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Get Your Site Found
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Getting your web site found:
You have a business, or a web site - and you want people to find you.
If you found this little page on the web, and you're wondering - "how do I get my web site or business found on the Internet" - then read on.
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Search NowThe biggest secret is that there is no secret. If you have a website / web site then you need to follow some basic rules, and you will be found when people search the Internet. Sure, you can advertise your site on the radio and in the local newspapers, and that will help. But, let's face it, 80% of a web sites visitors are going to come from a person who "searched" the web for something, and your site or page offered the relevant content. Experts who research Internet statistics say the between 70% and 80% of the people who do search the Internet today are do so with Google, so it only makes sense that any webmaster pay attention to what Google considers good webmaster practices. Some folks refer to the webmasters who pay attention to this kind of detail "Gorilla Website Marketing", others call it "Professional".
The biggest rule today is not about keywords, hidden text, or a secret way to submit your web site to 10,000 search engines - it's all about "Content". If you site contains pages of information, then the text of the page will be picked up and it will be cataloged, indexed, and listed. Google was the engine that made the term "search" a truly relevant term to what you want to do on the web. If you provide useful information, then you can get listed well in the search engines. The biggest 'secret' webmaster hint, tip, or trick about getting visitors to find your web site / page is all about providing information and content, surfers will find the information on YOUR site if you provide it in a quality filled manner.
Provide Content:
I can not stress this point too much: CONTENT, Relevant Content, content about what you are selling, or trying to say. Your page or site must have substance, a subject matter worth listing, and the gist of the entire page must re-enforce what you want to be found for.
Use the Title meta-tag:
Give your pages a Title: Many search engines compare the title of your page to the keywords and content of the page. Leaving the title as index.html, or untitled document, or new page won't help you improve your search engine listing.
Remember the other search engines:
Google may be the most often used search engine, but that doesn't mean you should ignore all the other search engines either. There are hundreds of millions of people who search the Internet with Yahoo, MSN, Looksmart, Ask.com, AllTheWeb, AOL, or others that may use data resources like dmoz, Inktomi, or Tehoma. It's not that I think any of these engines are better than Google, or each other for that matter, it's just that every webmaster has to acknowledge that they do exist, and they do get used. ALOT.
Remember to use keywords:
Are keywords still important? Yes - many search engines still review the meta tags that contain your keywords, and use them in ranking your pages. Take the couple extra minutes to list a few of the most relevant keywords, repeat them in the text of your page, and you can get found on the web.
Use keywords that are unique to what you offer. Keywords such as computers, cars, help, sale, free, etc. are used by so many sites, it may be very difficult to get listed within the top 5,000 pages of a search listing. Use a thesaurus to find similar words, and list the things that make your site unique and different from all the other trillions of pages out there. Let's face it, there are a LOT more sites out there dealing with computer help than there are selling pink elephants with green eyes in Rhode Island.
Once you have chosen your keywords, use them to search the web. Look at the sites that rank at the top of those search results, review their code, look at how they laid out their keywords and meta tags. This will give you an idea of what the search engines consider "Top Quality Placement" using the keywords you've selected. Try to implement any improvements, when you see a site that does well, learn from it. Do NOT try to "copy" it, but rather "learn" from it - that will make you a better webmaster in the long run.
Use the "Description" meta-tag:
While it may not be the most important thing to a search engine, it is very often taken into consideration when search engine databases index, catalog, and rank a website. Use a descriptive sentence in that tag that tells the search engine exactly what your page is about, what it is offering, and how it should be listed.
Submit your site to search engines:
Submit your site to the major search engines. Google, Yahoo, DMOZ, All the web, Inktomi (part of Yahoo now), Scrub the web, Altavista, Hotbot, etc. You don't need to submit to 1,000 engines, just a dozen or so of the top ones. Do this AFTER you have your page finished, or at least optimized with keywords, and spelling corrections. Most major search engines will have a page listing tips and tricks to getting listed well with their data, reading this is time well spent.
Do NOT spam the search engines. Once you submit your site to a search engine, don't submit it again the next day - they got your submission, and if you continue to bother them with "hey look at my site" submissions, you can get banned and be refused a listing. Some times it will take up to 2 months for your site to get fully indexed, and listed properly - be patient. For the most part, you do not need to re-submit your site over and over again. If you make some major changes or additions to your site, there is no harm in re-submitting it 3 months later - but not every week.
Tell the search engines to revisit your page in a while:
Add the revisit after 30 days meta tag to your pages, and you won't have to worry about re-submitting your site to search engines. Search engines send little computer programs (called spiders or bots) out continually to search the Internet for web pages. These spiders (or bots) read what is on each page, and send the information back to the search engine site.
<meta name="revisit-after" content="30 days">
Although Some webmasters feel this is an obsolete tag that no longer serves a pupose since many search engines automatically revisit sites they have indexed, I've still found this useful. .Do NOT try to trick the search engines. The algorithms, and program codes that today's search engines use is very complex and sophisticated - don't try to bury hidden words or non-relevant keywords over and over again on a page. The search engines will pick this up, and you can lose your listing very quickly. Do NOT try to use keywords you think are popular if they have nothing to do with your page or site. If you sell children's shoes, then putting words like "sex", or "cars", or "computers" in your keywords won't help your cause. If you think about it - you really don't want that kind of traffic anyway. Target your audience, think about the demographics of who you want to see your site. If you sell children's shoes, then the people you REALLY want to see your site are the parents who are looking for shoes for their kids.
In the past, it was popular to fill a page with keywords, then place hidden words on a page by making the text the same color as the background, and submitting a site to search engines over and over again. Today, this will only hurt the site, and can actually get it disqualified from some listings.
If you have a large site, add a sitemap:
If your site has many pages, consider including a site map that lists all your pages or sections. Make the site map available from your home page, and many of the other pages. This not only helps your visitors find what they want, but it helps the search engine spider bots find ALL of your pages.
Add a robots.txt file to your root directory, and include the meta tag telling the search engine to follow all the links on your page(s) so it will index them as well.
<META NAME="robots" CONTENT="index, follow">Exchange Links:
Find a few other sites in common with your site, and trade links with them. Reciprocal linking is a very good way to improve your sites rankings with search engines. Perhaps you don't want to link to 'direct' competitors, but if you sell cars in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - then exchanging links with a car dealer in Seattle, Washington can help both sites. Avoid the FFA (Free For All) "post your link here" sites, since most of them only want your email so they can sell it to some spam junk mail advertising place anyway. But do check some of the link exchange places out, and contact the webmaster of a few sites directly to exchange links. Link popularity has become one of the 'popular' ways that webmasters are looking to use to increase their visability. Google now ranks pages, and it does figure in to the entire mix how many AND the popularity of sites that link to you. Try to exchange links with sites that have something in common with you. There's nothing wrong with exchanging links with a few friends who have sites that are different than your, but keep the bulk of your exchanges to sites that offer similar or complimentary goods and services.
Get Advice from others:
Once you have your site up and running, ask other webmasters for advice. How can you improve it? Use the many free tools available to webmasters to improve your site and pages - it takes time, but it will be well worth it in the long run. Join a webmaster or search forum and learn a few "tricks of the trade". Revise, reform, improve. Never delete content from your site if you are getting hits, but do update and make it better. Ask people whos opinion you value what they think of your site. You'll get a wide variety of suggestions, and some may be contridictory, weigh the constructive critisims, and put the items you consider 'good advise' to use. Sometime others will have a more detached, objective view of your work, and even if you don't agree with the suggestions, listen to it and consider it as someone who has seen your site, and would like it better "this way". You can find a page on practical html design tips here.
Research and Learn:
One of the best tips I can give any webmaster is to research what the search engines are doing from time to time. Review what's new, research what's coming up. Search for things like SEO (Search Engine Optimization), SEM (Search Engine Management), SERP (Search Engine Results Page), SE (Search Engine) and any other current slang or lingo related to the entire search process. Find out what works for other sites, and you will have learned what can work for your site.
Paid listings: Are paid listings worth the price? Some say yes, some say no. If you are a professional business, and you want to get your services listed quickly, and at the top of a search result page, then perhaps this can benefit you. Prices can range from a few cents for each time someone clicks to your site to a few hundred dollars for a top listing for a month. Review your demographics, and advertising budget, then try it if you feel it's warranted. For a small business or site just looking to promote their goods and services, it may be a lot of money spent for very little ROI (Return On Investment). Big business will not limit their marketing to just the Internet, but will also pay for newspaper adds, TV commercials, Radio air time; and then properly tie all these items together in a joint effort. Mention the web site in the Yellow pages listing. Mention your radio commercial on your web site. Make the marketing a joint effort on all fronts, and you can benefit greatly from well thought out "web site".
Be patient. Getting a top listing for your site won't happen over night. Read, research, investigate, and get feedback on your site. In time you will get a decent listing if you are providing content worth viewing. Remember, not everyone is going to be interested in what you offer, so try to target those folks that are interested in what you have to say or sell.
Pay attention: Check your logs, or if they are not available, add one of the free web site statistics services to track your visitors. Review what they are searching for, how you are getting found. Once you know what is working, you can apply those items to the other parts of your site. It won't always be your home page that gets found first, it may be the page you have listing how your parts are made that is getting the good placement in the search engines. Remember to provide a quick way back to your home page from just about every page you post as well.
Your webmaster,
Charles H. Davis - better known as "Ched"Feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, or suggestions.
updated: 07.05.03 Copyright© Charles H. Davis