trying to increase SEO, new website..

[sharplawnsturf]

http://www.sharplawnsturf.com i've been working at trying to increase my ranking on google.. i know its gonna take time. i do reach top of page on a google search for all my additional services with my city name.. 'mulch installation dallas, ga', 'fire ant control dallas, ga' etc.. but still 4th page on google for lawn care. i am on the first page near bottom for lawn care in my city on yahoo and bing and lycos though, but who uses that.. i want to blog but i use godaddy, and had a blog with wordpress... godaddy does not work well with wordpress so i had to take it down due to major load time issues. i guess i'm gonna look into something else. any suggestions?

[stevef1201]

Lawn care business tips

I understand that having a facbook page, linked to you website help. It works on the number of likes your get. Be sure to put the like button on your site, and 'blog' on your facebook page. If people like your page they will connect to all your posts and advertise them to thier friends, this increases your googgle rating. Now I might be wrong on this but that is what Ihave been told.

[stevef1201]

PS I am number 2 on google search in my city

[willshome]

use photobucket and flickr.com to host your photos, in the title put your (services with my city name.. 'mulch installation dallas, ga', 'fire ant control dallas, ga' etc..)

Here is a list of places to list you site

List your business here for free Google loves wordpress.com and I set this one up with keywords about lawn care

Add to your Signature on this site your site (like I have) This website is a GREAT backlink and everytime you post its a new link

PS I am number 2 on google search in my city (I did this in two months)

[ringahding1]

@Willshome ~ I would say you are heading in the right direction regarding WordPress, Flickr & Photobucket.

As far as listing your business and actual ON-PAGE SEO(on your website or blog), keyword research is needed.

Hosting for your photos: The above are great for SEO, but if you want to put those photos in your website, you will be dragging unnecessary code along with them.

The bigger the file size on your photos the slower your website will be. When placing photos on your site, you do not want to exceed 200kb...I actually suggest 100kb or less. Speed is now officially a part of Google's Algorithm

I use Picasa & Skydrive to store my photos just in case I need these later.

Picasa is great for file size reducing. Once your photos have been uploaded, you simply export them back to your computer and choose the size of your photo.

Skydrive is also great for photo storing. It is also amazing for other aspects that can help your business, such as uploading Microsoft Documents; Excel, Word,etc. So if you are on the road and have uploaded a work schedule and cannot remember that one customer, you can access your account via your smartphone.

WordPress WordPress.com is for blogging & WordPress.org is for self-hosting(use this for your business)BUT GOOGLE loves the .ORG version.

Google Business Listing Google Places is slowly being replaced by Google+ Local, so you need to get on that, like 5 minutes ago! ! !

[The Cleaning Doctor]

Originally Posted by sharplawnsturf

http://www.sharplawnsturf.com

i've been working at trying to increase my ranking on google.. i know its gonna take time. i do reach top of page on a google search for all my additional services with my city name.. 'mulch installation dallas, ga', 'fire ant control dallas, ga' etc.. but still 4th page on google for lawn care. i am on the first page near bottom for lawn care in my city on yahoo and bing and lycos though, but who uses that..

i want to blog but i use godaddy, and had a blog with wordpress... godaddy does not work well with wordpress so i had to take it down due to major load time issues. i guess i'm gonna look into something else. any suggestions?

You can use hosting elsewhere like here

You can leave the domain registered with godaddy and then host it elsewhere.

[sharplawnsturf]

what about having to different web pages?? i thought of mabee having something like (insert city name)lawncare.com or something. (whatever i could get) then host my blog only there, with mabee a backlink to my main website?

i notice one of my competitors has 2 websites, and they are both at the first page on google.. one is the regular and one is called their corporate site. neither one is much different though besides you can pay your bill on one and not the other.

seems like another trick or scheme to move up, and i fear i could risk being sandboxed by google.. that would be my luck.

[willshome]

Originally Posted by sharplawnsturf

what about having to different web pages?? i thought of mabee having something like (insert city name)lawncare.com or something. (whatever i could get) then host my blog only there, with mabee a backlink to my main website?

I made a site with my city name in it http://brocktonlawns.wordpress.com I don't think having the town name in the domain name helps Google rank (having more than 1,000 words about lawn care does)

I think you should focus on a nice clean website with a list of services and towns you service then back link it.
What customer is going to read a blog, most just want some pics and a phone #

[The Cleaning Doctor]

You need a self hosted site not a wordpress.com site. You want to use something like brocktonlawns.com and load wordpress on that.

[bassett]

Having the town name in the URL is valued by Google, although increasingly less with each update.

Begin with the basics. Register with local business directories like HotFrog and YellowBot and develop a social media presence on FB, Twitter and G+.

These steps will increase your sites authority and standing in Google's eyes.