|
How_to_effectively_promote_a_new_website
| How to effectively promote a new website
One of the most difficult challenges that website owners and
designers face today is how to get a brand new website noticed.
In other words, how to get your site indexed by the major search
engines so that it can start appearing within search
results.
The best approach to this problem is on a case by case scenario
of course, but there are some fundamental activities that you
can undertake that will expedite the process and give you that
kick start that your site needs.
(There are a variety of tools that can help you get these tasks
done. The most popular include WebPosition
Gold, WebCEO and IBP)
On-page Factors
Before any search engines arrive at your front door you want to
ensure that your content is going to be indexed favourably. This
has to do with what are called “on-page” factors. This includes
your visible content, META tags, page names, directory names,
ALT tags, TITLE tags, HTML structure, etc. Using one of the
aforementioned tools can help to ensure that your pages are
optimized for particular keyphrases relevant to your
business.
Of course, before you optimize your pages you’ll need to know
what keyphrases to optimize them for. One of the best tools for
researching the search engine landscape is WordTracker. It’s an affordable service that you can
make use of on an as-needed basis. There are a couple of nice
free tools, however, including Overture’s Keyword Selection Tool and
Google’s AdWords Selection Tool.
Once you’ve identified your most potentially lucrative
keyphrases you can then proceed to work on your “on-page”
factors and optimize your web pages. Off-page
Factors
Off-page factors are things outside of your website and web
pages. Essentially, they are how other websites link to your
site. This is where life gets a bit tricky. It’s no wonder that
Google, the world’s number one search engine, is placing more
and more emphasis on “off-page” factors; they’re much more
difficult to control. Submission Still Works
Contrary to what you may have heard (or perhaps right in line
with what you’ve heard) website submissions still work. This is
not to say that all website submission tools are created equal,
however. Some tools (like SubmitWolf)
will submit to thousands of search engines and directories –
this is not very useful. You need to focus on the handful of
search engines and directories that mean something.
Using a tool like WebPosition
Gold, WebCEO or IBP can help
automate this process. Keep in mind that the true goal of
website submission is to get your site indexed by the major
search engines (i.e. Google, Yahoo, MSN). Once your site and
most of its web pages have been indexed there is no point in
further website submissions. This is an early task only and
shouldn’t be necessary for a site older than about 6 months.
Inbound Links
Getting quality, relevant links to your website from other
websites is essential to your site’s success. Each of these
“inbound links” is considered a “vote” for your website. But,
unlike the democracies of our modern era, all votes are not
created equal. Differentiating factors include:
Link type.
Is it an image link (e.g. a banner ad), a Flash link, or a
text-based link? If it’s a text-based link, what words are
contained within the link? Are they your keywords? E.g. A link
title of “Web design company” is more useful to your web design
business than a link title of "click here".
Relevance of the linking site.
If your business is web design and the site that’s linking
to yours is all about pet grooming then the relevance just isn’t
there. Mind you, if the site linking to yours had to do with
software development or internet marketing, that would be much
better. Importance of the linking site.
As you are well aware, not all websites are created equal.
Some are more important than others. In other words, some
receive more traffic and better search engine rankings than
others. A link from yahoo.com is going to be much better than a
link from pet-grooming-tips-sweden.com; a site nobody has ever
heard of. Direction of links.
Do you link back to the website that links to you? If so,
that is called a “reciprocal” link and is not as valuable as a
“one-way” link. Links that you pay for are often more valuable
than links you exchange for free – but every little bit counts!
So don’t discard reciprocal links altogether.
Online Advertising
Advertising your website online is usually a great way to gain
some immediate traffic while you wait for your website to be
indexed by the search engines. Properly done, this advertising
can put links to your website directly in front of those web
surfers most likely to buy your products or services.
Some of the more popular services include pay-per-click
advertising (e.g. Google or Yahoo)
as well as running ads on relevant/high traffic sites.
Online advertising will give you that initial boost of traffic
to your site and help increase the chances that someone will
link to you and/or the search engines will find and index your
site quicker. The Final Word – Patience
Now that you have effectively implemented your on-page and
off-page strategies you’ll need to sit back and relax. Getting
your website indexed (and indexed favourably) takes time. Be
patient. Google is notorious for putting new websites in what is
known as their “sandbox”. This sandbox effectively holds a new
website down for a period of time. This is done to prevent
businesses from creating scores of new websites to quickly
promote their primary site. Of course, a very popular website
with lots of initial traffic can minimize its time in the
sandbox.
I advise you to wait between 6 to 12 weeks to see results. If
you’re still not seeing any results after 3 months then I
encourage you to contact an internet marketing company (such as
Apis Design) for professional help. There are a host of factors
that contribute to how well (or poorly) a website ranks so don’t
throw in the towel until you consult a professional.
Good luck!
About the author:
Robin Eldred is the president of Apis Design, a Web Design and Promotion company
located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Apis specializes in
building and promoting eye-catching, user-focused websites that
work.
|
|
| |
| |
