Updating your website - Christmas Menu

Each year changes are made to the algorithms used by Google, the criteria used by their search engine, the end result of which determines how much importance Google places on a website. This of course helps to determine how far up a page listing a website appears - is it on page 1 or page 20? Makes quite a difference when people are making a search - very few go beyond page 3 or 4 when looking at listings.

This means adapting to the many changes that Google introduce. The days are long gone when all that was required to catch the search engines were good Metatag Keywords. They just don't work anymore, Google certainly relegated these down their algorithm criteria list several years ago.

Page Content is King
The current top 'must do' is to have good page content, certainly on the Home Page. It has to contain relevant text - relevant to the website's theme that is, and have good Keyword density in the page content (as distinct from Metatag Keywords - the robots now practically ignore all the Keywords in the coding). In addition it has to have content that changes on a regular basis.


Continually changing page content - a news section
Google have a good reason for making all the changes and how they now rank websites. They want to get rid of, or downgrade, the millions of websites out there that do nothing - some websites are the same as they were when they were created - nothing has changed on some websites for years. Google want to give priority to websites that have continually changing page content - particularly on the Home Page.

To meet with this criteria we suggest to all our clients that they add new content on a regular basis, perhaps by adding a 'News Section', a small part of the Home Page that will contain regularly updated text. This is the really important bit. A website needs to keep adding/replacing text to ensure the Home Page shows something different on a regular basis.

All this to say we regularly update client's websites to make sure they always offer fresh content. As well as making it easier it get a better listing with search engines, it also encourages visitors to visit the website again. Even small websites, catering for a specific target audience, need to do this.

The White Swan
An example of this is the website of a good typical British pub in Leicestershire, The White Swan. The owner of the pub has just asked NSA to update the website with the Christmas menu. Yes, we know it's only October, but this pub offers high-class catering with an extensive menu, and is usually booked well in advance of Christmas.

NSA is a one-stop-shop, offering a wide range of services, including publishing. So, we have just completed the Christmas menu for The White Swan and put a downloadable menu on the website. You can check the website and menu here www.whiteswansileby.co.uk - perhaps you make be tempted to make a booking for your party, or perhaps to try some of the publication services from Newton-Smith Associates Ltd.