 Search Engine
Strategies
One of the most common misconceptions in web site development,
is that once a site is built and submitted to the search engines,
heavy traffic is on its way.
Another is that when making a submission to each engine, a site
will be registered immediately and will stay listed with that engine
for as long as it is in operation.
That's just not how it works… not even close!
Search engine optimization - the effective utilization of search
engines to draw traffic to a web site - is something of an art.
It is an ongoing, continuously evolving, high maintenance process
that includes the customization of a site for better search engine
ranking.
Critical steps to take before submitting
After developing a web site and selecting the best hosting company,
don't rush out and submit it to search engines immediately. A web
site manager would be wise to take a little time to:
Fine tune the TITLE and metatags to increase traffic
Improving the TITLE tag is one technique that applies to just
about all the search engines. The appearance of key words within
the page title is one of the biggest factors determining a web
site's score in many engines. It's surprising how many web sites
have simple, unimaginative titles like "Bob's Home Page" that
don't utilize keywords at all. In fact, it's not unusual to see
entire web sites that use the same title on every page in the site.
Changing page titles to include some of the site's key words can
greatly increase the chance that a page will appear with a strong
ranking in a query for those key words.
Although keywords and the site description are no longer used by Google to establish page rank, the description is shown on your search engine listing so make sure it attracts the right kind of interest!
Ensure that site technology won't confuse search engines
Often the latest technology being built into a site can confuse
the search engine spiders. Flash animation, javascript menus, frames, and some
dynamically generated pages are difficult for many spiders to read.
This means
that many search engines can't spider a site with a flash menu. The spider
will index the page, but won't follow the links to the individual
pages.
Performing a maintenance check
All web sites should be thoroughly tested using a site maintenance
tool in order to catch errors in operation before customers are
brought to the site. HTML errors can hinder a search engine spider's
ability to index a site, it can also keep a search engine from
reading a page or cause it to be viewed in a manner different from
how it was intended. In fact, a recent report by Jupiter Communications
suggested 46% of users have left a preferred web site because of
a site-related problem. With NetMechanic's HTML Toolbox or another
site maintenance tool, all webmasters, from the novice to the expert
can avoid potential visitor disasters due to site errors.
Ongoing promotion tasks
To improve site rankings and increase understanding of the listing
process, there are many tasks that can be done on a regular or
semi-regular basis. Optimizing rankings within the search engines
is also to help ensure that a site attracts the right traffic.
Who is sending you business?
Web software exsists that can show which key words or search engines
are generating the strongest traffic and what are those visitors
doing when they enter the site.
Searching the Search Engines
Conduct a search of the search engines to analyze where the highest
rankings of the site have materialized and what keywords are generating
the best rankings. Different search engines use different rules
to rank pages. Individual gateway pages should be created based
on the knowledge and interpretation of what each search engine
is using to determine top rankings. Several pages can be tested
out on one or more engines and the pages that have the most success
can be kept, while the unsuccessful pages can be dumped or revised
to achieve a higher ranking.
Learning more about how the search engines work
Each search engine uses different rules to determine how well
a web page matches a particular query. As a result, building a
single page that gets a good score in all the major engines is
just about impossible. Learning how each engine ranks pages is
also hard, since the engines often keep this information as a closely
guarded secret. However, with a little patience, some experimentation
and reverse engineering, the way that many of the search engines
work can be discovered.
Resubmitting the site
For engines that reject a site or don't list it high enough, it
is strongly recommended that more information is learned about
the engine's criteria before resubmitting. This information should
then be incorporated into gateway pages or key word revisions in
order to have greater success with subsequent submissions. Fine
tune the page (or pages) make adjustments to TITLE tags and META
tags, then after resubmitting the site, track the results to further
learn about the engine's criteria and which adjustments made an
impact on the rankings. Don't be afraid to experiment, take some
risks and gather data as you proceed.
Checking log files for errors
on the site
This is good news!! Don't dump these pages or remove them from
the search engine as most people will do when they redesign their
site. Any page with a high ranking is of value. If a page is bringing
traffic to a site, leave that page on the search engine, don't
change it but rather redirect the traffic to valid pages in the
site.
Getting Noticed
For small to medium-sized web sites, search engines are the most
important source of traffic. Unfortunately, getting noticed in
the search engines isn't an easy job. A web site manager can spend
months getting a site listed in an engine, only to find it ranks
50th in their search results. It's hard to give universal tips
for improving search engine ranking because each engine has its
own set of rules. In general, though, a page will rank well for
a particular query if the search terms appear in the TITLE tag,
the META tags, and in the body of the page.
Does internet marketing sound like a complicated business? I guess
it is. Excitingly so. And one reason is that it combines so many
disciplines and communication skills.
And we haven't even touched on the roles information architecture,
consumer psychology, market research, sales, advertising, fulfillment,
customer relations, email marketing, and so many other factors
play.
InterComm integrates our experience in marketing, copywriting
and design AS WELL AS technology, ensuring that your website attracts,
serves and retains prospects and customers.
Your site will be uniquely your own, with a sound marketing strategy
derived from your competitive advantage and core competence.
For advice on effective corporate communication over the internet,
contact me on info@intercomm.co.za |
