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Improve your Search Engine RankingsTo become registered on search engines there are a number of things you need to do. The essential point to remember is the use of keywords and phrases on your site. A keyword is a word or phrase that people might enter in a search engine. For example, if you enter in Google 'websites for photographers' you should find that my site www.photographers-portfolio.co.uk appears on page one. This is because I have used this keyword/phrase within the text of my home page and in the page title (on the very top of the browser). It is also used in the Meta Description which you can edit yourself in the Settings section of the page editor. Adding key-phrases to Page Title and Meta keywords/description It is not practical to simply use the phrase 'portrait photographer' as your keywords because this will return hundreds of thousands of results. You need to be more specific. Most people will search for a photographer by entering the area they are interested in. For example, 'portrait photographer lancashire' would be better (if you were based in lancashire), or even 'portrait photographer preston lancashire' will return even more specific results. You will have a far better success on search engines by selecting a key-phrase using the type of work you do plus the location in which you work. Once you have decided on the key-phrase, click on the 'settings' icon against your home page, and enter the key-phrase in the 'Page Title' field. This will then add your key-phrase to the page title of your home page (on the top bar of your browser). You should also add the same key-phrase and words in the 'Keywords' and 'Description' fields in the 'settings' section. These are used by some search engines (but not Google). Then edit your home page and make sure you include the key-phrase in your heading using 'Heading 1' or 'Heading 2' size text. Don't just add the words 'Welcome' as you page heading. Use something like 'Portrait Photography in Lancashire' or something similar that includes your key words. Also include the same key words within the body of your text, preferably once in the first paragraph, once in the middle and once near the foot of your page. Don't use them more than three times in the text. If you have any pictures on the page then name them something like 'portraitphotography-lancashire.jpg' and add the keywords in the alt tag (this is the mouseover text). You can do this in the popup window when you insert the picture in the page editor. Also, where possible, try and get links to your website on as many other good quality websites as possible (not just web directories as these can have a negative effect). These could be websites of your suppliers etc. This improves your page ranking and will also help you get higher listings. |