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 Great! The web site has been built and you've told everyone about your brand new site, but you're not getting the traffic you expected. You've even done all your homework and carefully registered your new investment with all the search engines to guarantee people find you. Now you just kick back and watch your bank account grow like a fertilized weed, right?
Read on... |
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The first thing you need to understand is that it takes some time for the search engines to index your site. It is not an overnight thing. Keep in mind that these search engines receive thousands of requests daily. So have some patience and take a number. Sometimes it will even take several submissions, over several months, to index your site. And just because you received a confirmation e-mail from each search engine, does not guarantee they will add you. In the meantime, there are many other things you can to do for the success of your site. Some of these are on-line and some are by other means. We'll start with some tried and true methods for promoting your site. |
- You need to make sure your site looks correct in all browsers and at any resolution. It's worth noting that different versions of the same manufacturer of software will yield different results. You need to be aware of this. For example, observe this next phrase.
If you have Netscape 3.0 or newer, that phrase should be blinking on and off. If you are using Internet Explorer 3.0 or newer, it is probably sliding back and forth across the screen on a pinkish background. If you are using the regular A.O.L. browser through the A.O.L. network, it is probably doing nothing. Various browsers and/or networks respond in various ways. Be sure to check your site in multiple browsers (Netscape, Microsoft Internet Explorer, etc.,) and AOL to insure that your web pages will accurately and effectively transmit your message to your target audience. After all, there's really no sense in promoting a site that's not customer friendly, consistent, and functional. Run the site by everyone you know and ask them to critique it. Be super critical. At minimum, make sure the site is graphically appealing, loads fast, easy to navigate, has no typographical errors, contains descriptive definitions for your products and services, and is well organized. Remember, YOU WILL NOT GET A SECOND CHANCE TO MAKE THAT FIRST IMPRESSION. MAKE IT COUNT!
- Use META tags in all your pages within the site. They are essential when it comes to effectively promoting your web site. The majority of search engines out there use at least some of them when indexing your site so you need to be using them. Keywords, Description and Title tags should be included as a minimum, and each should be set to focus on the content of the specific page, remaining where possible within the 'theme' of the site. Add 'robot instruction' tags indicating which pages should be indexed by the search engines and which should not. If you have pages that detract from the overall theme of the site, use the robot exclusion tag <META NAME'"robots" content="noindex,nofollow"> within the opening <HEAD> </HEAD> tags to exclude search engines from visiting those pages. Avoid using 'Meta Refresh' tags that automatically direct the visitor to a different page. However, for those of you that have sites that must use this technique (splash intros), set the refresh time to a minimum of 15 seconds, or use the robot exclusion tag described above. Design a navigation structure that allows search engines to crawl the important content pages from the home page. This is easily done by carefully placing transparent image files and setting them as hyperlinks. Remember that using Java, Flash or frames to facilitate navigation can often present a 'closed door' to search engines, preventing key areas of your site from being indexed. For more on META tags and promotion in general, see this page.
- Use the alt-image attribute and name images descriptively. Some search engines read the alt text and it can help to get the site indexed. When naming pages within the site, don't just choose 'page_01.html' or 'home.html'. These are non-descriptive and have no relevance to a search engine. Name pages using relevant keywords that pertain to your site. For example, if you sell vitamins on your site, use 'vitamin-b.html' or 'vitamin-c.html' as names for pages. This one method can make a huge difference, try it.
- It is a nice touch and very professional to have an auto-responder in place to provide instant information to inquirers. An auto-responder will automatically send a reply back with your custom message when someone e-mails you from the site. While we're on the subject of e-mail, it goes without saying that you need to answer all e-mail professionally, promptly and thoroughly. If you don't have the time to do this yourself, delegate this task to an employee. This is very important and cannot be over stated.
- Write and offer a free, e-mailable newsletter or site update that will go to anyone who signs up for it. This way when you update the site you can send these people an e-mail letting them know about what's changed, specials, or product close-outs on the site. This helps to build excitement about your site. And remember, they signed up for it. So they're looking forward to it. This on-line feature can create as much of a real sense of community for your customers as a comfortable bookshop with plush chairs and good coffee. Your site can feel like a real neighborhood, promoting interaction among your enthusiastic customers and, not so incidentally, encouraging them to continue to purchase your products and services.
- Start a contest or on-line poll on your site and be sure to post the winner or statistics too. Choosing a product or service as a giveaway or coming up with an on-line poll relevant to the site to entice customer interaction is yet another way to generate traffic to your site.
- Along that same line, have your web site sponsor a worthwhile, significant local contest, promotion, or philanthropic activity. You'll be helping the community and getting some positive press for your site all at the same time. Be sure to promote it vigorously.
- Post your URL in the appropriate news group. Lurk first. Watch the group for about a week before you post anything. Re-post periodically, say every week. Choose the right newsgroups. Most are intolerant of blatant marketing. A good place to start is comp.infosystems.www.announce which gets a lot of subscribers (and a lot of postings), and then look around for groups related to your subject. It's vital to keep a close watch for feedback and respond quickly. Post your reply and email the same message to the person, just in case.
- Exchange reciprocal links. The concept of exchanging reciprocal links is a simple one. You give someone a link from your page in exchange for a link from theirs. Exchanging links with the right kind of site can bring in just as much traffic as good listings on search engines, if not more.
- Now that you have all of the above in place, it's time to seize every opportunity to publicize it off-line.
- Put your URL (web address) and e-mail address on all your business communications, including company stationary, business cards, brochures, flyers, trade show booths, direct mail, billboards, magnetic signs for all your company vehicles, and print and broadcast advertisements. Don't worry about the http:// part, just use www.yourcompany.com since that's all most browsers need anyway. Not to mention, it's shorter and easier to remember.
- Get your URL circulating to your target audience by sending postcards to your customer list inviting people to visit your site and maybe give a brief description of what to expect. Print extras and pass them out at your place of business and all the places you speak or network.
- Run a small display ad in trade and local newspapers with only a catchy phrase and your URL ("Where's the cheapest to buy compact discs? Point your web browser to www.discorama.com").
- Send press releases announcing your site and briefly describe its contents to local and regional media, relevant trade and business publications, and national media, where appropriate.
- Avoid those that say they'll register you with 500 search engines or more. This is a marketing gimmick. There are only around 28 major search engines that people use. Concentrate on making it on those 28. If you do that you should have more than enough traffic. Some of these get their data from the a shared database. So, many times if you make it into one, you make it into others. We offer a search engine submission service to these 28 major search engines. And we do it manually to each one - one-by-one. We have 2 different submission plans. Click here to see both plans and pricing.
- And last but certainly not least is Directories that specialize in your field, occupation, or product. Type in your product or service at any search engine and see who comes out on top. Visit the top few sites and see if one or more of them are a directory or site that lists your product or service, or related directly to your product or service. If the Directory offers you a free link or listing in their directory, immediately enter your web site address and create a professional listing for yourself. This creates relevance. Search engines may also give these web pages a "boost". For example, Excite uses link popularity as part of its ranking method. It can tell which of the pages in its index have a lot of links pointing at them. These pages are given a slight boost during ranking, since a page with many links to it is probably well-regarded on the Internet. The bottom line is the more links you can create on the web, the better. Once you have confirmed you are being listed, be sure to make special note as to your position in the listing and possibly your category. If your listing does not come up within the first three pages in a directory or search engine, the chances of being seen are very low. If your listing does not come up within the first three pages , be sure you have tried all of the marketing efforts mentioned above to get the traffic to your site.
Careful consideration to the basics is often enough to secure good page rankings with some of the top search engines. If your site design follows the above guidelines, it will be much easier to 'fine-tune' pages at a later stage, if necessary. Even if your site is already online, these techniques can still be applied retrospectively, though making changes is always more difficult than getting it right the first time.
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| We offer 2 different plans for URL Site Submission to the search engines for your website. Learn more about this service here. |
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