and other data they are using. On any website, you can right-click with your mouse and select view source to see what meta tag keywords and descriptions have been entered. Keep in mind that you do not want to use this as a tool to copy what a competitor is using for meta data. This should be used more to find unique keywords for your niche that are not being used already. Google will give much less consideration to the same keywords found on multiple sites.
Using content to improve your page rank with search engines Use your domain, page title, site title, and tagline to show your site’s visitors what it is that your site has to offer. Calls to action: in text keywords like “Search for Aventura Condos Here.” Well crafted home page message with frequent use of keywords. Consistent use of keywords in left navigation links. Relevant meta tag descriptions and meta tag keywords (section 2.4 of website admin tool). Create specialty pages on your site that you can link customers to. *(neighborhood, development projects, info about your area of focus) Blog and do so often! One to five paragraphs per week about things in your area of focus. Use this as an opportunity to hyperlink back to your site. Use your social networking profile to promote your business and link to your site as often as possible.
Thank You for Joining Us! Getting Good with Google http://answers.kw.com