101 ways to promote a website

101 Ways to Promote Your Web Site

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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

Publisher: Jim Hoskins

Production Manager: Jacquie Wallace

Cover Designer: Lauren Smith

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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

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.

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.

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.

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

x Contents

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

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

xii Contents

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

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

xiv Contents

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

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

xvi Contents

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

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

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

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

xx Contents

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

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:

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

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


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.


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


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


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.


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


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


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.


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


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.

13

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


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.

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.


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.


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


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.


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.


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


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


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.


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


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


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.


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.


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


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


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


tryingtodupethesearchengines,somemaynotlistyouatall.Searchenginesareprogrammedtodetectsomeofthesetechniques,andyouwillbepenalizedinsomewayifyouarediscovered.AfewofthesearchenginetricksthatusedtoworkBUTTHEYDONOTWORKTODAY,SODONTUSETHEMpertainingtoWebsitedesignareincludedbelow.Iincludethemsoyoucangobacktolookatyoursitetoseeiftheyhavebeenusedonyoursite,andiftheyhave,thisisprobablythereasonyouarehavingdifficultywithsearchengineplacement.

Repeating keywordsSomeWebsitesrepeatthesamekeywordsoverandoveragain,byhidingtheminthevisibleHTML,ininvisiblelayerssuchasthetag,an

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