WEBSITEESSENTIALS
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ManagingYourWebsite:GetMoreVisitors
Oftenjargonisusedbyexpertswhenreferringtothingstodowiththeinternet,
whichcanmakeithardtounderstand.Herearesometranslations,whichshouldhelp
todemystifysomeofthescaryterminology:
“SEO”
ThisstandsforSearchEngineOptimisation.Itreferstotheworkofdoingwhatyou
cantomakeyourwebsitemorelikelytoappearontheresultspagewhenpeople
searchforrelevantwords.Thereareexpertswhomakealivingchargingtohelpwith
this,butthereisalotyoucandotohelpyourself.
“SearchEngine”
Searchenginesarethemainwaythat
peoplewillgettoyoursite.Byfarthe
biggestandmost-usedsearchenginethese
daysisGoogle.Thesearchengine’sjobisto
matchthesearchtermsthatpeopleenter,
withthecontentthatthosepeoplewantto
find.That’sreallyallthereistoit,butasyou
canimagine,giventhesizeoftheworld
wideweb,it’squiteacomplextask.
“Algorithm”
Thisisbasicallyasetofrules(admittedly,quiteacomplicatedsetofrules)thatdrives
theprocessbywhichthesearchenginesdecidewhichwebsitestosuggestonthe
resultspagewhensomeonemakesasearch.Thealgorithmsareconstantly
developing,andsometimestheyaregivennames,suchas“PageRank”and
“Hummingbird”,whichcanalsosoundlikespecialistjargonwords!
“Searchenginesusespiderstocrawltheweb”
ThesearchenginesneedtoindexallofthecontentontheWorldWideWeb.Theydo
thisbyusingpiecesofsoftware(spiders),whichgatherinformation(crawl)aboutall
ofthewordsthatareusedonwebsites(theweb).
“Improveyoursearchrankings”
Makeyoursitemorelikelytoappearhigheronsearchresultpages.
“Keywords”
Thismeansusingwordsthatthesearchenginesarelikelytoseeasaconnection
betweenyourcontentandwhatpeoplearesearchingfor.Forexample,ifyouwant
peopletofindyourchurchwhentheysearchfor‘wheretoworshiponSunday?’,it
wouldbeagoodideatomakesureyouusethewords‘worship’and‘Sunday’
somewhereinyoursite.
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WEBSITEESSENTIALS
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“Spamming”
Youmaybefamiliarwiththeterm‘spam’tomeanjunk,unsolicitedemail–thatstuff
youreallydon’twant.WhenspeakingaboutSEO,‘spamming’usuallymeanswhen
websitesincludelotsofwords,notnecessarilyrelevantones,totrytomanipulatethe
searchresultsintheirfavour.Searchenginesaregettingbetteratspottingthisbad
behaviourandavoidingusingitin
decidingwhichsitestoofferonthe
resultspages.
“ResultsPage”
Thisreferstothelistofwebsitesthatis
offeredtoyouinresponsetoasearchyou
haveinputintoasearchengine.For
example,ifyouweretogotoGoogleand
type“bunnyrabbits”intotheboxand
click‘search’,youmightenduplooking
atascreenabitlikethisone.
Whatdoesallthismeanforyourwebsite?
Itmeansthat,inorderfornewvisitorstobeabletofindyoursite,youneedtomake
itintosomethingthesearchengineswillofferwhenpeoplesearchforrelevantterms.
Thegoodnewsisthatit’snotamysticaldarkart–wegenerallyknowhowtogetthe
searchenginestonoticeyoursite,andastheyhavebecomemoresophisticatedover
theyears,theyhavegotbetteratunderstanding‘humanlanguage’.
However,youcan’tjustringupGoogleandsay,‘pleasemovemysiteuptothetopof
thesearchresults’–yoursiteisincompetitionwithalloftheothersitesforthat
sought-aftertopspotontheresultspage.
Sowhatdoyouneedtodo?
Thereareseveralmanageablethingsyoucandotohelpimproveyourranking:
1. Postcontentfrequently.
Newmaterialattractstheattentionofthespiders,soyoursitewillbeindexed
moreaccuratelyandmorefrequently.
2. Userelevantterms.
Thisisreallyimportant:thesearchengines,andthereforepotentialsite
visitors,can’tpossiblyknowwhatyoursiteisaboutunlessyouusetheright
words.Forexample,ifyouwantyourchurchwebsitetohelpattractweddings
tothechurch,thenmakesureyouusewordssuchas‘wedding’,‘marriage’,
and‘vows’somewhereinyoursite.
Theeasiestwaytodoitistohaveapageexplainingthatyouofferweddings;
youcouldadditionallyhavereportsonweddingsthathavetakenplace,ora
blogarticlediscussingsomethingrelevant,suchas‘thingstoconsiderwhen
youaregettingmarried’,forexample.Beyondthemostobviouswordslisted
above,youcouldalsogetabitmorecreativeandincludeotherassociated
termssuchas‘reception’,‘bridal’,and‘ushers’,forinstance,in
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WEBSITEESSENTIALS
3.
4.
5.
6.
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yourarticle–butdon’tshoe-hornthemin–thatwouldmakeyourcontent
lessappealingtothehumanvisitorstoyoursite,andthereforelessengaging,
whichcoulddamageyoursearchrankings.
Forideasforrelevant,engagingcontent,youcouldhaveachatwithsomeone
youknowwho’sgettingmarried,andfindoutwhat’simportanttothem.The
sameprinciplesapplytoothercontent,soifyouarewantingtoattractmore
children’sbirthdaypartiestouseyourhallasavenue,forexample,whynot
haveawordwithsomeparentsofyoungchildren,tofindoutwhattheyare
lookingfor?Thatcouldgiveyousomereallyusefulcluesastowhatwordsto
useonyoursite–becausethosearethetermsthatthosepeoplewillbe
enteringintothesearchengines.
Postengagingmaterial.
Searchenginestendtofavoursitesthathavetraffic–soifpeoplearevisiting
yoursite,andstickingaroundlongenoughtoreadyourposts(Googleisable
totrackalotofwebusedata),thatsuggeststothesearchenginesthatother
peoplewillwanttovisityoursitetoo.
Getvisitors.
Justlikewithapopularrestaurant,havingvisitorscanhelpyoutoattract
morevisitors.Youcansendpeopledirecttoyoursitebygivingthemtheweb
address(andbyhavingawebsiteaddressthatiseasyforthemtoremember).
Itisagoodideatogetyourfriendsandchurchmemberstohavealookatthe
site–notjustbecausetheywillenjoyallyourbrilliantcontent,butalso
becauseitcanhelpthesearchenginesnoticeyou.
Keepyoursitefastandlight.
Sitesthattakealongtimetoloadarenotpopularwithhumanvisitorsorwith
searchengines.Quickwaystoensureyoursitedoesn’ttaketoolongtoload
are:avoidunnecessarygimmicks(egsliders,animationsetc);ensureimage
filesizesarenolargerthannecessary(youcanresizeimagesforfreeonsites
suchaspicresize.com);andhaveasfewpluginsrunningonyoursiteas
possible.
Haveotherrelevant,crediblesiteslinktoyou.
Searchenginesseeahyperlinkfromanothersiteasarecommendation,soit’s
goodtohaveothersiteslinktoyours.However,aswithkeywords,it’s
importantnottospam–thesearchengineswillspotifyouhavelotsof
meaninglesslinks,orlinksfromdummyorirrelevantsites.Agoodexample
forachurchwouldbetoaskforyoursitetobelinkedtoonthesitesofyour
Synod/District/Diocese,ofotherlocalchurches,andonthingslikethelocal
ChurchesTogether
group’swebsite.It’salso
fantasticifyoucanget
includedonsomeone
else’sblog,forinstanceif
theyhadvisitedforsome
reasonandreallyenjoyed
it,orifabloggerincludes
youonalistof‘examples
ofgreatchurchwebsites’.
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WEBSITEESSENTIALS
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7. Userelevantwordsinimportantplaces.
Thesearchenginesgatherinformationaboutnotonlywhatwordsareused,
butalsowheretheyareused,asdifferentlocationshavedifferent
significance.Makesurethatkeyrelevantwordsareusedin:pageandpost
titles;imagetitles,alttextanddescriptions;links(egiftheword‘church’is
linkedtoyoursite,itisfarmoremeaningfultosearchenginesthanifthe
words‘findoutmore’aretheonesthatarelinked);andifyouusetagsinyour
newsorblogposts,thenmakesuretheyareusefulones.
8. MakeuseofSEOplugins.
ThestandardiChurchsetupincludesanSEOpluginthathelpsyoursitebe
seenbysearchengines.IfyouareusinganSEOplugin,itmayincludespace
toforyoutoinputkeywordsrelatingtoyourcontent–itisagoodideato
makeuseofthis,asthepluginistheretohelpboostyoursite’svisibilityto
searchengines,sothemoreinformationyougiveit,themoreitcanhelpyou.
Wherecanyoufindoutmore?
1. Googleinparticularprovidelotsofinformationabouthowtheirsearchengine
works.Here’sagoodplacetostart:
• https://www.google.co.uk/insidesearch/howsearchworks/thestory/
2. OtheriChurchwebmasterssometimesdiscussthesubject,andwetryto
providelinkstousefulresources,ontheiChurchsupportsite:
• http://forumurc.org.uk/support-forum/
3. Youcouldsearchforit!Lotsofmarketers,webdesignersetc.writeblogposts
aboutSEO.Ifyoudoasearchforsomethinglike‘howtoimprovemysearch
results’,youwillturnup
thousandsofarticles–but
pleasetakecareonlytotrust
theonesthatcomefrom
credible,independentsources,
thatarenotpushingtosellyou
theirSEOservices–youcan
getenormousamountsof
goodadviceforfree.Acouple
ofgoodonesare:
• http://www.wpbeginner.com/wordpress-seo/
• http://searchengineland.com/
• https://www.elegantthemes.com/blog/tips-tricks/wordpress-seo-bestpractices-in-2015
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