|
Improve your search engine placement - Part 2
In previous articles, we have established the requirement
not only for listing in the search engines, but also the imperative to
be highly listed in them. We discussed, in detail, a strategy for building
your Keywords META Tag. If you followed the recommendations and did your
research, you now have a list of keywords and a well-written Keywords
META Tag. So the next thing to do is go list your site in the search engines,
right?
Not exactly. The Keyword META Tag is a good start, but
it is not a magic bullet. Without the proper Description META Tag, TITLE
Tag and quality content, all of your hard work on your Keywords Tag will
be for naught. Let's examine each of these important elements in more
detail.
The Title Tag
The Title Tag is used by Alta Vista, Excite, HotBot, InfoSeek, Lycos and
Web Crawler all use the TITLE Tag as the title text for your web site
listing. The TITLE Tag should contain at least 5 good, descriptive words
and not exceed 200 characters. Avoid cliché filler words and phrases
such as - Welcome to our Web Site or Our Home on the Web. Did these titles
grab your attention? Did they inform you as to what you may find when
you visit the site? Probably not. A better choice is to list your businesses
name along with your top few keywords. Be careful with your keywords here.
Your Title Tag is exactly that, a title, do not try to overload it with
information. Instead, use it to capture your potential visitors' attention.
The Description META Tag
The Description META Tag is used by Alta Vista, HotBot, InfoSeek and Web
Crawler as the description text for your listing. Ideally, the Description
META Tag should contain at least 5 words but not exceed 1000 characters.
Be as descriptive as possible within these constraints. To boost your
relevancy score, use your Keywords list, always ensuring that your description
remains readable.
It is plain to see that your title/description combination is the first
impression many potential visitors get of your web site. It is vitally
important that your title/description grab their attention in a positive
way. Well written Title and Description META Tags should make the potential
visitor want to visit your site before visiting the sites of your competitors.
Use your best marketing skills here as it is the best free advertising
you will ever get.
Content
As mentioned in previous articles, the content of your web pages will
play an important part in your search engine placement. I have enjoyed
success with two different methods when it comes to content. The first
method is to write your page copy utilizing your most important keywords
early and often. Most of the search engine relevancy algorithms give a
higher ranking to pages that use their keywords as the first few words
and then continue to use these words through out the content of the page.
While it is important to use your keywords early and often, your copy
must be understandable. This is, after all, a sales presentation. What
good is it to get a high rating in the search engines and increase your
traffic, only to have an unintelligible message for the visitor when they
arrive? Do not sacrifice clarity for rankings. If your keywords are really
appropriate for your page, you should not have a difficult time working
them into your copy.
The second method I call - Less Is More. Be aware, this method is considered
by some to be somewhat dishonest. The search engines are getting smart
to this method. Lycos has started assessing their spamming penalties for
pages containing less than 100 words. To implement the Less Is More method,
develop a single sentence using your most important keywords. Place this
single sentence on your index.html page along with a link to another page
that contains the real meat of your sales presentation. Then submit your
index.html page to the search engines. Some search engines have placed
pages using this technique very high in their listings.
Additional Considerations
I would like to mention two additional techniques to boost relevancy related
to your content. Alta Vista, InfoSeek, Lycos and Web Crawler index the
ALT text of the IMG Tags and HotBot indexes COMMENTS. It has always been
considered good HTML style to include an ALT Tag in every IMG Tag and
to comment your source, but now there is the side benefit of increasing
your relevancy rating. As in the content, use your most important keywords
in your ALT and COMMENT Tags.
Getting Listed
After implementing the techniques as outlined, you are ready to submit
your web site to the search engines. So how should you go about getting
listed? There are many services out there claiming to guarantee you a
Top Ten listing. Obviously, there can only be ten listings in the top
ten. There are, by some estimates, more than 6 billion web pages in existence.
How many of those pages do you think could be listed under your top keywords?
Hundreds? Thousands? More? Clearly, it will be difficult for your site
to beat out all of those competitors and achieve a top ten listing. It
will require persistence, motivation and dedication, exactly the elements
most submission services will not have when it comes to your business.
Your business is your passion, not theirs.
This is not a put down of submission services, they have their place.
They can get your site listed in many engines and directories across the
Web in a very short period of time. They are worth their cost in time
savings alone. The issue here is that listing in the search engines is
a very important task, far too important to trust to an outside interest.
At least for the major search engines, place your listing yourself using
the search engines manual submission method.
A last word about getting listed in the search engines. It is vital that
you not give up. Look at this as a learning experience. Do not be disappointed
if your first attempts do not yield the results you are hoping for. Use
the experience to help you fine tune your web site. The only losers in
the search engine wars are the ones who have quit fighting.
About the author
Copyright 1998, 2003 Tony L. Callahan All Rights Reserved
Tony L. Callahan, is a successful Internet Promotions Consultant with
more than twenty years of industry experience and is president of
his own Internet marketing company, Link-Promote.
He also publishes Web-Links Monthly, a newsletter full of tips, tricks,
tools and techniques for successful web site promotions. To subscribe,
send e-mail to: Web-Links-subscribe@topica.com.
For an online archive of Tony's articles available for reprint, visit:
http://www.link-promote.com/articles |
» Change
your mind about an eBay bid?
We have all made choices in life that two seconds later
we know we should take back. Especially when there is money involved
this can become a problem.
» A
simple way to create 7 effective autoresponder messages
Email is the Net's most powerful marketing tool. And autoresponders
are the best idea yet for marketing with email.
» 7
ways to drive laser-targeted traffic to your website
Getting people who matter to see one’s website
is a difficult undertaking if he tries to consider the fact that
there are rivals everywhere waiting to pin him down.
» Website
valuation: Why standard website pricing methods will emerge
The market of buying and selling developed websites is
becoming more and more liquid each day.
» One
way links are better than reciprocal links
You probably know by now that where your website ranks in
the search engine rankings dramatically affects how many visitors you
have to your site. Did you also know that you can change where your
site is ranked by being proactive and getting as many one way links
to your site as possible?
» How
to make visitors stay at your website
The very first thing which you should provide the visitors
with is some free interesting reading material.
» How
to make your visitors click your ads
Here is a simple solution; Convert your banner advertisement
to look like a text advertisement!
» Offline
advertising should be a part of your online strategy
Day by day, online business has become more & more
complicated and competitive.
» How
to sell traffic
Selling the traffic arriving at your site is a good method
to increase profits from your portal.
» Make
money from online auctions
Online auctions have the best benefit of a vast platform.
Your product is viewed by loads of people & hence there is
more possibility of finding a suitable bidder.
» Groupware
explained in easy terms
Groupware is a term used frequently to describe collaborative
software. Groupware is application software that integrates work
on a single project by several concurrent users at separated random
workstations.
» Timely
back up can save you from disasters
Few things which people often back up are e-mail addresses,
bank records, photographs, personal records, software’s,
music etc.
» Why
should one go for autoresponders
Autoresponders are programs which get automatically
executed in particular situations.
» Become
your own boss - Start your own online business today
A survey conducted by SBA states that two third of new
business survives at least two year and about forty four percent
survives at least four year.
» Express
your thoughts - Creating your own blog!
What exactly is a blog? Technically speaking it is a
journal or a newsletter which is regularly updated and can be used
by any one.
» Pop-up
ads - To be or not to be?
According to a study conducted by the Bunnyfoot University, “The
Efficacy of Pop-ups and the Resulting Effect on Brands” Internet
users feel harangues and harassed by pop-up ads.
» Why
content is king on the Internet
The advantages that Internet holds over the rest of
the other communication mediums should not wasted because of
the inability to find a comprehensive plan that will bind all
these faculties together.
» 10
niche marketing tips
In our increasingly driven consumer economies, the average
customer is bombarded by choices. With increased saturation of the
market, companies look towards niche marketing to search new, ever-evolving
and sophisticated consumers.
» Using
free traffic exchange
These days internet has emerged as both, a market and
hub for marketing. Unlike the ‘brick and mortar’ world
where large manufacturers manage to squeeze out the market bases
of smaller companies, the internet provides haven like the free
traffic exchange.
» Ten
ways to drive traffic to your website
Developing a web site and then letting it grow is
like planting a tree and then nurturing it.
» Marketing
through keyword articles
One of the most effective tools of Internet marketing
is the use of keyword articles.
» Want
to make money online? Market a service to businesses
Don walked across the street from his house to mine to
announce he had finally retired. "But I'm not ready for the
golf course," he said. "I want to make a living on the
Internet. What can I sell?"
» Web
site design mistakes - Database parameters in URLs
Creating a web site takes thought, planning and execution.
Unfortunately, many designs are dead in the water before they are
even published as far as search engine optimization is concerned.
Whatever you do, avoid these critical mistakes.
» Alexa
Toolbar - The ultimate internet tool
There are numerous tools available on the Internet to
assist online businesses. A valuable tool that you should use is
the Alexa Toolbar. Even better, this tool is free.
» Web
site design mistakes
Some wise human once said "Learn from the mistakes
of others. There isn't nearly enough time to make them all yourself."
Hence this article. Here are five of the most annoying and common
web design mistakes.
» Abandonment
- Why visitors don't turn into customers
Every good Internet business understands the value of
conversions versus hits received. Far too often, businesses become
fixated on the hits they are receiving instead of monitoring their
hit to sale conversion rate.
» Creative
search engine optimization - A case study
Search engine optimization this and search engine optimization
that. You read and hear about it all day, but what about your site?
|
|
Tools & services to enhance your online
business |
|
» Site
Build It!
Over 100,000 small businesses of all kinds outperform
larger, well-financed competitors. Read about this all-in-one site-building-hosting-marketing
system of tools that delivers results.
» Secrets
To Their Success
Take a private tour of two "Mom & Pop"
web sites every month that earn $100,000+ a year... and discover
the exact step-by-step strategies they have personally used to generate
these massive profits. |
|
|
|