BY PETER JONES<\/strong> If a business wants to attract customers to its website, it may want to attract Google first.<\/span><\/p>\n The technology firm that is synonymous with providing information operates what many consider to be the most vital search engine on the internet. By some estimates, Google is responsible for more than 65 percent of the world\u2019s web searches, cycling through billions of webpages\u2014and billions of dollars\u2014by way of searchable keywords. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just that simple, people are trained to go [to Google],\u201d said Cindy Novak, Colorado branch manager of Greenwood Village-based Web.com. \u201cBecause they give good information, people keep going back. \u2026 We laugh and jokingly call it the Google gods.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Who\u2019s joking? The internet marketing firm is one of only 18 Google \u201cpremier partners\u201d in the world, meaning Web.com knows a thing or two about searchable terms and website content. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cGoogle is not in the assumption game,\u201d Novak told a breakfast meeting of the Greater Englewood Chamber of Commerce last week. \u201cJust because you\u2019re a landscaper, they\u2019re not going to assume you have mowing services unless you tell them. Just because you\u2019re a banker doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re going to assume you do loans.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n This key is search-engine optimization, Novak said. If a website lacks the right information\u2014or even the right word choice\u2014in the forest of Internet choices, will anyone be there to click, and will the cash register make a sound? <\/span><\/p>\n Even the esoteric coding hidden behind web photos is important for Google and other search engines as they analyze websites for searchable material, Novak told business owners. Don\u2019t name a photo something as bland as \u201cwall,\u201d even for coding purposes\u2014call it a \u201cmeeting space\u201d or something more directly related to the business\u2019s services or products.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cGoogle reads your website like a book, top to bottom, left to right,\u201d Novak said. \u201cIt\u2019s critical you use words your customers use to search for your business.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n And if those customers are not such great spellers when it comes to \u201cvien\u201d for \u201cvein\u201d or \u201cbagles\u201d for \u201cbagels,\u201d find a way to incorporate their errors into the coding. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe goal of a website should be to drive calls, drive leads, drive visits and drive sales,\u201d Novak said. \u201c\u2026 There\u2019s a lot of folks out there looking for what you do and where you do it, and if you\u2019re not popping up they\u2019re going to your competition.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n That is even true, she said, for mom-and-pop businesses that tend to rely on locals, noting that 90 percent of local shoppers start online and that a neighborhood typically sees a 25 percent turnover in residents every year.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSo if we all do the math, in four years you\u2019ve had almost 100 percent turnover. How are you reaching the new 25 percent of the folks?\u201d Novak asked.<\/span><\/p>\n A website will also lose points if it lacks video content or is not optimized for those ubiquitous mobile devices that now account for half of all web searches.<\/span><\/p>\n And when clever presentation and targeted search words are not enough, a business can pay for search marketing, essentially \u201cbidding\u201d on the clicking of certain keywords, spelled right or not. Such paid searches can be limited by geographic area.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re in Englewood, someone in Steamboat Springs is probably not going to drive down for you to clean their teeth,\u201d Novak said. If you don\u2019t believe her, just Google it, as is now the universal dictum. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWho says I need a facial tissue?\u201d Novak said, citing a quick analogy. \u201cI was hoping to remember what it was called, other than a Kleenex.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Words are \u2018key,\u2019 web maven tells businesses BY PETER JONES NEWS EDITOR If a business wants to attract customers to its website, it may want to attract Google first. The technology firm that is synonymous with providing information operates what many consider to be the most vital search engine on the internet. By some estimates, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3101,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3100\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloradostatesman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nNEWS EDITOR<\/span><\/p>\n
\nIf you optimize your site for Google, she said, it will be optimized in general.<\/span><\/p>\n