101 ways to promote a website
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promoting your websites easilyTRANSCRIPT
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101 Ways to Promote Your Web Site
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Other Titles of Interest from Maximum Press
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101 Ways to Promote Your Web SiteEighth Edition
Filled with Proven Internet Marketing Tips, Tools, Techniques, and Resources to Increase Your Web Site Traffic
Susan Sweeney
MAXIMUM PRESS605 Silverthorn RoadGulf Breeze, FL 32561(850) 934-0819maxpress.com
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Publisher: Jim Hoskins
Production Manager: Jacquie Wallace
Cover Designer: Lauren Smith
Copyeditor: Ellen Falk
Proofreader: Jacquie Wallace
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Printer: P. A. Hutchison
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering profes-sional services. If legal, accounting, medical, psychological, or any other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. ADAPTED FROM A DECLARA-TION OF PRINCIPLES OF A JOINT COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION AND PUBLISHERS.
Copyright 2011 by Maximum Press.
All rights reserved. Published simultaneously in Canada.
Reproduction or translation of any part of this work beyond that permitted by Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act without the permission of the copyright owner is unlawful. Requests for permission or further information should be addressed to the Permissions Department, Maximum Press.
Recognizing the importance of preserving what has been written, it is a policy of Maximum Press to have books of enduring value published in the United States printed on acid-free paper, and we exert our best efforts to that end.
Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data
Sweeney, Susan, 1956-
101 ways to promote your web site : filled with proven Internet marketing tips, tools, techniques, and resources to increase your web site traffic / Susan Sweeney. -- 8th ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-931644-78-5
1. Internet marketing. 2. Web sites--Marketing. I. Title. II. Title: One hundred one ways to promote your web site. III. Title: One hundred and one ways to promote your web site.
HF5415.1265.S93 2011
658.8'72--dc22
2010028433
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Acknowledgments
Iamtrulyblessed.Thisbookallofmybooks,mybusiness,andmysuccesssofarwouldnothavebeenpossiblewithoutsomanypeoplewhohavecontributedandmadeadifferencetomeinsomanyways. Manythankstosocialmediamarketerextraordinaire,KaraSweeney(whojusthappenstobemydaughter),forallthehelpwiththiseditionof101 Ways to Promote Your Web Site.Thisbookwasdefinitelyateameffort. ThankstomygreatteamatVerbInteractive(http://www.verbinteractive.com):EdDoreyandAndyMacLellanwhohavebeenwithmesincetheiruni-versitydays,andourwholeteamofInternetmarketingexperts. ThankstomyIndabateamandgreatfriends,LeaandSharon,forourmanygreatmeetingsofmindsandsoulsandtheprogresswehavemadeonourspiritualandbusinessjourneyswhatadifferenceyouvemadeinmylife. ThankstoColleenFrancisforourregularbrainstormingcallsthatalwaysleavemeinvigoratedandreadytoconquertheworld.AlsofortheamountIgetdonethedaypriortothosecallsinanticipation. ThankstomyCanadianAssociationofProfessionalSpeakers family,myNationalSpeakersAssociationfamily,andmyInternationalFederationofProfes-sionalSpeakersfamily,andtoalltheincrediblepeopleIhavehadthepleasuretolistentoandlearnfromovertheyears.NeverhaveImetamoresharing,giving,andthoughtfulgroupofpeople.Iamtrulyblessedtohavefoundyou.Thanks,CathleenFilmore,forintroducingmetothisfabulousbusinessofprofessionalspeaking. ThankstothemanybusinessesandorganizationsandamazingpeoplearoundtheworldthatIhavethepleasureandhonorofworkingwith.Youkeepmeonmytoes,keepthingsexciting,andcontinuallyhelpmegrow. TheInternetisafascinatingandvastpubliclyaccessibleresourcefromwhichwecanlearnagreatdeal.Idliketothankallthosepeoplewhosharetheirin-formationsofreelyontheWeb. ManythankstomylargenetworkofexpertsIknowIcanalwayscallontogetthelatestscooponwhatsreallyhappening. ThankstoJimHoskinsandGinaCookeatMaximumPress.This isoureighteenthbooktogether.Itsalwaysapleasuretoworkwithyou.Oneofthesedaysweregoingtohavetomeetfacetoface! Specialthankstomyabsolutelywonderfulhusband,Miles,whomakesallthingspossible.IwouldntbeabletodowhatIdoifnotforyou.Alsothanksto our three amazing childrenKaitlyn,Kara, andAndrewfor their love,encouragement,andsupport.Loveyoumorethanthelastnumber! Specialthankstomymomanddad,OlgaandLeonardDooley,foralwaysbeingthereandforinstillinginmetheconfidencetoknowthatIcandoanythingIsetmymindto.Itsamazingwhatcanbedonewhenyouknowyoucan.
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Disclaimer
Thepurchaseofcomputersoftwareorhardwareisanimportantandcostlybusi-nessdecision.Whiletheauthorandpublisherofthisbookhavemadereasonableeffortstoensuretheaccuracyandtimelinessoftheinformationcontainedherein,theauthorandpublisherassumeno liabilitywith respect to lossordamagecausedorallegedtobecausedbyrelianceonanyinformationcontainedhereinanddisclaimanyandallwarranties,expressedorimplied,astotheaccuracyorreliabilityofsaidinformation. Thisbookisnotintendedtoreplacethemanufacturersproductdocumen-tation or personnel in determining the specifications and capabilities of theproductsmentionedinthisbook.Themanufacturersproductdocumentationshouldalwaysbeconsulted,asthespecificationsandcapabilitiesofcomputerhardware and software products are subject to frequentmodification.Thereaderissolelyresponsibleforthechoiceofcomputerhardwareandsoftware.Allconfigurationsandapplicationsofcomputerhardwareandsoftwareshouldbereviewedwiththemanufacturersrepresentativespriortochoosingorusinganycomputerhardwareandsoftware.
Trademarks
Thewordscontainedinthistextwhicharebelievedtobetrademarked,ser-vicemarked,orotherwisetoholdproprietaryrightshavebeendesignatedassuchbyuseofinitialcapitalization.Noattempthasbeenmadetodesignateastrademarkedorservicemarkedanypersonalcomputerwordsortermsinwhichproprietaryrightsmightexist.Inclusion,exclusion,ordefinitionofawordortermisnotintendedtoaffect,ortoexpressjudgmentupon,thevalid-ityoflegalstatusofanyproprietaryrightwhichmaybeclaimedforaspecificwordorterm.
Your Members Only Web Site
Theonlineworldchangeseveryday.ThatswhythereisacompanionWebsiteassociatedwiththisbook.Onthissiteyouwillfindthelatestnews,expandedinformation,andotherresourcesofinterest.
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TogetintotheWebsite,gotopromote.maxpress.com.Youwillbeaskedforapassword.Typein:
sat
andyouwillthenbegrantedaccess. Visitthesiteoftenandenjoytheupdatesandresourceswithourcompli-mentsandthanksagainforbuyingthebook.WeaskthatyounotsharetheuserIDandpasswordforthissitewithanyoneelse.
Susan Sweeneys Internet Marketing Mail List
YouarealsoinvitedtojoinSusanSweeneysInternetMarketingBi-weeklyIn-ternetMarketingTips,Tools,Techniques,andResourcesNewsletterathttp://promote.maxpress.com.
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ix
Table of Contents
OtherTitlesofInterestfromMaximumPress.................................... iiAcknowledgments.............................................................................. vYourMembersOnlyWebSite....................................................... viSusanSweeneysInternetMarketingMailList.................................. vii
Chapter 1: Planning Your Web Site 1
TheFundamentalsObjectives,TargetMarkets,andProductsandServices.................................................................................... 2
CommonObjectives........................................................................... 3Other Objectives to Consider Up Front ..................................... 4
AFinalWordonObjectives............................................................... 5TargetMarkets................................................................................... 5ProductsandServices......................................................................... 6TheFundamentals.............................................................................. 7UsingCompetitorSitestoYourAdvantage........................................ 7StoryboardingYourWebSite............................................................. 9DetailedWebSitePlanning............................................................... 11InternetResourcesforChapter1...................................................... 12
Chapter 2: Designing Your Site to Be Search Engine Friendly 13
UnderstandingSearchEnginesandHowTheyRankSites................ 14MethodologytoMaximizeYourSitesSearchRanking................... 16Step1.DecideWhichSearchEnginesAreImportant........................ 17Step2.LearntheSearchEngineRankingCriteria............................ 17Step3.DetermineYourMostImportantKeywordPhrases............. 19
Brainstorming, Surveying, and Reviewing Promotional Material 20Review Competing and IndustryLeading Web Sites ................ 20Assess Your Web Site Traffic Logs ............................................ 21Keyword Suggestion and Evaluation Tools ............................... 21FineTuning Your Keyword Phrases .......................................... 21
Step4.AssignSpecificKeywordstoSpecificPages........................... 23Step5.PopulateEachPagewiththeAssignedKeyword................... 24
Title TagsUse Descriptive Page Titles .................................... 24
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Keywords MetaTag ................................................................. 26Description MetaTag ............................................................... 26Alt Tags .................................................................................... 27Hypertext Links ...................................................................... 27Domain Name and File Names ............................................... 28Body TextHeader Tags and Page Copy ................................. 28
HeadingsHeaderTags........................................ 28PageCopy........................................................................ 28
Spamming ................................................................................ 29Quality GuidelinesBasic Principles ....................................... 33
Step6.LinkStrategy........................................................................ 33Step7.MiscellaneousPoints............................................................. 34Step8.GetYourselfontheMaps..................................................... 34Step9.ManuallySubmitYourSitetotheSearchEngines................. 34InternetResourcesforChapter2...................................................... 35
Chapter 3: Web Site Elements That Keep Em Coming Back 36
RationaleforEncouragingRepeatVisits.......................................... 36UseFeedsforRepeatVisits............................................................... 37FreeStuffEveryoneLovesIt.......................................................... 38EveryoneWantstheBestPriceCouponsandDiscounts................. 38Specials,Promotions,andPackages.................................................. 40ACalendarofEventsKeepsVisitorsInformed................................. 40LuringCustomerswithContestsandCompetitions.......................... 41CreatingUsefulLinksfromYourSite............................................... 43ProvidingaFeaturedTiporTipoftheDay/WeektoEncourageRepeat
Visits............................................................................................ 45MP3s/Podcasts/Videos...................................................................... 46EnsuringThatYourSiteGetsBookmarked...................................... 47ShareThis/AddThis......................................................................... 48SocialBookmarking......................................................................... 48InternetResourcesforChapter3...................................................... 48
Chapter 4: Permission Marketing 50
PermissionMarketingExplained...................................................... 50UsesofPermissionMarketing.......................................................... 51Personalization................................................................................. 52SelltheBenefits................................................................................. 52
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Contents xi
CooperativePermissionMarketing................................................... 53Incentive-BasedPermissionMarketing............................................. 53AClosingCommentonPermissionMarketing................................. 53InternetResourcesforChapter4...................................................... 55
Chapter 5: Spreading the Word with Viral Marketing 56
CapitalizingonViralMarketingOpportunities............................... 57Word of Mouth ........................................................................ 57PassItOn Viral Marketing ...................................................... 60
EbooksandiBrochures..................................................... 61FunVideos........................................................................ 61Checklists......................................................................... 61Podcasts,MP3s,orAudiozines......................................... 62Articles............................................................................. 62
InternetResourcesforChapter5...................................................... 62
Chapter 6: Great Content 63
TheWOWFactor........................................................................ 64SocialMediaLinks........................................................................... 65eBrochuresandiBrochures............................................................... 65AudioandVideo.............................................................................. 66Podcasts........................................................................................... 67InteractiveMaps.............................................................................. 67Widgets........................................................................................... 68InteractiveElements........................................................................ 69InternetResourcesforChapter6...................................................... 69
Chapter 7: Landing Pages 71
WhatIsaLandingPage?.................................................................. 71ConsiderationsforLandingPageContent........................................ 73TestingYourLandingPage............................................................... 74InternetResourcesforChapter7...................................................... 76
Chapter 8: Developing Your Pay-to-Play Strategy 77
GeneratingTargetedTrafficUsingPPCAdvertising.......................... 78
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ExploringPPCCampaignsinGoogleandYahoo!............................ 79How PPC Campaigns Work .................................................... 80Where Do Your Ads Appear? ................................................... 81
MaximizeExposurewithContextualAdvertising........................... 81Geo-TargetingYourCampaigns....................................................... 82Dayparting...................................................................................... 83MaximizingYourExposure.............................................................. 83MaximizingYourBudget................................................................. 84InternetResourcesforChapter8...................................................... 85
Chapter 9: Email and Signature Files 86
MakingtheConnection.................................................................... 87EmailProgramversusMailListSoftware......................................... 87EffectiveEmailMessages.................................................................. 87
The Importance of Your Email Subject Line ............................. 87Email To and From Headings Allow You to Personalize .. 88Blind Carbon Copy (BCC) ....................................................... 89Effective Email Message Formatting ......................................... 89A Call to Action ....................................................................... 91Always Use Your Signature Files............................................... 92Discerning Use of Attachments ................................................ 92
EmailMarketingTips....................................................................... 93Include a Brochure and Personal Note ..................................... 93Provide Customer Service ........................................................ 93Gather a Library of Responses ................................................. 94Graphic Headers and HTML ................................................... 94Reply Promptly ........................................................................ 94Using Signature Files to Increase Web Site Traffic .................... 95
PresentingYoure-BusinessCard...................................................... 95HowtoDevelopYourSignatureFile................................................ 96
Graphic Headers and HTML ................................................... 97TheDosandDontsofSignatureFiles............................................. 97SigFilestoBringTraffictoYourWebSite........................................ 99UsingSignatureFilesAsanEmailTemplate................................... 100FollowingFormalitieswithEmailNetiquette................................. 101InternetResourcesforChapter9.................................................... 101
Chapter 10: Autoresponders 102
WhatAreAutoresponders?............................................................ 102
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Contents xiii
WhyUseAutoresponders?.............................................................. 103TypesofAutoresponders................................................................ 105AutoresponderFeatures.................................................................. 105
Personalization ....................................................................... 105Multiple Responses/Sequential Autoresponders ...................... 105Size of Message ....................................................................... 106Tracking ................................................................................. 106HTML Messaging .................................................................. 106
SuccessfulMarketingthroughAutoresponders............................... 106InternetResourcesforChapter10.................................................. 107
Chapter 11: Consumer-Generated Media 108
WhatIsConsumer-GeneratedMedia?............................................ 109WhyConsumer-GeneratedMediaIsImportant.............................. 109HowtoMonitorWhatIsBeingSaidaboutYou............................. 110TheEffectofCGMonCorporateReputation................................ 112CGMOpportunityorThreat?..................................................... 114WhereDoYouFindConsumer-GeneratedMedia?........................ 114HowDoYouUseConsumer-GeneratedMedia?............................ 115InternetResourcesforChapter11.................................................. 116
Chapter 12: Establishing Your Private Mailing List 117
WhyHaveYourOwnMailingList?............................................... 118PermissionBased Marketing .................................................. 119The Issue of Privacy ............................................................... 121
WhereWeNeedtoBe.................................................................... 122TheRightMailListTechnology..................................................... 122
Using Your Email Program..................................................... 123Using Mail List Software ........................................................ 123Outsourcing Your Mail List.................................................... 126
BuildingYourDatabaseorMailList.............................................. 127PromotingYourPrivateMailList................................................... 129YourCommunicationwithYourMailList..................................... 130StayundertheSpamRadar............................................................ 132RecentLegislation.......................................................................... 136Measure,MeasureMeasure............................................................ 136WhyEmailIsNotDead................................................................. 136
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EmailastheKillerAppTheLatest............................................... 138TheGoodNewsSocialMedia,RSS,andEmailAreNot
MutuallyExclusive..................................................................... 139InternetResourcesforChapter12.................................................. 139
Chapter 13: Developing a Dynamite Links Strategy 140
LinksHaveanImpact.................................................................... 141LinksHaveStayingPower.............................................................. 141AQuickTalkaboutOutboundLinks............................................. 142GoogleWebmasterGuidelinesonLinkSchemes............................. 142LinksfromSocialMediaVenues.................................................... 144StrategiesforFindingAppropriateLinkSites................................. 146ExploreTheseURLs....................................................................... 147ToolstoIdentifyYourCompetitorsLinks..................................... 148OtherPotentialLinkStrategies....................................................... 149WinningApprovalforPotentialLinks............................................ 150OtherLinkOpportunities............................................................... 152MakingYourLinkthePlacetoClick............................................. 152ToAddorNottoAddwithFree-for-AllLinkSites........................ 153LinksfromMeta-Indexes............................................................... 153AddValuewithAffiliatePrograms................................................. 154AWordofCautionwithLinkTrading........................................... 154InternetResourcesforChapter13.................................................. 155
Chapter 14: Winning Awards, Cool Sites, and More 156
ItsanHonorJusttoBeNominated............................................... 157SocialMediaAwards..................................................................... 158ChoosingYourAwardsandSubmittingtoWin.............................. 158WhatsHotandWhatsNot.......................................................... 160PostingYourAwardsonYourSite.................................................. 160BecomingtheHostofYourOwnAwardsGala.............................. 161InternetResourcesforChapter14.................................................. 162
Chapter 15: Online Advertising 163
ExpandingYourExposurethroughInternetAdvertising................ 164
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Contents xv
MaximizeAdvertisingwithYourObjectivesinMind..................... 165OnlineAdvertisingTerminology..................................................... 166
ClickThroughs ...................................................................... 166Hits ........................................................................................ 166Impressions or Page Views ..................................................... 167CPM ....................................................................................... 167CPA ........................................................................................ 167
OnlineAdvertisingTrends.............................................................. 167Keyword Advertising .............................................................. 168Geotargeting ......................................................................... 168Behavioral Advertising .......................................................... 168Retargeting ........................................................................... 169Advertising through Content Integration ................................ 169Video Advertising .................................................................. 169Social Media Advertising ....................................................... 170
Adbasics........................................................................................ 170BannerAdTips.............................................................................. 171InterestingAds............................................................................... 171Location,Location,Location......................................................... 174AdPriceFactors............................................................................. 174ConsiderationsWhenPurchasingAdvertising................................ 174MakingItEasywithOnlineAdvertisingNetworks........................ 175BarteringforMutualBenefitswithAdTrading.............................. 176FormLastingRelationshipswithSponsorships............................... 177CommercialLinks......................................................................... 178SponsoringaMailingList............................................................... 178AFewFinalThoughtstoRemember............................................. 178InternetResourcesforChapter15.................................................. 179
Chapter 16: Maximizing Media Relations 180
ManagingEffectivePublicRelations.............................................. 181BenefitsofPublicityversusAdvertising........................................... 181WhatIsaNewsRelease?................................................................ 182WritingaNewsRelease.................................................................. 182
Notice of Release .................................................................... 182Header ................................................................................... 183Headline ................................................................................. 183City and Date ......................................................................... 183The Body ................................................................................ 183
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The Close ............................................................................... 184Advantages of Interactive News Releases ............................... 185Social Media News Releases ................................................... 185
SendingNewsReleasesonYourOwnversusUsingaDistributionService........................................................................................ 187
GoldenTipsforNewsReleaseDistribution.................................... 187NewsReleaseTimingandDeadlines.............................................. 188
Monthly Magazines ................................................................ 188Daily Newspapers .................................................................. 188TV and Radio ......................................................................... 188
FormattingYourEmailNewsRelease............................................ 188WhatIsConsideredNewsworthy................................................... 189DevelopinganOnlineMediaCenterforPublicRelations............... 190InternetResourcesforChapter16.................................................. 191
Chapter 17: Increasing Traffic through Online Publications 193
AppealingtoMagazineSubscribersontheNet.............................. 193WhatExactlyAreE-zines?............................................................. 194Web-BasedE-zines.......................................................................... 195EmailE-zines.................................................................................. 195UsingE-zinesasMarketingTools................................................... 196FindingAppropriateE-zinesforYourMarketingEffort................. 197TheMultipleAdvantagesofE-zineAdvertising.............................. 198GuidelinesforYourAdvertising..................................................... 199ProvidingArticlesandNewsReleasestoE-zines............................ 200ReasonsYouMightStartYourOwnE-zine.................................... 201DevelopingYourOwnE-zine......................................................... 202eBrochuresandiBrochuresTheLatestinOnlinePublications...... 204InternetResourcesforChapter17.................................................. 205
Chapter 18: Marketing through Blogs 206
WhatAreBlogs?............................................................................. 207TheManyUsesofBlogs................................................................. 207ToBlogorNottoBlog?................................................................. 209ProsandConsofBlogging............................................................. 209AvoidingClassicBlogMistakes...................................................... 210
Underestimating the Time Commitment ................................ 211
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Contents xvii
Overestimating the Marketing Impact .................................... 211Irregular or Infrequent Updating ............................................ 211Writing for the Search Engines and Not for the Blog .............. 211
PromotingYourBlog...................................................................... 212ResourcesforChapter18............................................................... 212
Chapter 19: Social Media 214
WhatIsSocialMedia?SocialNetworking?.................................... 215TheChangingConsumer................................................................ 215KnowWhatsBeingSaidaboutYou............................................... 216WhyUseSocialMedia?.................................................................. 217HowtoDevelopaSocialMediaStrategy....................................... 218EvenIfYoureNotReadytoJumpIn............................................. 219SocialMediaPoliciesandProcedures............................................. 219CanSocialMediaBeOutsourced?.................................................. 219InternetResourcesforChapter19.................................................. 221
Chapter 20: Facebook 222
LookbeforeYouLeap.................................................................... 223FacebookandSEO......................................................................... 223PersonalProfiles............................................................................. 223FanPages....................................................................................... 225Advertising..................................................................................... 229Groups........................................................................................... 232Applications................................................................................... 234InternetResourcesforChapter20.................................................. 235
Chapter 21: LinkedIn 236
LinkedInSet-up.............................................................................. 237LinkedInandSEO.......................................................................... 239LinkedInGroups............................................................................ 239LinkedInRecommendations........................................................... 241LinkedInAnswers........................................................................... 241LinkedInEvents.............................................................................. 242LinkedInJobs................................................................................. 242LinkedInAdvertising...................................................................... 242
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xviii Contents
LinkedInApplications.................................................................... 243InternetResourcesforChapter21.................................................. 244
Chapter 22: Twitter 245
TwitterSet-up................................................................................. 246TwitterLingo................................................................................. 247BusinessUseofTwitter................................................................... 247TwitterandSEO............................................................................. 248ManagementToolsandApplications............................................. 248URLShorteners.............................................................................. 249BuildingYourListofFollowers..................................................... 250InternetResourcesforChapter22.................................................. 252
Chapter 23: YouTube, Video-Sharing Sites, and Video Syndication 253
PublicitythroughVideo-SharingWebsites..................................... 253VideoDetails.................................................................................. 255UsingYouTubeVideosonYourSiteorinYourBlog...................... 255YouTubeChannelsandFeatures..................................................... 256YouTubeChannelSet-Up............................................................... 256AdditionalYouTubeFeatures......................................................... 257VideoSyndication.......................................................................... 258PromotingYourVideos.................................................................. 259InternetResourcesforChapter23.................................................. 260
Chapter 24: Flickr 261
AccountSet-up............................................................................... 262UploadingandOrganizingPhotos.................................................. 263PhotoTagging................................................................................ 263PromotingYourPhotos.................................................................. 265FlickrApps..................................................................................... 266InternetResourcesforChapter24.................................................. 266
Chapter 25: Mobile Marketing 267
WhatIsMobileMarketing?........................................................... 268
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Contents xix
SMSShortMessagingService...................................................... 268MMSMultimediaMessagingService........................................... 270LBSLocation-BasedServices........................................................ 270Profile-SpecificAdvertising............................................................. 271MobileBlogging............................................................................. 271SubscribedContent........................................................................ 271BenefitsofMobileMarketing......................................................... 271InternetResourcesforChapter25.................................................. 274
Chapter 26: Interactive Mapping 275
WhatIsInteractiveMapping?........................................................ 275WhyIsInteractiveMappingImportant?........................................ 277HowDoYouDoIt?...................................................................... 279HowDoYouLeverageInteractiveMaps?..................................... 283InternetResourcesforChapter26.................................................. 284
Chapter 27: The Power of Partnering 285
IdealPartnerSites........................................................................... 285PartneringOpportunities................................................................ 286InternetResourcesforChapter27.................................................. 288
Chapter 28: Web Traffic Analysis 289
WebAnalyticsDefined................................................................... 290KeyPerformanceIndicators........................................................... 291CommonMeasurementsofPerformance........................................ 291
ClickThrough Rate ............................................................... 291Unique Visitors ....................................................................... 291Bounce Rate ........................................................................... 292Time Spent ............................................................................. 292Click Stream Analysis ............................................................. 292SinglePage Access .................................................................. 292Leads Generated, or Desired Action Taken ............................ 293Customer Conversion Ratio ................................................... 293Net Dollars per Visitor ........................................................... 293Cost per Visitor ...................................................................... 293
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Form Abandonment ............................................................... 294Impact on Offline Sales .......................................................... 294Return on Investment (ROI) .................................................. 294
MonitorWhatMatterstoYourBusiness........................................ 294DetermineWhatWorksA/BTestingasaStart............................. 295
Keep It Simple ........................................................................ 297Give It Time ........................................................................... 297Tracking Your Tests ................................................................ 298
GoDeeperUseItorLoseIt......................................................... 298BringingItAllTogetherUseWhatYouveLearnedfromOther
Sources....................................................................................... 299SegmentingYourTargetMarket..................................................... 301ChoosingaWebAnalyticsSolution................................................ 302
Look at Yourself ..................................................................... 302Look at Technology................................................................ 303Look at the Vendor ................................................................ 304
ClosingCommentsonWebAnalytics............................................. 305InternetResourcesforChapter28.................................................. 306
AbouttheAuthor........................................................................... 307Index.............................................................................................. 309
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11Planning Your Web Site
TherearemillionsofWebsites,sellingmillionsofproductsontheInterneteveryday,andtheyareallcompetingforviewers;manyofthemarecompetingforthesameviewersyouare!Howdoyougettheresultsyourelookingfor?WhenaskediftheyaremarketingontheInternet,manypeopleandorganizationssay,Yes,wehaveaWebsite.However,havingaWebsiteandmarketingontheInternetaretwoverydifferentthings.Yes,usuallyyouneedaWebsitetomarketontheInternet.However,aWebsiteissimplyacollectionofdocuments,images,andotherelectronicfilesthatarepubliclyaccessibleacrosstheInternet.Yoursiteneedstobedesignedtomeetyouronlineobjectivesandshouldbedevelopedwithyourtargetmarket inmind.Internetmarketingencompassesallthestepsyoutaketoreachyourtargetmarketonline,attractvisitorstoyourWebsite, encourage themtobuyyourproductsor services,andmake themwanttocomebackformore. HavingaWebsiteisgreat,butitismeaninglessifnobodyknowsaboutit.Justashavingabrilliantlydesignedproductbrochuredoesyoulittlegoodifitsitsinyoursalesmanagersdeskdrawer,aWebsitedoesyoulittlegoodifyourtargetmarketisntvisitingit.ItisthegoalofthisbooktohelpyoutakeyourWebsiteoutofthedeskdrawer, intothespotlight,andintothehandsofyourtargetmarket.YouwilllearnhowtoformulateanInternetmarketingstrategyinkeepingwithyourobjectives,yourproductsorservices,andyourtargetmarket.Thischapterprovidesyouwithanoverviewofthisbookandintroducestheimportanceof:
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2 101WaystoPromoteYourWebSite(promote.maxpress.com)
Definingyouronlineobjectives
DefiningyourtargetmarketsanddevelopingyourWebsiteandonlinemarketingstrategywiththeminmind
DevelopingtheInternetmarketingstrategythatisappropriateforyourproductorservice.
The FundamentalsObjectives, Target Markets, and Products and Services
Things have changed dramatically over the past several years in terms ofWeb site design and development methodology. Back in the old daysacoupleofyearsagoinInternetyearsitwasquiteacceptable,andthenorm,foranorganizationtopackupallof itsbrochures,ads,direct-mailpieces,newsreleases,andothermarketingmaterialsinabox,dropitoffattheWebdevelopersoffice,andafterashortconversation,askwhentheymightexpecttheWebsitetobedone.TheWebdeveloperwouldthentakethemarketingmaterialsanddigitizesome,scansome,anddosomeHTMLprogrammingtodevelopthesite.Bygoingthroughthisprocess,organizationsendedupwithaWebsitethatlookedjustliketheirbrochurehencethetermbrochureware.BrochurewareisnolongeracceptableontheWebifyouwanttobesuccessful.Sites that are successful today are ones that are constantly being updated,providingareasonforvisitorstovisitonaregularbasis.Thesiteisjustoneelement in the companys online presence alongwith their blog, Facebookpage,YouTubechannel,andaccountsinothersocialmediaapplications.YourWebsiteandallonlinepresenceapplicationsshouldbedesignedaround:
Objectivesoftheorganization
Needs,wants,andexpectationsofyourtargetmarkets
Productsandservicesthatarebeingoffered.
Everything related to Internet marketing revolves around these threethingsobjectives, target markets, and products or services. It is criticallyimportanttodefinethesethingsappropriatelyanddiscussthemwithyourWebdeveloper. It isyourresponsibility,notyourWebdevelopers, todefinethesethings.Youknow(orshouldknow)whatyourobjectivesaremoreclearlythan
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Planning Your Web Site 3
yourWebdeveloperdoes.IfyoudontarticulatetheseobjectivesanddiscussthemwithyourWebdeveloper,itisimpossibleforhimorhertobuildasitetoachieveyourobjectives! YouknowyourtargetmarketsbetterthanyourWebdeveloperdoes.Youknowwhatyourvisitorswant,whattheybasetheirbuyingdecisionson,andwhat their expectations are. You need to provide this information so thatyourWeb developer can build aWeb site thatmeets the needs,wants, andexpectationsofyourtargetmarket. Letsspendtheremainderofthechapteronthesefundamentalsobjectives,targetmarkets,andproductsandservicessoyoucanbebetterpreparedfortheplanningprocessforyourWebsite.
Common Objectives
Before you even start to create yourWeb site, youmust clearlydefine youronlineobjectives.What is thepurposeofyour site?Brainstormwithpeoplefromallpartsofyourorganization,fromthefrontlineclerks,tomarketingandsalespersonnel,tocustomersupport,toorderfulfillmentandadministration. Generateacomprehensivelistofprimaryandsecondaryobjectives.IfyouregoingtobuildthisWebsite,youmightaswellbuildittoachieveallofyouronlineobjectives. Ifyoudontbrainstormwithyourstakeholders,documenttheobjectives,anddiscusstheseobjectiveswithyourWebdeveloper,itwillbeimpossiblefortheWebdevelopertobuildyouaWebsitethataddressesallofyourobjectives. Everyelementofyoursiteshouldrelatebacktoyourobjectives.Whenyoudecidetoupdate,add,orchangeanyelementsonyourWebsite,examinehowthesechangesrelatetotheprimaryandsecondaryobjectivesyouhaveidentified.Ifthereisnotaclearmatchbetweenyourobjectivesandyourintendedchanges,youmightwanttoreconsiderthechanges.ItsamazinghowmanyWebsiteshavebeendevelopedwithoutadequateplanningorwithoutensuringthattheWebsitetiesinwiththecorporateobjectives. Someofthemostcommonprimaryobjectivesinclude:
Advertisingyourproductorservice
Sellingyourproductorservice
Providingcustomerserviceandsupport
Providingproductorcorporateinformation
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4 101WaystoPromoteYourWebSite(promote.maxpress.com)
Creating and establishing brand identity and brand awareness orcompanyidentityandawareness.
Other Objectives to Consider Up Front
Although setting your primary objectives is vital, it is just as important toidentifyyoursecondaryobjectives.Bysettingappropriatesecondaryobjectives,youwillbemorepreparedtoachieveallofyouronlinegoals.Manycompaniesidentify only primary objectives for their Web site and completely neglectsecondaryobjectives thatcanhelp themsucceedonline.Followingare somecommonsecondaryobjectivestoconsider:
Yoursiteshouldbedesignedtobesearchenginefriendly.(SeeChapter2formoreinformationondesigningyoursiteforhighsearchengineranking.)
Yoursiteshouldpromoteyourblogandothersocialmediaaccounts,andviceversa.(SeeChapters1824ondoingbusinessthroughtheseaccounts.)
Yoursiteshouldbedesignedtoencouragerepeattraffic.Chapter3de-scribesmanyoftheserepeat-trafficgeneratorsinmuchmoredetail.
Yoursiteshouldhaveviralmarketingelementsthatencouragevisitorstorecommendyourproductsorservicestoothers.ThesearediscussedindetailinChapter5.
Yoursiteshouldincorporatepermissionmarketing,wherevisitorsareencouragedtogiveyoupermissiontosendthememail,newsletters,ande-specialsonaregularbasis.Chapter4hasexamplesofwaystoencour-agevisitorstorequesttobeaddedtoyouremaillist,andChapter12providesallthedetailsonstayingintouchwiththosewhogiveyouthatpermission.
Yoursiteshouldbedesignedtoencouragecustomerloyalty.
Your site should incorporate stickiness and interactive elements,encouragingvisitorstostayawhileandvisitmanyareasofthesite.
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Planning Your Web Site 5
A Final Word on Objectives
SettingyourWebsitesobjectivesbeforeyoubeginbuildingyoursiteisessentialsothatyoucanconveytoyourWebdeveloperwhatyouwantyourWebsitetoachieve.Youobviouslywillhaveanumberofdifferentobjectivesforyoursite,butmanyof theseobjectivescanwork together tomakeyourWebsitecomplete. Whateveryourobjectivesmightbe,youmustcarefullyconsiderhowbesttoincorporateelementsinyourWebsiteandyourInternetmarketingstrategytohelp you achieve them. Successfulmarketingon theWeb is not a simpleundertaking.BeforeyoubegintobrainstormovertheobjectivesofyourWebsite,becertainyouhavereadandstudiedalltheinformationthatispertinenttothemarketyouareattemptingtoenter.Readeverythingyoucanfind,andexaminethefindingsofindustryexperts. YourWebsiteobjectivesformacriticalelementinyourWebsitedesignanddevelopment,asyouwillseeinthenextsection.
Target Markets
Itisimportanttodefineeveryoneofyourtargetmarkets.IfyouregoingtobuildthisWebsite,youmightaswellbuilditforallofyourtargetmarkets.Foreachandeveryoneofyourtargetmarkets,youneedtodetermine:
Theirneeds
Theirwants
Theirexpectations.
For each and every one of your targetmarkets, you should also try todetermineanappropriateWOWfactor.WhatcanyouprovideforthemonyourWebsitethatwillWOWthem?Yourobjectiveshouldbetoexceedthetargetmarketsexpectations. Yourmaintargetmarketmightbeyourpotentialcustomer,butothertargetmarketsmightincludeexistingcustomers,orthemedia,orthosewhoinfluencethebuyingdecisionforyourpotentialcustomers. When you look atreally look atpotential customers versus existingcustomers,yourealize thatwhatthesetwogroupswantandneedfromyour
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6 101WaystoPromoteYourWebSite(promote.maxpress.com)
Websiteisprobablydifferent.Someonewhoisanexistingcustomerknowsyourcompany.Learningaboutyourproducts, services,businesspractices,and thelike,isnotapriorityforthisperson.Apotentialcustomerneedstoknowaboutthesethingsbeforegivingyouhisorherbusiness.Customerissuchahugetargetmarket;itneedstobebrokendownintosegments.Ifyouwereahotel,forexample,yourcustomertargetmarketmightbebrokendownfurtherinto:
Businesstravelers
Vacationtravelers
Familytravelers
Meetingplanners
Handicappedtravelers
Touroperators
Golfers
Outdooradventureenthusiasts
Eco-tourists.
Yougetthe idea.Youneedtosegmentyourcustomertargetmarketandthen, for each segment, you need to do an analysis of needs, wants, andexpectations.
Products and Services
Itisimportanttodefinetheproductsandservicesyouwanttopromoteonline.Sometimestheproductsandservicesyouofferofflineinyourphysicalstorearethesameasinyouronlinestore,butquiteoftentherearedifferences. Businessownersthathaveabricks-and-mortarlocationsometimesassumethattheironlinestorefrontisanextensionoftheirofflinestorefrontandthattheywillprovideexactlythesameproductsandservicesonlineasoffline.Insomecases,fewerproductsareofferedonlinethaninthephysicalstore.Thisisoftenthecaseifyouaretestmarketing,butalsoifsomeoftheproductsyou
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Planning Your Web Site 7
sell inyourphysical locationarenotappropriate foronlinesalesbecauseofcompetitivepricingorshippinglogistics. Inothercases,youronlinestoremightoffermoreproductsorservicesthanthebricks-and-mortarlocation.Forexample,yourofflinebookstoremightnotoffershippingorgiftwrapping.Ifyouronlinebookstoredoesnotoffertheseservices,youwilllosealotofbusinesstoyouronlinecompetition.Whenasitesproductofferingsincludeitemsthatareappropriateforgiftgiving,itisessentialtoalsoofferwrapping,customizedcards,shippingtomultipleaddresses,andshippingoptions.Theconsumer iskingand isverydemanding.Youhavetomeetandbeatyourconsumersexpectationsonlinetogarnermarketshare.Peopleshoppingforgiftsonlinearelookingforconvenience,andthesitethatprovidesthegreatestconvenienceandthegreatestproductsatthelowestpriceswillbethewinner. Youwillwanttolookathowtogetagreatershareofwalletwitheveryonlinesale.Arethereopportunitiesforyoutoup-sell?Isthereanopportunityto show purchasers things like Customers who bought this product alsobought.. toencourageadditionalsales.OncecustomersaddaproducttotheirshoppingcartandclickContinueShopping,whatlandingpageareyousendingthemto?
The Fundamentals
Onceyouhaveclearlydefinedyouronlineobjectives,yourtargetmarkets,andtheproductsorservicesyouwanttopromoteonline,youarereadytomovetothenextphaseofplanningyourWebsitedoingyourcompetitiveanalysis.
Using Competitor Sites to Your Advantage
Youhavetorealizethatyouronlinecompetitionisdifferentfromyourofflinecompetition.Online, youare competingwith all organizations thathave anonlinepresenceandsellthesametypesofproductsandservicesyoudo.Whendoingyourcompetitiveanalysisonline,youwanttoselectthebestofbreedthose fantasticWeb sitesof theorganizations selling the sameproducts andservicesyoudonomatterwheretheyarephysicallylocated. OneofyourWebsitesobjectivesistoalwaysmeetandbeatthecompetitionintermsofsearchenginerankingsandWebsitecontent.Todoso,youmustunderstand exactly what it is your competition is doing. Take the time toresearchcompetitorsandcomparethemonanelement-by-elementbasis.
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There are a number of ways you can identify your competition online.You can find them by conducting searches with the appropriate keywords,seeing which competingWeb sites rank highly in the major search enginesanddirectories.Similarly,therearemanyotheronlineresourcesyoucanuseto research your competition, including industry-specific Web portals anddirectories. Once you have gathered a list of competing Web sites, analyze themelement by element to determine which Web elements your competitorsincludeontheirsitesandhowtheirsitescomparetooneanother.Youwanttolookatwhattypesofcontenttheyareprovidingtoyourtargetmarket.Othercomponentsyoushouldanalyzeincludethevisualappealofyourcompetitorssites,content,easeofnavigation,searchenginefriendliness,interactivity,andWeb site stickiness, orwhat they do to keep people coming back to theirsite.Youwill alsowant to lookat the competitions totalonlinepresence:Do theyhaveaFacebookpage?Twitteraccount?YouTubechannel?Blog?Howaretheygrowingtheirfans,followers,andfriendsintheirsocialmediaaccounts?Thisinformationcanprovideyouwithdetailsonwhatyouneedtoincorporateintoyoursiteandyoursocialmediaaccountstomeetandbeatthecompetition. When we do a competitive analysis for clients, we reverse-engineer (ordissect) the competing Web site from a number of different perspectives.Generally,youwillchoosefiveorsixoftheabsolutebestcompetingWebsites.ThenyoustarttobuildadatabaseusingExceloratableinWord. StartwiththefirstcompetingWebsite,andfromyourreview,starttoadddatabaseelementstothefirstcolumn.Noteanytypesofcontent,targetmarketsdefined,repeat-traffictechniquesused,viralmarketingtechniquesused,searchenginefriendlinessfeaturesused,downloadtimefordifferenttypesofInternetconnections, cross-platform compatibility, cross-browser compatibility, andinnovativeelements.WhenyouhavedissectedthefirstcompetingWebsiteandhavenotedappropriatedatabaseelementsforcomparativepurposes,moveontothesecondcompetingWebsite.Gothroughthesameprocess,addingthoseelementsthatarenewordifferentfromwhatyoualreadyhaveinyourdatabase.Continuebuildingthefirstcolumnofyourdatabasebycontinuingthroughallthesitesyouwanttoincludeinyourcompetitiveanalysis. The next step is to develop a column for each of the sites youwant toincludeinthecompetitiveanalysis.ThenaddtwomorecolumnsoneforyourexistingWebsite,toseehowyoursitestacksagainstthecompetition,andthesecondforfutureplanningpurposes. Thenextstepistogobackandcompareeachsiteagainstthecriteriaforcolumn1,notingappropriatecomments.Forcontentinformation,youwanttonotewhethertheparticularsitehasthesamespecificcontent,andhowwell
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Planning Your Web Site 9
itwaspresented.Fordownloadspeeds,notespecificminutesandsecondsforeach type of connection. For each repeat-traffic generator, youmay chooseto includedetails, or just yes/no.Continuewith this process until youhavecompletedthedatabase,includingyourownexistingsite. Bythistime,youshouldhaveagoodfeelforusersexperienceswhentheyvisityourcompetitorssites.Nowyouarereadytoseehowyoursitestacksupagainstthecompetition.ThenextcolumnshouldhaveyourWebsite.Compareyoursiteagainstall thecriteria incolumn1.Nowyoucansee inblackandwhitehowyoursitecomparestoyourcompetition. Now you are ready to do your planning. In the last column of yourdatabase,revieweachoftheelementsinthefirstcolumn,reviewyournotesinyourcompetitiveanalysis,and,whereappropriate,completethelastcolumnbycategorizingeachoftheelementsasoneofthefollowing:
ANeedtohave;essential,criticalelement;cantlivewithout
BNicetohaveifitdoesntcosttoomuch
CDontneed;dontwantatanyprice.
RememberthatusersusuallyvisitatleastthreeWebsitesbeforetheymaketheir buying decision.When they have visited a number of sites that havecertain elements incorporated, such as a virtual tour, that element becomesthenormor an expectation. If your sitedoesnothave that virtual tour (orwhateverthatcertainelementis),theymayfeelasifyouarenotkeepingupwithindustrystandards,thatyouarenotmeetingtheirexpectations.Thebarisconstantlybeingraised.Onceapersonseessomethingonthreeorfourofyourcompetitorssites, itbecomesanexpectation.TheInternethashelpedcreateverydemandingconsumerswithveryhighexpectations. Havingcompletedidentificationofyourobjectives,targetmarkets,productsandservices,andnowyourcompetitiveanalysis,youarereadytodevelopyourstoryboard,plan,orblueprintforyoursite.
Storyboarding Your Web Site
BeforeyoustartconstructiononyourWebsite,therearemanystepstobetaken.Firstyoumusthavethestoryboard,ortheblueprintofyoursite,developed.InWebdevelopment,themajorityofthetimeshouldbespentintheplanningstageintegrateyourobjectives,yourtargetmarketinformation,thefindings
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10 101WaystoPromoteYourWebSite(promote.maxpress.com)
ofthecompetitiveanalysis,andyourownideas,aswellasthoseofothers.Thisisdonethroughtheprocessofstoryboarding. The storyboard is the foundationofyourWebsite.Consider it theplanorblueprintofyoursite.Itshouldshowyou,onpaper,thefirstdraftofthecontentandlayoutofyoursite.Itgivesyouthechancetoreviewthelayoutandmakechangesbeforedevelopmentbegins. ThestoryboardcanbecreatedwithasoftwareprogramlikeMicrosoftVisio,withsheetsofpaper,orwithanyothermechanism.(SeeFigure1.1foranexampleofastoryboardwedevelopedforoneofourhotelclients.)Quiteoftenwhenwe begin storyboarding a project for a client,well startwith
Figure 1.1. Storyboardforahotel.
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Planning Your Web Site 11
yellowstickynotesonawall.Verylowtech,butitworks!Itisveryeasytogetavisualofthenavigationstructureandeasytofillinthecontentpages(oneperstickynote)intheappropriateplaces.Itisalsoveryeasytoeditsimplymoveastickyfromonesectiontoanother,oraddanotherstickynoteforanewpage.
Detailed Web Site Planning
In the previous section of this chapter you learned how to develop yourstoryboard.Nowyouneedtodevelopthespecificcontent,text,andgraphicsforeachpageofyoursite. Thefirstdraftofthetextforeachpageshouldbedevelopedbyyou.Youknowyourtargetmarketbetterthananyoneyouknowwhatmakesthembuy,youknowwhattheywant,andyouknowthebuzzwordsforyourindustryfarbetterthanyourWebdeveloper. Oncethefirstdraftofthetextisdone,youwanttohavethistextreviewedandeditedbyanonlinecopywriter.Youronlinecopywritercanbeapersonfromyourownorganization,someonefromaWebdevelopmentorganization,oranoutsourcedthirdparty.OnlinecopywritersoftenhaveabackgroundinPRoradvertising,andtheyknowhowtogetthemessageacrossinasfewwordsaspossible.Onlinecopywritersknowhowtograbyourreadersattentionandgetthemtodowhatyouwantthemtodo.Internetusersdontwanttoreadpagesandpagesoftexttheywanttogetwhattheyrelookingforquickly.Onlinecopywritersknowthatthetextshouldbeshort,tothepoint,andwrittensoitcaneasilybescanned. Always reviewwhat theonlinecopywriterhasdone.Youwant tomakesurethatthesubstanceofyourtexthasstayedthesameandonlytheformhasbeenchanged. After you have reviewed and approved the online copywriters work,youwant tohave the content reviewed and editedby an Internetmarketer.Again, the Internetmarketer can be a person from your own organization,someonefromaWebdevelopmentorganization,oranoutsourcedthirdparty.BesurethattheInternetmarketeryouchoosehasexpertise insearchengineoptimization, repeat-traffic generators, social media marketing, viral andpermissionmarketing,aswellasthelatesttrendsinonlinemarketing,suchasmobilemarketingandinteractivemapping. TheInternetmarketerwillreviewandedit thetextandgraphics,makingsurethatthekeywordsareusedintheappropriateplacesforhighsearchengineranking.Thekeywordassignedtoaparticularpageshouldbeusedappropriatelyinthepagetitle,thetextthroughoutthepage,themeta-tagsforkeywordand
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description,theheaders, theAlt tags,andthecommentstags.There isarealsciencetothis,sobesuretochooseyourInternetmarketercarefully.YoulllearnmoreaboutdesigningyoursitetobesearchenginefriendlyinChapter2. TheInternetmarketershouldalsoensurethatyouhaveusedtheappropriaterepeat-traffic generators (see Chapter 3), appropriate permission marketingtechniques (seeChapter 4), and appropriate viralmarketing techniques (seeChapter5).Again,youneedtoreviewandapprovethechangestomakesureyourmessageisstillpresentedappropriatelyforyourtargetmarket. Once you are satisfiedwith the Internetmarketers work, the next stepisgraphicdesign.Thegraphicdesignerwilldevelop thelookand feel foryour sitethe navigation bar, the background, and the separator bars. Thegraphicdesignerknowsthatyouronlineandofflinecorporateidentityshouldbeconsistent.Again,youwillreviewandapprovethegraphicdesign.Thisiscriticallyimportantasyoudontgetasecondchancetomakeafirstimpression,andyourWebvisitorisjustaclickawayfromyourcompetitioniftheyarenotwowedinthefirstthreetofiveseconds. Onceallthisisdone,andeverythinghasbeenreviewedandapproved,youarereadyfortheprogrammingtostart.
Internet Resources for Chapter 1
I have developed a great library of online resources for you to check outregardingplanningyourWeb site.This library is availableonmyWeb site, http://www.SusanSweeney.com, intheResourcessection,whereyoucanfindadditionaltips,tools,techniques,andresources. Ihavealsodevelopedcoursesonmanyofthetopicscoveredinthisbook.ThesecoursesareavailableontwoofmyWebsites, http://www.SusanSweeney.com and http://www.eLearningU.com (which contains other instructorscoursesaswell). ThesecoursesaredeliveredimmediatelyovertheInternet,soyoucanstartwheneverisconvenientforyou.
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2Designing Your Site to Be Search Engine Friendly
WhenInternetusersarelookingforaparticularproduct,service,subject,orinformationpertainingtoanareaofinteresttothem,howdotheydoit?Themostcommonresearchtoolused is thesearchengine85percentofpeopledoingresearchonlineusesearchenginestofindwhattheyarelookingfor. Becausesearchenginescanbringsignificantvolumesoftraffictoyoursite,youmustunderstandhowthemajorsearchenginesworkandhowthedesignofyoursitecaninfluencetheindexingofyoursitebythesearchengines.Youmust alsoknowabout the elements that are included in the search enginesalgorithms,orformulas,thatareoutsideyourWebsiteandwhatyoucandotoensurethatyouearnmaximumpointsforthosethingsyoucaninfluence.Socialmedia,forexample,issignificantlyinfluencingsearchengineranking. WhenpeopleconductInternetsearches,theyrarelygobeyondthefirstpageofresults.Ifyouwanttobenoticed,ideallyyouwanttoappearonthetophalfofthefrontpageofsearchresults.Beforeyousubmittothesearchengines,youhavetobesureyoursitehasbeendesignedtobesearchenginefriendly.Inthischapter,wecover:
Themethodologytomakeyoursitesearchenginefriendly
Howthesearchenginesranksites
ThekeyelementsofWebsitedesigntoaccommodatesearchengines
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Theall-importantcontent
TheimportanceofkeywordsinallaspectsofyourWebsite
TheelementsthatareinthesearchenginealgorithmsorformulasthatareoutsideyourWebsite
The importanceof linkpopularityand link relevancy toyour searchengineplacement.
Understanding Search Engines and How They Rank Sites
Forthissectionwearetalkingaboutorganic listingsratherthanpay-per-clickorsponsoredlistings.ThosearediscussedinChapter8. Organiclistingsarethesearchresultsthataredisplayedtotheleftofthepage andbelow the sponsored listings.Organic listings are free listings and
are gainedbyhowyour site is rankedbasedon auniqueformula,oralgorithm,foreachsearchengine.Pay-per-clickorsponsoredlistings,ontheotherhand,arelistingsthatarepaidforandgainedthroughabiddingprocess.Sponsoredlistings are always displayed at the top of the results anddowntheright-handsideofthepage.Rankinghighinthepay-to-playsearchenginesisdiscussedmoreinChapter9.
SeeFigure2.1foravisualexplanationoforganicandpay-per-clickpositioningonthesearchengineresultspage. Searchenginesuseprogramsor intelligentagents,calledbots, toactuallysearchtheInternetforpagesthattheyindexusingspecificparametersasthey
readthecontent.Thebotreadstheinformationoneverypageofyoursiteandthenfollowsthelinks.Forexample,GooglesspiderscontinuallycrawltheWeblookingforsitestoindexand,ofcourse,indexsitesupontheirsubmission.Googleisobviouslyveryimportantinthesearchenginecommunity,sobesureyoursiteiseasilyaccessibletoitsspider.
Eachsearchenginehasitsownuniquerankingcriteriaanditsownuniquealgorithm,orformula,givingdifferentweightingtoeachofthecriteriainitsformula.Forthesearchenginesthatyouhavedecidedtofocuson,youhavetolearnasmuchasyoucanabouttheirrankingcriteriaandrelativeweighting.SeeFigure2.2forabreakdownofhowthesearchenginesscoresites.Thesitewiththehighestscoreappearsatthetopoftheresults,andtherestappearindescendingorderoftheirscore.
Organic listingA free listing of a site in the search results ranked by the search engines ranking formula or algorithm.
BotsPrograms used by search engines to search the Internet for pages to index.
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Designing Your Site to Be Search Engine Friendly 15
Tomaximizeyourscore,youneedtoaddressallthreeareas.Youneedtomakesureyoursiteisoptimizedforkeywordphrases.(Thatiswhatthischapterisallabout.)Youneed tomaximizeyour linkpopularityand linkrelevancypoints;wetalkmoreaboutthislaterinthischapteraswellasinChapter13onlinks.Youneedtoscoopupthemiscellaneouspoints;someoftheseareeasyandsomeyoudonthavemuchcontrolover.Wecoverthesepointsmoreinthischapter,too. Thesearchenginesareallfightingformarketshare.Themoremarketshareasearchenginehas,themorevaluablethecompanyis.Togainmarketshare,asearchenginehastoprovidebetterresultsthanitscompetition.Itisforthisreasonthatthesearchenginesarechangingandimprovingtheirformulasonanongoingbasis.Youhavetokeepupwithchangesintheseformulas,tweakyoursiteaccordingly,andresubmitwhennecessary. Thesearchengineshavedifferentalgorithmsorformulasfortheirranking.Theyhavedifferentweightingforthevariouselementswithintheirformula.Theychangetheirformulasovertimeandtheychangetheirrankingovertime.Socialmediahashadanimpactonsearchengineranking,andweareseeingchangesinthesearchengineformulastomakesurethattheappropriateweightisattachedtothoseelementsandmanipulationofsearchenginerankingiskeptataminimum.Soundcomplicated?Letsgetstarted.
Figure 2.1. Pay-per-clickorsponsoredlistingsappearatthetopofthesearchresultsandalongtherighthandsideofthepage,whereasorganiclistingsappearonthelefthandsideofthepageandunderthesponsoredlistings.
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Methodology to Maximize Your Sites Search Ranking
There are a number of steps well take to maximize your search engineranking:
1. Decidewhichsearchenginesarecriticalforyoursuccess.Learnasmuchasyoucanabouttheirrankingcriteriaandtheweightinggiventoeachcriterionintheiralgorithm.
2. Determinethekeywordphrasesyouaregoingtofocusoninyoursearchengineoptimization.Youarelookingforthosekeywordphrasesthatyourtargetmarketisusinginthesearchenginestofindwhatyouhavetoofferwhentheydontknowthatyourparticularcompanyexists.
3. Assignthosekeywordstospecificpagesthroughoutyoursite.
4. Populatethepageswiththeassignedkeywordsintheappropriateplacesgiventherankingcriteriaforyourtargetedsearchengines.
5. Havealinkstrategyandstarttheimplementation.
6. Makesureyouhavedonewhatyoucantomaximizeyourmiscellaneouspoints.
Figure 2.2. FormulaforhowsearchenginesrankWebsites.
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Designing Your Site to Be Search Engine Friendly 17
7. GetyourselfonGoogleMapsifyoucan.Noticethatthemapsappearinthesearchresultsbeforetheorganiclistings!
8. Manuallysubmityoursitetothemajorsearchengines.
Theremainderofthischapterwalksyoustep-by-stepthroughthisprocess.
Step 1. Decide Which Search Engines Are Important
Tostart thisprocess,youwant todecidewhich searchenginesyouaregoingtobeconcernedaboutwhentakingstepsnecessarytorankhighintheirsearchresults. Youwanttoselectanumberofthemostpopularsearchenginesforyourconcentration.You alsowant to be indexed in topic-specific search enginesfor your industry. You can find the most popular search engines by doingyourresearchonlinethroughsitessuchasSearchEngineWatch(http://www.searchenginewatch.com).Youcankeepupwithwhatshappeningwithsearchenginemarket share byGoogling search enginemarket share report andreviewingthelatestreports. Asitstandsatthetimeofthiswriting(Figure2.3),themajorplayersinthesearchengineindustryare:
GoogleSites63.7percent
Yahoo!Sites18.3percent
MicrosoftSites12.1percent
AskNetwork3.6percent
AOLNetwork2.4percent.
2. Learn the Search Engine Ranking Criteria
Thingshavechangedquiteabitfromtheearlydays.Elementsthatusedtohavesignificantweightingmaynowhaveverylittleweight.Youhavetorememberthatitisthehighesttotalscoreyouarelookingfor,soevenifanelementhas
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18 101WaystoPromoteYourWebSite(promote.maxpress.com)
reducedweighting,iftheelementhasanypointsatallyouwanttoincorporatethatelementtomaximizeyourtotalscore.Sometimesthetopsitesarewithinasmallnumberofpointsofeachother. Itisnotasdauntingasitmightsound,becausethemajorsearchenginestend to look at similar information but weight the relevancy for particularitemsdifferentlyintheiralgorithms.Thathavingbeensaid,herearethemostimportantareasonaWebpagethatyoumustaddresswhenperformingorganicsearchengineoptimization:
Titletags(pagetitles)
Keywordmeta-tags
Descriptionmeta-tags
Alttags
Hypertextlinks(e.g.,anchortext)
Domainnamesandfilenames
Bodytext(beginning,middle,andendofpagecopy)
Figure 2.3. comScoreCoreSearchReportonsearchenginemarketshare.
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Designing Your Site to Be Search Engine Friendly 19
Headers
BetweentheNOFRAMEStagofframedWebsites.
Pagetitlesandtext-basedpagecontentarethemostimportantofthenotedplacementareas.Keywordmeta-tagsarenotascriticalastheyoncewere,buttheyarestillapplicableforsomeengines.Rememberitistheabsolutehighestscoreyouarelookingfor;ifthereareanypointsavailable,youwanttodesignyoursitetotakeadvantageofthem.
Step 3. Determine Your Most Important Keyword Phrases
Keywordphrases(hereafterreferredtoaskeywords)arethetermsandphrasesthat your target market uses when searching themajor search engines anddirectoriesfortheproductsandservicesyousell.Yourkeywordsareusedineverythingyoudoandarethekeydeterminingfactorinhowyourankinthesearchresultsamongmanyofthemajorsearchengines. Acriticalstep innaturalsearchengineoptimization is toselect therightkeywordsforyourbusiness,products,orservices(includingdescriptivewords),andyourtargetmarket.Understandwhomyouaretargetingandbuildyoursearchengineoptimizationeffortsaroundyouraudience. Youneedtochoosekeywordphrases thataregoingtobringsustainabletargeted traffic consisting of potential customersnot just visitors; you arelookingfortargetedtraffic.Whatyoumaythinkistheperfectkeywordphrasemaynotbeusedatallbyyourtargetmarketintheirsearchqueries,whichiswhyitissocriticaltoresearchandvalidateyourkeywords. Ideally,eachpageofyourWebsiteisgoingtofocusonadifferentsetofkeywordsthatarespecifictothecontentathand.Ifyouweretofocusonthesamesetofkeywordsoneverypage,thenyouwouldhitonlyonesmallportionofyourmarketpotentialbecauseyouareonlygoingtohitthosesamekeywordsoverandoveragainitisself-defeating. First,youwanttogatheramasterlistofallpossiblekeywordphrases.Howdo you create yourmaster keyword list?Here are four solid techniques forgeneratingalistofpotentialkeywordphrases:
1. Brainstorm,survey,andreviewpromotionalmaterial.
2. Reviewcompetingandindustry-leadingWebsites.
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3. AssessyourWebsitetrafficlogs.
4. Usekeywordsuggestionandevaluationtools.
Asyouworkyourwaythroughthelistoftechniques,youwanttocyclebacktosomeofthetechniquesbecauseyouwillcomeacrosssearchtermsthatcanexpandthescopeofyouroriginaleffortsandopenthedoortonew,moretargetedphrasesthatyoumighthavemissedthefirsttimearound.
Brainstorming, Surveying, and Reviewing Promotional Material
Try to think as your target market would if they were to do a search forinformationon a topic containedwithin your site.Donot just think aboutwhatpeoplewoulddotofindyoursite,butwhattheywoulddoiftheydidntknowyourbusiness existedandwere looking for the typesofproductsandservicesyousell. Yourcurrentcorporatematerials,brochures,andothermarketingcollateralcan be a valuable source of keyword phrases. Begin by indiscriminatelyhighlightinganywordsthatpeoplemightsearchforiflookingforproductsorservicesyourcompanyhastooffer.
Review Competing and Industry-Leading Web Sites
Checkoutyouronlinecompetition.Thetermcompetitionisreferencedquitelooselyinthatindustryleaderswithwhomyoumaynotdirectlycompetearealsoincludedhere.Lookatthesitesforwhichyouhavearecordandlookforsitesinthemajorsearchenginesusingsomeofthekeywordphrasesyouhavegatheredsofar. Youwanttoseewhatsitesareinthetoptenpositionsandunderstandthem.Byreviewingtop-rankingWebsites,youcanlookforthemesandpatternsinthesitesthatgiveyouagoodindicationofwhattheyaregoingafterandhowtheyaredoingit.YoucanthenturnaroundandapplythisnewfoundknowledgetoyourownWebsite. WhenreviewingcompetingWebsites,youshouldlookatthesamegeneralareasyouwouldoptimizeonyourownWebsite. Bysearchingforyourmostimportantkeywordsandobservingwhatthetop-rankingsitesareusingwithrespecttotheirpagecontent,titletags,descriptionmeta-tags,keywordmeta-tags,andsoon,youcanformulateagoodplanof
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Designing Your Site to Be Search Engine Friendly 21
attack.Rememberthat ifyoudontappearinthefirsttwoorthreepagesofsearchresults,itisunlikelythatprospectivevisitorswillaccessyoursitethroughthesearchengine. Tocheckyourcompetitionstitleandmeta-tagsinMicrosoftInternetExplorer,yousimplygototheirsite,thenclickViewonyourmenubar,andselectSourcefromthedrop-downmenu.Thisbringsupthesourcecodeforthatpage.
Assess Your Web Site Traffic Logs
YourWebsitetrafficlogscanbeasourceofpertinentkeywordinformation.You canviewyour traffic logs to seewhat search termsand search enginespeopleareusingtolocateyourWebsiteandtohelpyoufine-tunefuturesearchengineoptimizationefforts. IfyouarenotsurewhetheryouhaveaccesstoaWebsitetrafficanalysisprogram,checkwithyourcurrentWebsitehosttoseeiftheyprovideonetoyou.Ifnot,thereareplentyoftoolsavailabletoyou.(SeeChapter28,WebTrafficAnalysis,forhelpfulinformation.)
Keyword Suggestion and Evaluation Tools
Thereareanumberofservicesavailablethatcanhelpyouwithselectingthemostappropriatekeywordsforyoursite.Theseservicesbasetheirsuggestionsonresults fromactualsearchqueries.Googleprovidesagreatkeywordtool(https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal) to assist withkeyword selection. Wordtracker (http://www.wordtracker.com) is anotherexampleofsuchaservice. Keywordresearchtoolscanhelpmeetyourcurrentneeds,whetheryourelookingforaplacetostart,areplumoutofideas,orsimplyfeel likeyouremissingsomething.See theResourcessectionofmyWebsiteat http://www.SusanSweeney.comforalistofkeywordresearchtools.
Fine-Tuning Your Keyword Phrases
Nowthatyouhaveyourmasterkeyword list,probablywitha fewhundredkeywordphrases,youhavetodrilldownandfigureoutwhichkeywordsyouaregoingtotargetforeachpageofyourWebsitethatyouwanttooptimize.Keepinmindthateachpageyouoptimizeshouldleantowardadifferentsetof
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keywords.Why?Whatgoodisbuying100lotteryticketsforthenextdrawingiftheyallhavethesamenumber?Itisthesameideahere. Youreffortsshouldfocusaroundthosekeywordphrases thatbring inafairvolumeoftrafficandthatarehighlytargeted.Thereturnoninvestmentforsuchkeywordswillbemuchhigher.Whenreviewingyourkeywordlist,youneedtoconsider:
Whichkeywordsarevitaltoyourobjectives
Whichkeywordsarepopularenoughtogeneratereasonable,sustainabletraffic
Whichkeywordsdonothavesomuchcompetition that itwouldbecounterproductiveconsideringthetimeandeffortnecessarytotargetthem.
Youcanbegineditingthelistbydeletingwordsthateitheraretoogeneric(forexample,business)orarenotappropriateforkeywordpurposes.Revieweachwordandaskyourself,WouldpeoplesearchusingthiswordiftheywerelookingfortheproductsandservicesavailablethroughmyWebsite? Foreachpagethatyouareoptimizing,takeacopyofthecomprehensivemasterlistanddeletewordsthatarenotappropriateforthatparticularpage.Reprioritizetheremainingkeywordsbasedonthecontentofthepageyouareindexing.Nowtakethekeywordphraseyouhaveassignedtothispageandputitatthetopofthelist.Thisisthekeywordlistforthatparticularpage.Repeatthisprocedureforeverypageyouareoptimizing.Thisisalsoagreatprocedurewhenyouaredevelopingthekeywordmeta-tagforeachpageofyoursite. What I justcovered isaverybasicapproachtoorganizingkeywords. Ifyouareup to the challenge, youcan take it furtherbyaddingweightsandmultiplierstoyourkeywordlisttofurtherrefineit. Herearesomeadditionaltipstokeepinmindwhenrefiningyourkeywordsmasterlist:
PluralandsingularkeywordsGooglematchesexactlywhattheusersearchesfor,soitisimportanttousebothwherepossible.
Using the names of your competitorsNever include a competitorsname in your keywords. Because several search engines read only asmall amount of content for keywords, you lose valuable page realestatetoirrelevantkeywordswhenyouuseyourcompetitorsname.
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Commonmisspellings ofwordsThere aremanywords that peoplemisspellonafrequentbasis.Thequestionhereis,doyouincludethosemisspelledkeywordsinyoursiteornot?Mystanceisno.Althoughpeopleusethemintheirsearches,ithurtsyourcredibilityinthatyoucomeoffasacompanyincapableofcorrectlyspellingitsownproductsandservices.Thereareexceptionstoeveryrule.CanadiansitesoftenhaveU.S. customers as their targetmarket andU.S. sites oftenhaveCanadian customers as their target market. There are a number ofwordsthatarespelleddifferentlybythesecountriestheatreinCanadaistheaterintheUnitedStates,centreinCanadaiscenterintheUnitedStates,colourinCanadaiscolorintheUnitedStates,forexample.Ifyouarecaughtwithoneofyourimportantkeywordsspelleddifferentlybyyourtargetmarket,youmightwanttooptimizeapageofyoursitetoaccommodatethis.PerhapsyoumightofferapagethatisdesignedforOurCanadianFriendsorforOurAmericanFriends.
FilterandstopwordsFilterwordsarewordsthatsearchenginessimplyignoreduringsearches.Stopwordsareextremelycommonwordsthatsearchenginesuseastriggerstostopgrabbingcontentonagivenpage,suchasand,a,andthe.Somesearchenginesviewstopwordsandfilterwordsasthesamething,butyouneedtorememberonlyonething:searchenginesbypassthesewordstosavetime,asthesewordsarenotconsideredtoaddanyvaluetothesearch.It isbesttotrytoavoidusingstopwordswherepossibleinyourkeywordphrases.
ModifiersAmodifierisakeywordyouaddtoyourprimarykeywordphrasetogiveitaboost.Whosimplysearchesforahotelatrandom?It doesnt make sense. You look for a hotel in combination with adestination.Inthiscase,thedestinationisthemodifier.
Multiple-word keyword phrasesTwo- or three-keyword phrasesperformbetterthansinglekeywords.
Step 4. Assign Specific Keywords to Specific Pages
Thenextstepistoallocatespecifickeywordstospecificpagesofyoursiteforsearchengineoptimization.You thenpopulateeachpage in theappropriateplaceswiththeassignedkeyword.Youdothisbecauseyouwanttoensurethatnomatterwhichkeywordorkeywordphraseyour targetmarketdecides to
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searchon,oneofthepagesonyoursiteislikelytorankinthefirstcoupleofpagesofsearchresults. Toassignspecifickeywordphrasestospecificpages,weregoingbacktograde2.Rememberwhentheteachergaveyouapagewithwordsdownonesideanddefinitionsdowntheother?Well,weregoingtodosomethingsimilar.Takeapieceofpaperandwritedownthepagesyouaregoingtooptimizeontherightsideofthepage.Thentakethesamenumberofimportantkeywordphrasesandwritethosedownontheleftsideofthepage.Nowtrytomatchthekeywordphrasetothepagewherethereisanopportunitytogetthekeywordphraseintothecontentofthepageyouaregoingtooptimize.
Step 5. Populate Each Page with the Assigned Keyword
Whenyouhaveallocatedyourkeywordstothevariouspagesonyoursite,youwillpopulateorincludethekeywordphrasesassignedintheappropriateplacesforthatparticularpage.Letstakeacloserlookatallthoseappropriateplaces.
Title TagsUse Descriptive Page Titles
ItisextremelyimportantthatallWebpageshavetitles.Titletagsareviewedasoneofthemostimportantelementsofsearchengineoptimizationwhenitcomestokeywordplacement.EachofthepagesonyourWebsiteshouldhavea different title, as eachpage is focusingon a different keywordphrase foroptimizationpurposes. The title is inserted between the title tags in the header of an HTMLdocument.indicatesthebeginningoftheheader,andtheendingoftheheaderismarkedby.Asimplifiedversionmightlooklike:
DocumentTitleHere
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Title tag information identifies and describes your pages. Most Webbrowsersdisplayadocumentstitleinthetoplineofthescreen.WhenusersprintapagefromyourWebsite,thetitleusuallyappearsatthetopofthepageattheleft.WhensomeonebookmarksyoursiteoraddsittotheirFavorites,thetitleappearsasthedescriptioninhisorherbookmarkfile.Theseareallreasonsthatitisimportantthatapagestitlereflectanaccuratedescriptionofthepage.Moreimportantly,thetitletagistypicallywhatthetargetmarketseesinsearchresultsinsomeofthemajorsearchengines.InFigure2.4youcanseethatatypicalsearchresultconsistsofthetitletagasthelinktotheWebsite,abriefdescriptionoftheWebsite,andtheURL. EverypageofyourWebsiteshouldhaveauniquetitletag,andeachtitletagshouldaccuratelydescribethepagecontent.Yourtargetmarketshouldbeabletoreadthetitletagandunderstandwhatthepagetheyareabouttoviewcontains.
Figure 2.4. AtypicalsearchresultconsistingofthetitletagasthelinktotheWebsite,abriefdescriptionoftheWebsite,andtheURL.
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Keepyourtitletagsbriefintherealmoffivetotenwords.Thelongeryourtitletagis,themoredilutedyourkeywordsbecomeandthemorelikelyyourtitletagistobetruncatedbyasearchengine.Googledisplaysamaximumof66characters.Yahoo!Search,ontheotherhand,permitsupto120charactersforatitletag. Theshorterandmoreaccuratethetitletagis,thehigherthekeyworddensityandrelevancyforthattitletag.Trytokeepyouruseofakeywordphrasetoasingleinstanceifpossible,unlessthetitletagtrulywarrantsduplication.Inthecaseofahotel,thewordhotelmightappeartwiceinatitleonceforthehotelspropercompanynameandonceinadescriptivetermsuchasatargetedgeographicarea.
Keywords Meta-Tag
Although in recentyears fewerpointshavebeenallocated tocontent in thekeywordsmeta-tags, it is importanttokeepyoureyesonthetotalscoreifthere are anypoints at all allocated to this element, youwant themall.Aswevealreadymentioned,thesitewiththehighesttotalscoreappearsatthetopofthesearchresults,soyouaregoingaftereverypointyoucanget. Thekeywordsmeta-tag,tellssearchenginesunderwhichkeywordstoindexyoursite.Whenausertypesoneofthewordsyoulistedhere,youaretellingthesearchenginethatyoursiteshouldbedisplayedintheresults.Aspaceorcommacanbeusedtoseparatethewords.Donotrepeatthekeywordfrequently;rather,repeatthekeywordaboutfivetimesindifferentphrases.Bewaryofkeyworddilutionbyusingtoomanydifferenttermsinthistag.Youshouldcreateauniquekeywordstagforeachpageofyoursitethatliststheappropriatekeywordsforthatparticularpage.
Description Meta-Tag
should be included oneverypageof yourWeb site.Thedescriptionmeta-tag is used to supply anaccurateoverviewofthepagetowhichitisattached.Thedescriptionmeta-tagscaninfluencethedescriptioninthesearchenginesthatsupportthem. It isbest tokeepthedescriptionmeta-tagtosomewherebetween200to250characters intotal.Besuretousethesamekeywordsappliedelsewhereon thepagebeingoptimized in thedescriptionmeta-tag forconsistencyandrelevancy.
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Ithelpsto includeacall toactionencouragingthetargetmarkettovisityourWebsiteortakesomeotheraction,asthisdescriptionisoftenwhatusersseeinthesearchresultsasadescriptionforyoursite.
Alt Tags
Some search engines use the information within Alt tags when forming adescription and determining the ranking for your site. Alt tags are used todisplay a description of the graphic they are associatedwith if the graphiccannotbedisplayed.Alttagsappearafteranimagetagandcontainaphrasethatisassociatedwiththeimage. EnsurethatyourAlttagscontainthekeywordsassignedtotheparticularpagewhereveryoucan.Thisgivesyourpageabetterchanceofbeingrankedhigherinthesearchengines.Forexample:
YoudonotwantyourAlt tags to look something likecompany logobecausethisdoesnotincludeanykeywords.BesureyouapplyproperAlttagstoallimagesonyoursitetoachievebestresults.Keepinmindthatuserswhobrowsewithgraphicsdisabledmustbeabletonavigateyoursite,andproperuseofAlttagsassiststhemindoingso.
Hypertext Links
Ahypertext linkconsistsof thedescriptionofa linkplacedbetweenanchortags.Hereisanexampleofanabsolutelink,wherethelinkincludesthetotalpathtowherethedocumentcanbefound:
. Thisistheanchortextforthesamplelink.
Thetextinsideahyperlink,oranchortext,isimportantforsearchengineoptimization.ThemajorsearchengineshavepointsavailableforincludingthekeywordphrasebeingsearchedoninthetextaroundthelinkpointingtoyourWebsite. IflinksonotherWebsitespointingtoyourWebsiteincludethesamestringofkeywords,yoursitesrelevancygetsaboost.WhenyouencourageotherWebsitestolinktoyours,orwhenyouprovidelinkstoyourWebsitethroughyour
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blog,poststoothersblogs,orinyoursocialmediapostsandtags,makesureyougetthekeywordphraseyouhaveassignedtothatparticularpageinthetextaroundthelink.Similarly,whenyousubmityourWebsitetodirectoriesandotherlinksources,providethecomparablelinkortitletext.
Domain Name and File Names
Useofkeywordswithinyourdomainnameandfilenamescanhelpwithsearchenginepositioning. Itdoesnottakemuchefforttogiveyourimagesandfilenamesmeaningfulnamesnames that include the keyword phrase you have assigned to thatpagesotakethetimetodoit.Forexample,insteadofacardealership,sayChrysler,usinghttp://www.chrysler.com/page1.htmlforapagethatisfocusingontheirtrucks,itwouldbemuchbettertousehttp://www.chrysler.com/trucks.
Body TextHeader Tags and Page Copy
ThebodytextofaWebpageconsistsofallthevisibletextbetweenthebodyandtag,suchasheadingsandthepagecopyencasedinparagraphs.Alongwithpagetitles,bodytextisthenextimportantareaonwhichtofocusyoursearchengineoptimizationefforts.Bodytextiswhereyouwanttospendthebulkofyourtime.
HeadingsHeader Tags
UseyourHTML headertagseffectivelytoindicatethesubjectandcontentofaparticularpage.Mostpeopleuse themonlyasamethodofcreating largefonts.Somesearchengines,includingGoogle,usethecontentincludedwithintheheadertextintheirrelevancyscoring.TheH1tagisthemostimportant,followedbyH2.Includeyourmostimportantkeywordsinyourheadertags.If you can,work a couple ofH2 tags into your page and get the keywordphraseyouveassignedtothatpagewithintheheadertag.SomedevelopersusealargerfontinsteadofH1andH2tags;thesearchenginesgivethepointsonlyifthekeywordphraseisbetweenthe tagandthetag.
Page Copy
Youwant to ensure that the keyword you have assigned to a specific pageappearsasclosetothebeginningofthatpageaspossible,andcertainlywithinthe first 200 characters. The higher up on a page, the greater the keyword
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prominence.Searchenginestendtolendmoreweighttopagecontentabovethefold.Thefoldiswhereyourbrowserwindowendsandwhereverticalscrollingbegins,ifnecessary. Theassignedkeywordshouldappearat thebeginningof thetextonthepage,inthemiddle,andagainattheend.Youwanttobuildathemeonyourpage,andtodosoyouhavetospreadyourkeywordsthroughoutthepage,notjustfocusonthefirstparagraph. Always have a descriptive paragraph at the top of yourWeb page thatdescribeswhatcanbefoundonthepageforyourtargetmarketandforthemajorsearchengines.Searchenginesusethisastheirsourceforasitedescriptionandkeywordsonyoursite.Besuretousethemostimportantkeywordsfirst,preferablywithinthefirsttwoorthreesentences.Thisisenormouslyimportant.Makesurethatthekeywordsyouuseflownaturallywithinthecontentoftheopening paragraph and relate to the content and purpose of your site.Youdontwantthesearchenginestothinkyouretryingtocraminwordswheretheydontfit. Keyworddensityisthenumberoftimesakeyword,orkeywordphrase,isusedonaWebpage,dividedbythetotalnumberofwordsonthatparticularpage.Yourkeyworddensityshouldbebetween3percentand8percent.Ifyourkeyworddensityisbelow3percent, it isnotthereoftenenoughtocount.Ifyourkeyworddensityisabove8percent,itmayappearasifyouareattemptingtomanipulatethesearchengines. Thesearchenginescantreadtextembeddedinyourgraphicsforcontent.VeryoftenIseeasitethathasthecompanynameusedonlyinagraphiclogo.Ifsomeoneweretodoasearchonthecompanyname,theymaynotearnenoughpointstoscoreonthefirstpageofresults. Asafinalnote,beforeyousubmityoursite,besurethecontentonthepageyouaresubmittingiscomplete.Someofthemajorsearchengineswillignoreyoursubmissionifyouhaveanunderconstructionorsimilarsignonyourpage.
Spamming
Searchengineswanttoprovidethemostaccurateandcompletesearchresultstheycantotheirtargetmarket.Afterall,thisiswhatdrivesallaspectsoftheirbusinessmodel.Ifpeoplehavenofaithinasearchengine,thetrafficdriesupandthesponsoredlistingfeesaswellasotheradvertisingfeesceasetoexist. Intheoldendays,Internetmarketersusedvarioustechniquestotrickthesearchenginesintopositioningtheirsiteshigherinsearchresults.Thesetricksdonotworkwiththesearchenginestoday,andifitisdiscoveredthatyouare
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30 101WaystoPromoteYourWebSite(promote.maxpress.com)
tryingtodupethesearchengines,somemaynotlistyouatall.Searchenginesareprogrammedtodetectsomeofthesetechniques,andyouwillbepenalizedinsomewayifyouarediscovered.AfewofthesearchenginetricksthatusedtoworkBUTTHEYDONOTWORKTODAY,SODONTUSETHEMpertainingtoWebsitedesignareincludedbelow.Iincludethemsoyoucangobacktolookatyoursitetoseeiftheyhavebeenusedonyoursite,andiftheyhave,thisisprobablythereasonyouarehavingdifficultywithsearchengineplacement.
Repeating keywordsSomeWebsitesrepeatthesamekeywordsoverandoveragain,byhidingtheminthevisibleHTML,ininvisiblelayerssuchasthetag,an