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Article
Courtesy of: QualityBooks.com
New techniques can drive thousands of visitors to your web site.
Randy is the first to tell you driving traffic to your web site is an
expensive proposition. "I spent the promotion budget on ads, the
grocery money on banners, and we still aren't getting that many
hits," he says.
Now Randy turns to search engines. He's heard that tens of millions use
them each day to navigate around the Net. A good listing on a major
search engine can bring thousands of already-targeted customers to his
site. But how can he get his site listed--and fast?
As search engines get more sophisticated, it's easier to get a good site
listed. It's also harder to "trick" search engines into
listing you. The good news is, if you have a site that is focused on
just a few topics your best prospects are likely to search for, you're
in a situation where the mammoth Internet portals can help you. And it's
all free!
Forget about those services that promise to list you on thousands of
search engines. There are only three search engines that really count.
Because a number of the majors use the same database, you can register
on one and show up on several of them.
"Don't waste time trying to get on Yahoo," says Jerry West,
search engine expert with NetGateway. "Instead, submit your site to
HotBot.com." Both use the Inktomi database. A listing on HotBot
virtually guarantees a showing on Yahoo.
Recently AltaVista surged in user popularity. It ranks as one of the
best places to have your site listed. Alta Vista rotates visitors
through four databases. If you don't see your site listed, try again in
15 minutes when the next database will be on display. Register with Alta
Vista weekly to get your site listed in all four databases.
You will also want to submit your web address to Excite, perennially one
of the most used engines. Like HotBot and Alta Vista, Excite spiders
through your site in a matter of seconds. Your listing can show up
within a few days.
YOUR TITLE IS TOPS. Search engines pay close attention to the title of
your site. That's the line that appears in the little box on your
browser. Take care to include two or three keywords that your best
prospects are likely to type into a search engine when they are looking
for a site like yours.
"Welcome to Sheila's Web Site" may sound good, but it doesn't
give search engines much to go on. It would be better to title Sheila's
opening page with some words about what Sheila offers, like
"Solutions for credit card debt, loan restructuring, and
bankruptcy."
That gives a search engine several good keywords to use when
categorizing Sheila's site, words that her customers are likely to use
when looking for her.
HOW TO FIND POPULAR KEYWORDS. Big companies now have access to records
from all the major search engines. These databases show which keywords
people search with. Often a company can find a keyword that millions of
people search with, but isn't used by many web sites. Using a popular
but neglected keyword can draw a goldmine of new visitors.
West says you don't have to lay out big bucks for the insider's list of
keywords. Anyone can find them by checking Goto.com http://www.goto.com/d/top100/
. The engine lists keywords that people use along with a rating of their
popularity.
More and more, getting a good listing on search engines has less to do
with tricks of the trade and more to do with how well your site covers a
particular topic. After all, that's what people hope to find when they
use a search engine.
Spend time crafting a inviting description of your site to include in
your Meta Tags (for a quick lesson on how to write your own Meta Tags,
see Alta Vista's short tutorial at http://www.altavista.com/av/content/addurl_meta.htm/
Search engines display your description next to the link to your site. A
good description can grab attention and cause lots of people to click to
your site rather than another one.
Be patient and don't get too obsessive. I find that once sites are
listed on the six or seven major search engines, they tend to start
showing up on many other search engines and link libraries. You can
register your site with all the majors with one click at
http://www.all4one.com/ . You can register free with over 400 search
engines and link libraries with a single click at
http://www.submit4free.com/
Finally, make sure the copy on your web site is interesting and makes
customers want to buy. All the traffic in the world won't earn you a
dime unless your web site converts visitors into buyers.
Kevin Nunley provides marketing advice, copywriting, and web promotion.
See his hew 49 Lesson E-Business Course with free shopping cart at http://DrNunley.com/.
Reach Kevin at kevin@drnunley.com or (801)253-4536. Get Jerry West's
guide to search engine promotion at http://WebMarketingNow.com/
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