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Search Engine
Strategies
Perhaps the
most important -- and inexpensive -- strategy is to rank
high for your preferred keywords on the main search engines
in "organic" or "natural" searches (as opposed to paid ads).
Search engines send robot "spiders" to index the content of
your webpage, so let's begin with steps to prepare your
webpages for optimal indexing. The idea here is not to trick
the search engines, but to leave them abundant clues as to
what your webpage is about. This approach is called "search
engine optimization," abbreviated as SEO.
1. Write a Keyword-Rich Page Title.
Write a descriptive
title for each page -- rich in keywords you want people to
find you with -- using 5 to 8 words. Remove as many "filler"
words from the title (such as "the," "and," etc.) as
possible, while still making it readable.
Plan to use some descriptive keywords along with your
business name on your home page. If you specialize in
'second income' and that's what people will be searching
for, don't just use your company name "Earn Money
Online.co.za .," use "Second income -- Earn Money
Online.co.za" The words people are most likely to search on
should appear first in the title (called "keyword
prominence"). Remember, this title is your identity on the
search engines. The more people see that interests them in
the blue hyperlinked words on the search engine, the more
likely they are to click on the link.
2. Write a Description META Tag.
Some search engines include
this description below your hyperlinked title in the search
results. The description should be a sentence or two
describing the content of the webpage, using the main
keywords and keyphrases on this page. Don't include keywords
that don't appear on the webpage. Place the Description META
Tag at the top of the webpage:
<META NAME="DESCRIPTION" CONTENT="Increase visitor hits,
attract traffic through submitting URLs, META tags, news
releases, banner ads, and reciprocal links.">
The maximum number of characters should be about 255; just
be aware that only the first 60 or so are visible on Google,
though more may be indexed.
When I prepare a webpage, I write the article first, then
develop a keyword-rich title. Then I write a description of
the content in that article in a sentence or two, using each
of the important keywords and keyphrases included in the
article. This goes into the description META tag.
Next, I strip out the common words, leaving just the meaty
keywords and phrases and insert those into the keywords META
tag. It's no longer used much for ranking, but I'm leaving
it in anyway. I think it may have some minor value. So to
summarize so far, every webpage in your site should have a
distinct title and META description tag. If you implement
these two points, you're well on your way to better search
engine ranking.
3. Include Your Keywords in Headers (H1, H2, H3).
Search
engines consider keywords that appear in the page headline
and sub heads to be important to the page, so make sure your
desired keywords and phrases appear in one or two header
tags. Don't expect the search engine to parse your Cascading
Style Sheet (CSS) to figure out which are the headlines --
it won't. Instead, use keywords in the H1, H2, and H3 tags
to provide clues to the search engine. (Note: Some designers
no longer use the H1, H2 tags. That's a big mistake. Make
sure your designer defines these tags in the CSS rather than
creating headline tags with other names.)
4. Position Your Keywords in the First Paragraph of Your
Body Text.
Search engines expect that your first paragraph
will contain the important keywords for the document --
where most people write an introduction to the content of
the page. You don't want to just artificially stuff keywords
here, however. More is not better. Google might expect a
keyword density in the entire body text area of maybe 1.5%
to 2% for a word that should rank high, so don't overdo it.
5. Include Descriptive Keywords in the ALT Attribute of
Image Tags.
This helps
your site be more accessible to site-impaired visitors and
gives additional clues to the search engines. The ALT
attributes do help get your images ranked higher for image
search (see #12 below).
6. Use Keywords in Hyperlinks.
Search engines are looking
for clues to the focus of your webpage. When they see words
hyperlinked in your body text, they consider these
potentially important, so hyperlink your important keywords
and keyphrases. To emphasize it even more, the webpage you
are linking to could have a page name with the keyword or
keyphrase, such as earn-money -- another clue for the
search engine.
7. Make Your Navigation System Search Engine Friendly.
You
want search engine robots to find all the pages in your
site. JavaScript and Flash navigation menus that appear when
you hover are great for humans, but search engines don't
read JavaScript and Flash very well. Therefore, supplement
JavaScript and Flash menus with regular HTML links at the
bottom of the page, ensuring that a chain of hyperlinks
exists that take a search engine spider from your home page
to every page in your site. Don't set up your navigation
system using HTML frames (an old, out-dated approach); they
can cause severe indexing problems.
8. Create a Site Map.
A site map page with links to all your
pages can help search engines (and visitors) find all your
pages, particularly if you have a larger site. Upload your
sitemap to your website. Then submit your sitemap to Google,
Yahoo!, and Bing (formerly MSN), following instructions on
their sites. By the way, Google Webmaster Central (www.google.com/webmasters/)
has lots of tools to help you get ranked higher. Be sure to
set up a free account and explore what they have to offer.
9. Develop Webpages Focused on
each one of Your Target Keywords.
SEO specialists no longer recommend using external doorway
or gateway pages, since nearly duplicate webpages might get
you penalized. Rather, develop several webpages on your
site, each of which is focused on a target keyword or
keyphrase for which you would like a high ranking. Let's say
you sell teddy bears. Use Google Insights for Search (www.google.com/insights/search/)
to find the related keywords people search on.
10. Fine-tune
with Careful Search Engine Optimization.
Now fine-tune
your focused-content pages and perhaps your home page, by
making a series of minor adjustments to help them rank
higher.
Frankly, this kind of SEO fine-tuning is time-consuming,
painstaking work that takes a lot of specialized knowledge.
For this reason, many small and large businesses outsource
search engine optimization.
11. Promote Your Local Business on the Internet.
These days
many people search for local businesses on the Internet. To
make sure they find you, include on every page of your
website the street address, zip code, phone number, and the
five or 10 other local community place names your business
serves. If you can, include place names in the title tag,
too. When you seek links to your site, you
should request links from local businesses with place names
in the communities you serve and complementary businesses in
your industry nationwide.
Also create a free listing for your local business on Google
Maps Local Business Center (www.google.com/local/add) and
Yahoo! Local (listings.local.yahoo.com). That way your
business can show up on a map when people do a local search.
12. Promote Your Video, Images, and Audio Content.
Google's
"universal search" displays not only webpage content, but
also often displays near the top of the page relevant
listings for images, videos, local businesses, and audio clips. Therefore, consider creating such
content appropriate to your business and then optimizing it
so it can be ranked high enough to help you. For example, if
you were to get a top-ranking, informative video on YouTube
(www.youtube.com) that mentions your site, it could drive a
lot of traffic to your site.
Linking Strategies
Links to your site from other sites drive additional
traffic. But since Google and other major search engines
consider the number of incoming links to your website ("link
popularity") as an important indicator of relevance, more
links will help you rank higher in the search engines.
Google has a measure called PageRank that reflects the
quantity and quality of incoming links. All links aren't all
equal. Links from trusted, popular sites help your site rank
higher than links from lower traffic sites.
13. Submit Your Site to Key Directories.
Since a link from a
directory will help your ranking -- and get you traffic. A
directory is not a search engine. Rather, it is a
hierarchical listing of sites sorted according to category
and subcategory. Be sure to list your site in the free Open
Directory Project (www.dmoz.com), overseen by overworked
volunteer editors. But if you don't get listed right away,
don't be impatient and resubmit, or you'll go to the end of
the queue. A link in this directory will help you a lot.
Yahoo! Directory (dir.yahoo.com) is another important
directory. Real humans read submission, so be careful to
follow the instruction given. Hint: Use somewhat less than
the maximum number of characters allowable, so you don't
have wordy text that will tempt the Yahoo! editor to begin
chopping. Yahoo! Directory Submit Other
paid business directories that might help are About.com and
Business.com
14. Submit Your Site to Trade Organization Sites and
Specialized Directories.
Some directories focused on
particular industries, such as education or finance. You
probably belong to various trade associations that feature
member directories. Ask for a link. Even if you have to pay
something for a link from the organization, it may help
boost your PageRank.
Marginal directories, however, come and go very quickly,
making it hard to keep up, so don't try to be exhaustive
here. Beware of directories that solicit you for "upgraded
listings." Unless a directory is widely used in your field,
a premium ad is a waste of money -- but the (free) link
itself will help boost your PageRank and hence your search
engine ranking.
15. Request Reciprocal Links.
Find websites in your general
niche and request a reciprocal link to your site.
Develop an out-of-the way page where you put links to other
sites -- so you don't send people out the back door as fast
as you bring them in the front door. Your best results will
be from sites that generate a similar amount of traffic as
your own site. High-traffic site webmasters are too busy to
answer your requests for a link and don't have anything to
gain. Look for smaller sites that may have linking pages.
When you locate sites, send a personal e-mail using the
contact e-mail on the site or to the administrative contact
listed in a Whois Directory.
If e-mail doesn't get a response, try a phone call. Warning:
Only link to complementary sites, no matter how often you
are bombarded with requests to exchange links with a
mortgage site that has nothing to do with your teddy bear
store. One way Google determines what your site is about is
who you link to and who links to you. It's not just links,
but quality links you seek. Reciprocal linking as hard,
tedious work, but it doesn't cost you a dime out of pocket!
Keep working at this continuously, a little bit at a time.
Patience and persistence will get you some good links, so
keep at it.
16. Write Articles for Others to Use in Websites and
Newsletters.
You can dramatically increase your visibility
when you write articles in your area of expertise and
distribute them to editors as free content for their e-mail
newsletters or their websites. Just ask that a link to your
website and a one-line description of what you offer be
included with the article. This is an effective "viral"
approach that can produce hundreds of links to your site
over time. You'll find lots of information on how to do this
from the most popular article marketing site, EzineArticles.com. When you create a free membership
account, they begin sending you instructions and ideas each
week.
17. Issue News
Releases.
Find
newsworthy events and send news releases to print and Web
periodicals in your industry. The links to your site in
online news databases may remain for several months and will
temporarily improve traffic to your site and increase link
popularity.
Social Media
Our next type of website promotion comes from the
mushrooming field of social media, in which people are
encouraged to interact with each other, and respond to each
other's blog postings and comments. You should be aware of
four types of social media: (1) blogs, (2) social networking
sites, (3) social bookmarking sites, and (4) forums. Don't
be upset if the distinctions between types of social media
tend to blur. Social media help promote your site by sending
direct traffic, producing links to your site, and generating
awareness. The subject is too diverse to go into detail
here.
18. Begin a Business Blog.
Want links to your site? Begin a
business blog on your website, hosted on your own domain. If
you offer excellent content and regular industry comment,
people are likely to link to it, increasing your site's PageRank.
Consistency and having something to say are key. If you have a blog on a third-party blog site, occasionally
find reasons to talk about and link to your own domain.
19. Become Part of a Social Media Community.
Some of the
best online communities for business include Facebook (www.facebook.com),
LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com), and Twitter (www.twitter.com).
In addition, you may want to participate in a social
bookmarking community in which members share with each other
information about websites, articles, or news items that
they like (or don't like). These include Digg (www.digg.com),
Delicious (www.delicious.com), StumbleUpon (www.stumbleupon.com),
and Google Bookmarks (www.google.com/bookmarks/). Search
engine spiders troll these sites looking for links to
something new and relevant. You can usually place a link to
your website in your profile, but the biggest gain comes
when other people mention you (which generates traffic to
your site), link to you (which increases your PageRank and
brings traffic), or bookmark you (which increases your
PageRank and brings traffic, see #21 below).
One important reminder, don't join a community to spam them
or talk incessantly about your business. Like any community
you must listen, comment, and make a genuine contribution
for the good of others. Don't hog the conversation.
Otherwise, your self-serving links and comments will hurt
your reputation.
20. Promote Your Site in Online Forums and Discussion Lists
The Internet offers thousands
of very targeted e-mail based discussion lists, online
forums, and groups made up of people with very specialized
interests. Use Google Groups (groups.google.com) to find
appropriate groups. Search online for blogs or other forums.
Don't bother with groups consisting of pure spam. Instead,
find groups where a serious dialog is taking place. Don't
use aggressive marketing and overtly plug your product or
service. Rather, add to the discussion in a helpful way and
let the "signature" at the end of your e-mail message do
your marketing for you. People will gradually get to know
and trust you, visit your site, and do business with you.
Traditional Strategies
Just because "old media" strategies aren't on the Internet
doesn't mean they aren't effective. A mixed media approach
can be very effective.
22. Include Your URL on Stationery, Cards, and Literature.
Make sure that all business cards, stationery, brochures,
and literature contain your company's URL. And see that your
printer gets the URL syntax correct. In print, I recommend
leaving off the http:// part and including only the www.domain.com portion.
23. Promote using traditional media.
Don't discontinue print
advertising that you've found effective. But be sure to
include your URL in any display or classified ads you
purchase in trade journals, newspapers, yellow pages, etc.
View your website as an information adjunct to the ad. Use a
two-step approach: (1) capture readers' attention with the
ad, (2) then refer them to a URL where they can obtain more
information and perhaps place an order. Look carefully at
small display or classified ads in the back of
narrowly-targeted magazines or trade periodicals. Sometimes
these ads are more targeted, more effective, and less
expensive than online advertising. Consider other
traditional media to drive people to your site, such as
direct mail, classifieds, post cards, etc. TV can be used to
promote websites, especially in a local market.
24. Develop a Free Service.
It's boring to invite people,
"Come to our site and learn about our business." It's quite
another to say "Use the free kitchen remodeling
calculator available exclusively on our site." Make no
mistake, it's expensive in time and energy to develop free
resources, such as our Research Room, but it
is very rewarding in increased traffic to your site -- and a
motivation to link to the site! Make sure that your free
service is closely related to what you are selling so the
visitors you attract will be good prospects for your
business. Give visitors multiple opportunities and links to
cross over to the sales portion of your site.
E-Mail Strategies
Don't neglect e-mail as an important way to bring people to
your website. Just don't spam, that is, don't send bulk
unsolicited e-mails without permission to people with whom
you have no relationship. Many countries have anti-spam
laws.
25. Install a "Signature" in your E-Mail Program
To help
potential customers get in touch with you. Most e-mail
programs allow you to designate a "signature" to appear at
the end of each message you send. Limit it to 6 to 8 lines:
Company name, address, phone number, URL, e-mail address,
and a one-phrase description of your unique business
offering. Look for examples on e-mail messages sent to you.
26. Publish an E-Mail Newsletter.
While it requires a
commitment of time, creating a monthly e-mail publication is
one of the most important promotion techniques. It could be
a newsletter ("ezine"), list of tips, industry updates,
or new product information -- whatever you believe your
customers will appreciate. This is a great way to keep in
touch with your prospects, generate trust, develop brand
awareness, and build future business. It also helps you
collect e-mail addresses from those who visit your site, but
aren't yet ready to make a purchase. If you have a
very small list, some of these services let you use their
services free until you grow larger. Blogs are very popular,
but don't really replace e-mail newsletters. You have to go
to a blog to read it, while an e-mail newsletter appears in
your inbox asking to be read.
27. Aggressively Ask for E-Mail Sign-ups.
If you want to get
subscribers to your e-mail newsletter, you'll need to work
hard at it. Include a subscription form on every page of
your website. Promote sign-ups through free whitepapers,
e-books, or other products. If you have a local business,
ask customers to sign up for your e-mail list to get
"special Internet only offers." Also ask other
businesspeople when they give you a business card if you can
send them your e-mail newsletter. While only the e-mail
address itself is necessary, I always ask for a first name
also, so I can personalize the newsletter and the e-mail
subject line with the recipient's name.
28. Send Transactional and Reminder E-Mails. A transactional
e-mail is sent to an existing customer to initiate, remind,
confirm, or thank the person. Be creative. If you keep
careful records, you can send e-mails to customers on their
birthday to remind them to return to your site. Subscription
confirmation e-mails can also mention several popular
products. You might remind customers that it has been three
months since their last order and ask if it's time for a
refill. Thank you for your purchase e-mails can offer a
coupon to bring your customer back for a future sale. Use
your imagination, but don't pester your customers. You're
there to serve them, not the other way around.
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