We often hear from people, "I want to create a website." The problem is, when we ask them why, they usually say, "Everyone else has one." What most people fail to realize is a website, just like any other marketing medium, has to have a defined target audience along with clear objectives and goals in order to be successful.
Identify Your Keyword Phrases
No one is likely to type your website name into their browser. If you want your target audience to find you, you have to think like them and try to figure out which keyword phrases they will input into the search engine. Go to the three major search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN) and enter those keyword phrases. It is important to identify two to three primary keyword phrases and concentrate your efforts on them. Each time you enter a keyword phrase, note the results you get back. Are they your competitors or other industry-related websites? If so, you're likely on the right track. If not, keep trying other phrases until you find the right ones. Also, if you're a localized firm, you will want to narrow your keyword phrases to your geographic location.
Use Your Keyword Phrases
Once you have determined your keyword phrases, make certain those phrases are used in the content, title, Metatags, Hyperlinks, and even within the name of your site, especially on the Home Page. Google, in particular, uses your website content to determine how relevant you are for your keyword phrases.
Become Popular
Inbound links from other websites, particularly those in your specific industries, help boost your popularity ranking, which helps raise your placement in search results for your phrases. If you belong to any associations, see if they can put a link to your website on their website. If they don't offer that service, suggest it to them as a way they can benefit both the association and the individual members. Your local chamber of commerce and city may also offer links on their websites. There are also Webbased directories, such as: www.dmoz.org, www.yahoo.com, or www.looksmart.com, that can add an inbound link to your website. Just make sure they are Hyperlinks (when someone clicks on the link it automatically opens your site).
One note of caution, if someone tries to sell or offer a link to your website in exchange for you linking to other websites, don't do it. If you have too many links from your website to other websites (hundreds), Google could blacklist your website from their search engine.
Evaluate Paid Search Engine Listings
Google, Yahoo (Overture.com), and a handful of other search engines offer services which allow you to bid on and pay for advertised placement in their search results. If you're in a hurry to reach your targets or exist in a competitive space, paid listings can be an effective means of driving traffic to your website. These services will allow you to set your own spending limits and provide you with tools for reporting and keyword analysis. For both Google and Yahoo, you pay your bid price for each click a user makes on your advertisement.
Avoid Search Engine Submission Scams There are people out there who will try to convince you that they can move you to the top of the popular search engines and submit you to 1,500 other engines with just one submission. They will even offer you a money-back guarantee. At best, they may just take your money and do the very basic work of submitting your site to the top search engines. More likely, they will sell your email address and any other information you gave them to spammers. As with most things in life, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
There are legitimate companies out there that perform this service, but most will not guarantee specific results. These companies will work with you to improve your website's content and help to maximize the success of your website within the search engines.
Have Patience
Driving traffic to your business via your website takes time. Every day the major search engines crawl the web to determine which sites are the most popular and relevant for each keyword phrase. The more popular and relevant a site is, the higher it goes in the search results. Getting to those higher search result levels takes time because you have to build up your inbound links and show your staying power as a site, so don't be disappointed if you don't see results right away. It may take a few months before you see any movement upwards.
A new industry and entire books have been devoted to search engine submission and optimization. It is not an exact science, but with a little homework and perseverance you too can boost your website's traffic.
Dennis K. Sebenick is a Managing Partner of RecruitTrack. He can be contacted at 866.864.4461 ext. 1, or by email at dennis@recruittrack.com. Gilda M. Sebenick is a Managing Partner of RecruitTrack. She can be contacted at 866.864.4461 ext. 2, or by email at gilda@recruittrack.com.
