| A recent study of New Zealand's Top 100
Companies by Web Rank Ltd (more info here: http://www.webrank.biz/Top100NZ.htm) has
revealed that every single one of New Zealand's leading companies have web sites that
sabotage their ability to be found by Internet users.
The study reveals that every website belonging to the top
100 NZ businesses contains significant design flaws that make it harder for them to be
found in search engines, thereby negatively impacting the potential revenue of the
organization.
How did this happen? The study reveals that each site
belonging to the Top 100 contains design elements that in some way negatively impact their
compatibility with and visibility in search engines. As a result, many of New
Zealand’s leading companies are not found listed in the search results of the most
popular U.S. and New Zealand search engines, [impacting their potential online revenue.
Most Internet users rely on search engines to find product
and service providers. Unless they know the exact website address or search by the company
or brand name, they will try to find what they are looking for by using keywords that
describe a product or service's features, benefits or attributes. By ignoring the most
important method used by people browsing the Internet, these companies are sacrificing an
enormous opportunity to attract more traffic to their sites.
Websites are often a very large expense for these
companies, ranging from a few thousand to hundreds of thousands of dollars. To invest such
a massive amount of time, money and effort into an online presence and not ensuring it can
be found is like constructing a storefront without any doors. After all, what is the point
of paying so much money for a web site that will never be found?
Does your web site contain any of the same self-defeating
elements? Let's take a look:
- 25 percent of the Top 100 New Zealand Companies could not be
found for their chosen search terms in either U.S. or New Zealand search engines. Are you
targeting the most appropriate search terms for your site?
- 62 percent of the Top 100 New Zealand Companies fail to
utilize their site TITLE tags effectively. Are you including keywords in your web page
TITLE tags instead of just your company name?
- 13 percent of New Zealand's Top 100 Companies are using
techniques that could get them penalized on search engines for "spamming.". Are
you avoiding techniques considered as "spam" by the search engines?
- The majority (59 percent) of New Zealand's Top 100 Companies
use little or no body text on their home page. Are you using plenty of text on your pages
for search engines to index?
- 42 percent of the web sites belonging to New Zealand's Top
100 Companies are inaccessible to the visually impaired. Are you using ALT IMG attributes
for your graphics and image files?
- 5 percent of the Top 100 New Zealand Companies are not
listed in any of the most popular U.S. or New Zealand search engines examined. Have you
submitted your site to the major international and local search engines and directories?
- 63 percent of New Zealand's Top 100 Companies do not include
a META Description Tag on their home page and 70 percent of the Top 100 New Zealand
Companies do not include a META Keywords Tag on their home page. Have you included
relevant META Tags in your site's HTML code?
- 78 percent of the Top 100 New Zealand Companies do not use
target search terms within their home page text. Do you?
Addressing all these elements will ensure your web site has
the best chance possible of being visible in search engines and easily found by your
target audience. |