By: Monte Enbysk | Source: microsoft.com

If your business has a name that doesn’t say anything about what your business does, you’re losing potential new clients and you don’t even know it.

I know, I know — it’s a family name passed down from two or three generations. Or it’s a business you recently bought, with a brand awareness in your community that you want to keep. Go ahead and keep it.

But don’t emphasize the name on your home page — at the expense of more important wording — if it doesn’t really describe what your business does.

Why? Because unless your company’s name is Starbucks or Nike or some other household name that people right away associate with a line of products, search engine users won’t find you. Studies have shown that 75% or more, on average, will be looking in search queries not for you, but for what your business does. So you may miss out, because the search engines likely will provide them with other companies’ names.

Why should you care? Because search engines and directories average more than 300 million searches a day and are the main way Internet users discover Web sites. Estimates vary, but roughly 42% to 86% of Internet users rely each day on search engines and directories to find the Web sites they seek. Getting good listings is no longer just a bonus, it’s a necessity for companies serious about doing business online.

So, more important in the title tag (the words in a browser’s title bar) than a business name such as "Cameron, Wilson AND Boone", would be the words "Intellectual Property Law" or "Handmade Leather Goods" or "Financial Planning for Baby Boomers." The reason is simple: That is what most search engines look for in selecting placements in their listings.

Put your specialty in your title tag and make it very prominent on your home page. Focus on what your audience is looking for. If you must include your name, do it after you’ve mentioned what your company does.

Company names do have a place — in logos, footers and the "About Us" section of a Web site. That way, most companies won’t lose the small number of people who actually type in a company name in a search query. The users will go straight to the company’s "About Us" section.

Here are seven other simple tips:

1. Worry more about getting keywords into title tags and body text than in meta tags. Meta tags have two components: a brief summary description of your site and a series of keywords that you’d want people to use to find your site. Together, they provide a framework for search engines to know where to list your site. Many people, however, spend more time strategizing on keywords for meta tags than for their Web site content, which is a mistake. The title tag is far more important than the meta tag. "The meta tag is important, but for different reasons." Some search engines, such as Inktomi and Fast Search, will display your meta-tag description on their search results pages. Again, concentrate on getting keywords on the text on your site.

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