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How to Improve Your Ranking on Search
Engines--New Techniques Can
Drive Thousands of Visitors to Your Web Site.
by Dr. Kevin Nunley
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. 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> (look in the "add url" section").
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 and copy writing
for
businesses and organizations. Read all his money-saving marketing
tips at http://DrNunley.com/. Reach him at
kev-@drnunley.com
or
603-249-9519.
How to Improve Your Ranking on Search Engines--New
Techniques Can
Drive Thousands of Visitors to Your Web Site.
by Dr. Kevin Nunley
http://www.DrNunley.com
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