Many health and wellness web sites are always looking for ways to improve their Alexa ranking, Google ranking, social media skills, and SEO. The Tech Tools section of this web site will have basic tips from experts and non-experts alike who will share their successes with the audience of this blog. Hopefully, they will help anyone who has their own web site improve the sites popularity.

If you have a tip, use the contact link above to send it along.

Below are tips from 3 members of the Oxiem Brand Interact team

One of the most important steps to achieving better local search results is to optimize the title tags of your website. Title tags are the set of words seen at the very top of your web browser and are used in the first line of search results. Similar to chapter titles in a book, title tags should clearly state the central theme of the content you’re about to read. Search engines look for clues about the content of a webpage by viewing what keywords are used in the title tags, and each page should have its own unique title tag, different from any other page on the site. In addition, title tags should:

· Contain no more than 8-10 words, or 70 characters total

· Use the most important keywords first (far left), as these words are given the most weight or value to search engines

· Use a pipe (“|”) to separate phrases, and not commas or dashes (ex: “Local Fitness Center | Health Clubs | Dayton, OH”)

· Use geographic references to help your site rank locally (see previous example)

· Reflect the central theme or content of the page being described

Using unique title tags for each page on your site is one of the most important steps to optimizing a website, and should be done with the user in mind (not just Google).

– David Kragel, search marketing manager, Oxiem Brand Interactions

1. Google Places – If you have a physical location, a gym forinstance, local results are going to be essential. I would guess that the majority of the people looking for a gym want one that’s close. The biggest tip to increase the presence of your site here is reviews. The more good reviews, the better. Also, keep your contact info consistent everywhere that it is listed, as Google uses this info to verify your address.

2. Write about your classes/offerings – Outside of generic “gym” and “health club” terms, people are most likely searching for specific types of classes such as “pilates,” “spinning,” and “boxing.” Create a specific page for each type of class that you offer. This allows you to tell Google what your site is about so when people ask (search) Google, it will tell them about you.

3. Participate in health/fitness forums – Promote your site on different health/fitness forums (local if possible) by offering insight and help. Often these sites allow for a signature link (find ones that do)—you will want to make sure to link to your website. You want to find the forum that is most relevant to your site. Ask yourself, “Would these people like my site if they came to it?” If the answer is yes, participate. If not, move on.

Jerrod Swanton, search specialist, Oxiem Brand Interactions

Local listings: Be sure to update your site in Google Places and verify the site using their verification process. Once your Places listing is active, get at least 10 reviews from clients. Reviews are critical to maximizing your local listings. You can find more great tips on local listings here:

http://www.oxiem.com/blog/2012/07/29/local-search-listings-success-secrets/

Bill Sterzenbach, co-founder and technology director, Oxiem Brand Interactions