Search Engine Optimization:
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of manipulating a
website in order to get high rankings in the organic search engine
rankings. On Google and Yahoo, these are the sites
which are listed on the left hand side of the page and below the
blue box at the top of the page. These sites do not pay the
search engine directly for these ratings, but instead use a variety
of tactics, collectively called optimization, to earn top rankings
within the search engines. (There are also a number of
"pay-for-inclusion" search engines which will guarantee the
inclusion of your site in their data-base for a fee. Keep in
mind that "pay-for-inclusion" only means that your website will be
included in the database, not that it will be ranked #1.
You'll still need to optimize your site in order for it to found
near the top of the search engine rankings.)
SEO is complicated process and
there are entire books and websites dedicated to this topic alone.
So, because of space limitations, we cannot cover the topic fully
here. Suffice it to say that some of the tactics used are such
things as carefully crafting website names and page content to
contain carefully chosen keywords, using carefully designed metatags,
and extensive linking strategies. There are a number of
companies that offer optimization software and/or services online.
There are even companies that promise top 10 rankings for a fee.
If you would like to find out more about search engine
optimization, please see our "Resources" page. You will find a
number of links there offering educational materials or
services/software pertaining to optimization.
Pay Per Click Search Engine Marketing:
Pay Per Click (PPC) search engine marketing is one of the most
popular and most effective means of on-line advertising. PPC
listings are those that appear in the right hand column, or in the
blue boxes at the top and bottom of the page, on sites such as
Google and Yahoo. These are contextual advertisements which are
displayed according to the amount of money the web advertiser has
agreed to pay for each click on the ad. The more expensive ads
are placed at the top of the site and the advertiser bids on the fee
he/she is willing to pay for placement. The advertiser pays
the pre-determined cost each time a prospect clicks on the link for
his/her ad.
There are many search engines that offer PPC advertising.
Google Adwords is probably the best known of these programs, with
Yahoo's Overture close behind. There are also a number of
smaller search engines, such as Kanoodle, Lycos, and ExactSeek.
Larger engines, like Google and Yahoo, are likely to drive more
prospects to your site, but are also likely to be more costly than the
smaller search engines.
When placing a PPC ad, you will choose the keywords or phrases
you wish to bid on and indicate how much you are willing to pay for
a click corresponding to your chosen keywords or phrases.
Commonly searched words and phrases will be the most expensive to
bid on. You may want to compromise and choose some keywords
and phrases that are less commonly searched and more reasonably
priced.
In many search engines, PPC ads can be targeted to a specific
country, territory or even city. Ads show up almost
immediately, so there is very little lag time. Because you
choose your own keywords, you also target your own audience.
If your ad is well written, PPC advertising can create very
targeted traffic that is likely to be very receptive to your offers.
However, statistics indicate that most people don't look past the
first two pages on a website when searching for information.
So, when you place an ad, it probably won't be seen very often if it
is not on those first two pages. Place your bids accordingly.
Because costs can accrue very quickly with a PPC marketing
campaign and it can be difficult to determine exactly how many
clicks you are going to attract per day, you may want to consider
setting a budget amount for your campaign. In this way, you
know the maximum amount of money you will be spending per day on
advertising and can adjust your budget accordingly.
PPC search engines can be a good place to "spot test" an untried
ad to see what type of response it receives. You can track
these campaigns very easily and can quickly determine whether the ad
is productive or whether it needs to be re-worded.
You will find links to some of the popular PPC sites, as well as
resources to help you in using them, on our "Resources" page.
Linking Strategies and Traffic Exchange Networks:
Inbound links to your site
originating from another site
can benefit you in several ways. Having your site seen on
another site will increase your site's exposure and consequently
increase the number of
visitors to your site. Having a high traffic website link to
your site can also increase your site's page rank and search engine
rankings tremendously, especially if the content of the linking site
is relevant to your site's content. Generally, one way links
are more beneficial to increase search engine rankings, but in
reality, it may be difficult to convince another webmaster to link
his/her site to yours without a reciprocal link. In this case,
you would place a link to their site on your website in exchange for
a link to your site from theirs. Some webmasters spend a
significant amount of time searching out high quality, high traffic
sites which are willing to provide a link (either one-way or
reciprocal) to their own site. You will want to look for sites
which provide content which is complementary to your own, but not in
direct competition with your site.
Traffic exchange networks are networks in which reciprocal links
are created from one website to another. In other words, you
accept a link on your site in exchange for
your link being placed on another website. The theory here is to
increase traffic to your site by getting your link seen by more
people. The drawback with these types of networks is that the
participating sites may not be complementary in content to your own.
There is some
evidence that search engines examine the relevance of incoming links
in determining page rank and may not reward you heavily for these
types of random links. In other words, the quality of the
links to your site is probably more important than the quantity.
So, you may want to consider taking the time to search out sites
that are similar (but not competitive) with your site and pursue a
link with those sites, rather than subscribing to a link exchange
network.
One disadvantage to pursuing any linking
strategy is that placing outside links on
your site can siphon some of your prospects away from your site as
they click away to your linked sites. Still, incoming links can be a good way to increase traffic to your site.
You may want to avoid placing outside links on your home page.
Place them on interior pages, so that your visitors are encouraged
to explore your own site before clicking away to another site.
However, you don't want to attempt to hide your outside links.
If you do so, you remove the incentive for other webmasters to link
to your site.
Free For All (FFA) And Classified Ad Sites:
These types of sites have come under fire more recently as not
being terribly effective. They are basically sites where you
can place your classified ad or link for free. There are
literally thousands of these types of sites on the web and
submitting your ad by hand can be time-consuming. If you elect
to go this route, you may want to consider a service that will
automate submission of your ad. You'll find links on our
"Resources" page for these companies.
Placing your ad or link on these sites is likely to gain you a
lot of e-mail from other advertisers. You may want to use a
free mailbox, such as Yahoo's mailbox service, when you submit your
ads to these sites so that your inbox does not fill up with unwanted
mail.
Newsletters, E-zines and Blogs:
Newsletters and blogs can be a good place to place ads for your
services and products. Many newsletters, e-zines and blogs
accept advertisements for a fee. There are even some that
allow free ads. Whatever your business or products may be,
there are likely to be at least a few newsletters, e-zines and/or blogs dedicated
to that industry. We will discuss below the different types of
advertisements that may be offered by these resources.
E-Mail Lists:
One of the most valuable assets you, as a website owner can have,
is your own e-mail list. With your own e-mail list, you can
send your product offers and specials whenever you need to.
You won't have to pay someone else to present your offer for you.
And, if you do it right, your e-mail subscribers will already be
receptive to your offers. We'll talk more about how to do this
later.
There are several ways to gather e-mail addresses to add to your
e-mail list. One of the most common ways is to offer a free
subscription to a newsletter or e-zine. You can also offer
bonus products, such as a free report or a free piece of software as
an incentive for a visitor to join your list. The primary
purpose of a mailing list is to build a relationship of trust with
your prospects, and to keep your name and brand in their minds.
This way, when they're ready to purchase a product or utilize a
service that you offer, they'll come to you instead of going to your
competition.
Whatever you do with your list, you need to make sure you make it
worth their while to stay on your list. You need to provide
valuable information for your prospects, rather than just a series
of sales pitches. If your e-mail is not worth their while,
your subscribers will quickly unsubscribe.
