Google's "Golden Triangle" of search results
Recent research has uncovered that web users looking at Google's search results tend to get "trapped" in what's been dubbed the "Golden Triangle." The triangle reaches out from the top left of the search results page, with 100% of viewers looking at the top 3 organic search results ("organic" results are those based on relevancy; "sponsored" results are in the right-hand column and are pay-for-placement). Seventy-two percent of users click on the first link in the search results.

Searchers then scan down the page in a rough "F" shape, looking laterally at the top results and then vertically, with less lateral scanning the farther down the list they go. The fourth link receives 85% visibility; the fifth receives 60%; and the sixth 50% visibility. Fewer than 50% of people click to the second page of search results.

What does this mean for you? If you expect to receive traffic to your site from organic search results, you need to be no lower than fifth place to reach over 50% of Google users. People are more skilled at searching, phrasing keywords better and scanning for the most relevant links.

Five easy ways to help your site rank higher in search engines
So how do you fly into Google's Golden Triangle? Here are five things you can do to improve your site's rankings:

• Use keywords in your page title. Use the same ones your target market uses, but don't "stuff" the title. Make it brief, readable English.
• Sprinkle keywords in your home page copy. Home page copy should be at least 250 words long, with a "keyword density" of about 7%. Again, don't overdo. You can be banned from Google if you "stuff" the page with keywords anywhere. Google knows.
• Include text links to all your site's pages. Google follows text links, not images that function as links (i.e. navigation buttons).
• Put real, valuable, interesting, relevant content on your site. Believe it or not, Google cares.
• Encourage other sites to link to yours. This is the most important factor in organic rankings. Sites should be related to your business in some way; for instance, an incoming link from your trade organization is far more valuable than a link from your daughter's personal home page.
• (Bonus point) You get an extra boost if those incoming links are text links and include your keywords.

And remember, there's no point in getting good organic rankings if visitors are disappointed when they arrive at your site. Good copywriting, in readable, conversational English, will help turn that site visitor into a customer.

Our latest speaking engagements
Cairril Mills, principal of Cairril.com Design & Marketing, recently was the featured speaker at a variety of area classes. At Ned Shaw's The Business of Art class, she spoke about marketing via the Web. She taught the segment on marketing in SEED Corp.'s Small Business Planning course in early May. And she shared Web and design tips and tricks with students at Aurora Alternative High School in Bloomington as part of her volunteer work with the Franklin Initiative, a program of the Chamber of Commerce.

To invite Cairril to speak on branding, marketing principles, print and web design, or how to integrate online and offline marketing efforts, please contact us!

This month's winner: Meryl K. Evans!
In addition to impaired eyesight due to bad color combinations, Meryl wins a digital print featuring this one-of-a-kind design. Have a favorite quote or saying? Send it in! If your quote is chosen, you'll receive a digital print of your custom design, suitable for framing! Check out your competition here.

See the creative process for the design above

Icebreakers
A new joint venture between inVenture, the Bloomington Economic Development Center, and Bloomington Life Sciences Partnership (BLSP), Icebreakers is a monthly networking event focused on technology-oriented companies. We were hired to develop the Icebreakers logo.

Icebreakers is not "just another networking event." Its purpose is to bring together companies and higher education professionals in technology-oriented and life sciences fields in order to share resources, provide advice, build relationships, and help move their projects to the next level.

Working with the sparkling Steve Bryant (BLSP) and the scintillating Brian Kleber (inVenture), we developed a logo which captures the themes of technology, networking, hipness, and fun. Since the logo will likely be displayed alongside the logos of its sponsoring organizations, we designed it to complement them both.

We selected a funky typeface that suggests edginess and fun without getting too far "out there." The gestural abstract shapes over the "I" represent the creative exchange of small knots of people talking. They also refer to the archetypal "scribbles on a paper napkin" that so often lead to innovative ideas. The color scheme is dynamic and warm, while harmonizing with the other logos. Circles and rules complete the logo, evoking circuits and electronic loops. We finished by cutting the tagline down to its essence and tucking it in under the logo.

The first event, held 19 May at Grazie, was a smash success, with nearly 50 people attending from a wide variety of Bloomington-area firms and organizations. The next Icebreakers will take place Wednesday, 15 June, 5:30-7:30 pm, at Grazie (on the Square), with guest speaker Brooke Pyne discussing SBIR/STTR grants.

View the logo designed by Cairril.com