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So you've invested
countless hours and a pile of cash trying to create
the best website in your industry. And no one is visiting
it. Should you scream at the web designers? Your marketing
department? Or just curse the vast ocean of information
that is the Internet? While all of those seem like
viable options at first, there is a solution to your
web woes. And it begins with understanding the search
avenues your customers use to surf the Web.
Search Engines vs. Directories
While Alta Vista and About may seem like comparable
ways to search the Net, their similarities are only
superficial. Alta Vista is what is known as a search
engine; these sites create the listings for their
results automatically by having spiders scour the
Web looking for and analyzing web pages. When you
type a word or phrase into the search field, the search
engine will let you sort through the pages it has
found that are related to your query. If you change
your webpages after your site has been indexed, search
engines eventually will detect these changes, and
that can affect how you are listed. Page titles, body
copy and many other elements all play a role in the
ranking of your website in their index.
A directory such as About depends
on humans (and often some sponsored advertisements)
for its listings. To be recognized by a directory,
you must submit a short description for your entire
site, or editors write one for sites they review.
A search looks for matches only in the descriptions
submitted. Should you change your webpages, it will
have no immediate effect on your listing; it will
only change in the infrequent instance that an editor
revisits your site and doesn't like what they see.
Things that are useful for improving a listing with
a search engine have nothing to do with improving
a listing in a directory. The only exception is that
a good site, with good content, might be more likely
to get reviewed than a poor site.
Elements of a "Search-friendly"
Site:
1. Be substantial - more than one page (preferably
more than seven or eight)
2. Have value - content ought to be informative, unique
and well presented
3. Be clean and fast-loading
4. Display a professional, polished layout which utilizes
solid design principles
5. Be easy to use, including a simple and clear navigation
system
6. Use, but not in excess, ALT tags, META tags, comment
tags, hyperlinks, image names, and anchor text which
include your keywords
Submitting Websites (and
pitfalls of that process)
Directories require an effort of your part to be listed
- that is unavoidable. Search engine spiders may get
around to finding your site, but keep in mind the
number of websites that exist in the world, and remind
yourself that this number is growing exponentially.
There is a pro-active approach
you can take to improve your ranking on some search
engines. Rather than wait for a search engine to find
you, go right to the source and submit a page yourself.
Practically every search engine has its own set of
rules for submitting webpages, and those rules are
in a constant state of flux (not in the least bit
surprising considering the very nature of this medium).
But fear not, for there is help: many web design/hosting
companies can do all this work for you.
If you plan on doing the work yourself,
though, remember that all search engines/ directories
are not the same (and there are many of them); while
most require the same sort of information from your
site, the fact that they are all different explains
why the same query will fetch you varying results.
But submitting to a few won't cut it (are you willing
to take the chance that all your potential customers
use either MSN or Lycos to search the Web?). At the
same time, there is no reason to be overwhelmed by
the amount of search engines/ directories, or to go
for the "shotgun" approach (hit as many
search engines/directories as you can in one shot).
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
There are a variety of reasons why your site may not
appear on search engine after having submitted your
site. The first reason, and the most popular, is that
a sufficient amount of time needs to have passed before
you site appears in a search result. Some directories,
after having received your submission, may thank you
and give you a time frame as to when your site might
show up, but other services rely totally on robots
and spiders, little programs that crawl the Web looking
for new sites and send that info back to the search
engine. Other directories rely solely on human editors
to find and list sites. Basically, submitting your
site does not guarantee anything. It can take anywhere
from 48 hours to 45 days to never for your site to
appear in a given directory or search engine: one
simply has to wait, be patient and be vigilant.
There are some tips and tricks
to helping your site get noticed by search engines,
though. META tags, for example, are something you
may not have ever heard of, aren't essential to the
site's design, and you will never see them unless
you dig for them. They are written into the HTML code
for a site, and serve as little flags that search
engines look for when seeking out keywords on webpages.
Any keywords that you think a potential customer would
use to find you should be included in these META tags.
Another website element that you can easily miss,
but can be extremely helpful to placing well in the
results (especially for database driven sites), is
called the doorway page. This is a single webpage
(or pages) separate from your normal site, but created
to look like an interior page; it is specifically
designed to attract one type of customer. Its purpose
is to emphasize one keyword or phrase that will catch
the attention of the search engines, and to serve
as a link to your real homepage. When used with new
domain names that include that particular keyword,
they can be particularly successful. Some engines
have cracked down on sites which have spammed their
indices with doorways, but as long as your content
is relevant and original, it can only help.
Alternate Web-Based Marketing
Ideas
· Post messages/advertisements to bulletin
boards, discussion groups and newsgroups
· Set up a reciprocal linking program with
other industry-related sites
· Add pages to existing website
· Find and advertise in e-zine
· Submit articles to a list of e-zine publishers
· Sign on a joint-venture
· Sign on affiliate and/or merchant programs
Internet Marketing FAQs
I have a great looking website, so why would I
need to have it marketed?
In general, website marketing is necessary because
having a site on the Internet does not guarantee that
it will get traffic. The purpose of marketing your
site on the Web is to let people know that your business
exists.
Who needs to have their site
marketed?
Any site that wants to increase their visibility on
the World Wide Web can benefit from having their site
marketed.
Isn't website marketing just
having a couple of banner ads and maybe some reciprocal
links on websites?
Website marketing are those things and much more;
it touches all aspects of the web, with the highest
focus on search engine and directory listings/rankings,
reciprocal links, banner ads, newsgroups, online and
print advertising, affiliate/merchant services, web
rings and much, much more.
I own a small business, what
if I just buy some banner ads to drive traffic to
my site?
Banner ads are one way for the owners of larger businesses
to market their site, but most small businesses realize
that they can't afford to buy banner ads. They can
cost several thousand dollars a month and may not
produce immediate returns. Banner ads are brand builders:
they let people know who you are, but they do not
guarantee visitors. If you surf the Internet today,
consumers are constantly bombarded with the colorful
flashing signs and symbols of banner ads. In abundance,
banner ads, can become an incoherent clutter of information,
and most of the time, they are simply tuned out. Bottom
line: banner ads can be expensive and not quite effective
for the needs of a small business.
Are search engines and directories
the only ways for a small business to get noticed
on the web?
This is a tricky question because directories
are extremely important in the web marketing strategy,
but ranking isn't everything. A rule of thumb: don't
put all your eggs in one basket. Having a good ranking
in a search engine can be effective if used along
with having a well-designed website, establishing
reciprocal links, joining affiliate/merchant programs,
using print and web advertising, having a web ring
membership, etc. The bottom line: if you diversify
the marketing strategy you increase the probability
of true results.
What is the object of website
marketing?
Having a good ranking and good solid site to back
up that ranking is the basic object of website marketing.
An image-heavy site with great graphics and flash
pages will not get noticed by a search engine as much
as a site with pure text on it's home page. The key
is to find a balance between what is aesthetically
pleasing, and what is pleasing to the search engines.
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This article was written by Jason
Sommer,
Internet Marketing Specialist and Copywriter for Chicago
Internet.
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