kittybreed
Green Belt
Before students can sign up for lessons at your school they have to be able to find you. People who are unfamiliar with the martial arts but want to learn have to start somewhere. In the past, they would reach for the phone book. Today they think about using a search engine.
Most people go to Google.com when they need to get information quickly. Yes, there are other search engines but Google is the mother of them all. Many people never look past the first page of Google listings. In fact, the vast majority of people select one of the 5 top choices or try another search term.
That said, your Google rating is important. You want potential students to find you listed on the first page of listings for the seach term they select. Google uses a complex formula to determine rankings. Depending upon the search term used, the top ranking could be due to the number of hits a site gets or a fee paid to ensure a top listing or something else you cannot control. However, you want potential students to find you easily on the web so you really want to be found in the top five listings and there are things you can do to improve your page ranking.
So how can a small school increase its Google rating? Rankings can be increased by posting to online forums (including MT), by mentions in blogs, and bulletins by students on My Space. The importance of My Space as a marketing tool cannot be overemphasized. Search engines constantly comb My Space blogs and bulletins. You can actually find mentions of your school by your students if you look deep enough in you Google rankings.
Don't make the mistake of asking students to post the same items in their blogs though. The search engine spiders can see past that and can penalize your ranking if they detect trickery. I have seen my own (Combaton) google rise and fall and speak from experience. If multiple blogs are saying the same thing, even if it is not intentional, Google will penalize you.
Actions to consider to increase your Google rankings
Most people go to Google.com when they need to get information quickly. Yes, there are other search engines but Google is the mother of them all. Many people never look past the first page of Google listings. In fact, the vast majority of people select one of the 5 top choices or try another search term.
That said, your Google rating is important. You want potential students to find you listed on the first page of listings for the seach term they select. Google uses a complex formula to determine rankings. Depending upon the search term used, the top ranking could be due to the number of hits a site gets or a fee paid to ensure a top listing or something else you cannot control. However, you want potential students to find you easily on the web so you really want to be found in the top five listings and there are things you can do to improve your page ranking.
So how can a small school increase its Google rating? Rankings can be increased by posting to online forums (including MT), by mentions in blogs, and bulletins by students on My Space. The importance of My Space as a marketing tool cannot be overemphasized. Search engines constantly comb My Space blogs and bulletins. You can actually find mentions of your school by your students if you look deep enough in you Google rankings.
Don't make the mistake of asking students to post the same items in their blogs though. The search engine spiders can see past that and can penalize your ranking if they detect trickery. I have seen my own (Combaton) google rise and fall and speak from experience. If multiple blogs are saying the same thing, even if it is not intentional, Google will penalize you.
Actions to consider to increase your Google rankings
- Maintain a webpage for your school and keep it current.
- Maintain links to other schools in your discipline. Ask the other schools to return the favor.
- Create a Blog (Online Web-based Diary) for your school and post to it at least weekly. www.Blogger.com is a free and easy to start blog website. It does have the heart of a nerd but I figured it out and you can too. Be sure to put "tags" on your posts so the search engines can find out about you. (A word to the wise-the navibar at the top is not your friend if kids visit your blog. I have not been successful in disabling it but it can be done.)
- Post pictures on your blog and webpage to encourage new and return web traffic. They may be picked up a Google images.
- Post on online forums. Keep in mind that anything you say will be visible to someone somewhere.
- Network and talk to other schools and see what they are doing.
- Do good things for others and good will come back to you. It took me less than 10 minutes to create www.upcomingfloridatournaments.blogspot.com. to help others promote their tournaments and I saw it in Google the next day.
