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The_Simple_3 Step_Promotion_Program
| The Simple 3-Step Promotion Program
One of the biggest problems faced by website owners today is
promoting their sites. More and more people can build them (and
build them well) but most people (web designers included) get
stumped when it comes to promoting.
What should you do? What shouldn't you do?
I am always trying to put promotion into the simplest terms
possible and I think this 3-step
program is about as simple as it gets:
Choose to target keyphrases that aren't overly
competitive Modify your web page content for these
terms Seek (buy) external, one-way, inbound hyperlinks
to your website with your keyphrases as the link text
(At the end of each step you will notice a "Resources" section.
These resources will help you accomplish each task and are given
a rating out of 10 based on our knowledge and experience.)
Step 1: Targeting Keyphrases
In order to start and run a successful website promotion
campaign, you need to have objectives. Figuring out which
keyphrases you'd like to rank well for is the first step.
Ideally you want terms that are closely related to your business
(obviously), searched for frequently, and don't have a lot of
competition.
The ratio of how popular a term is to its competition is
referred to as KEI: Keyword Efficiency Index. Try to
maximize this ratio when selecting your terms.
If you have a web design business, pursuing a term like "web
design" is just not realistic. Sure, there are a ton of searches
for it every day but the competition is very steep. The
likelihood that you will ever break the top ten is extremely
unlikely. A term like "calgary web design shop", however, may
still be fairly popular but it will have far less competition.
It will also be much more targeted to your specific business so
it should result in a higher conversion rate of browsers to
customers. Resources:
WordTracker (paid service) - 10/10 Overture Keyword Selector Tool (free) - 8/10
Google AdWords Keyword Tool (free) - 6/10
Step 2: Modifying your Web Pages
Now that you have identified the terms you want to pursue you'll
need to modify your web pages to ensure that these terms are
targeted. This is referred to as web page optimization. Don't be
intimidated, though. A decent piece of software and a basic
knowledge of HTML can get you through this task.
This step is done so that when the search engines arrive, they
gobble up your web pages and index them favourably for the
keyphrases that you identified in Step 1.
For every internet marketer out there, there is a different
opinion on what is important and what isn't when optimizing
pages. I recommend that if you're not using one of the
recommended pieces of software that you leave this step up to a
professional - it can take practice, experience, creativity and
finesse to master this skill. Resources: WebPosition
Gold - 9/10 IBP -
8/10 WebCEO - 8/10 Step 3: Inbound
Links
Now that you've identified your keyphrases and optimized your
web pages for them, you need to make sure that your website is
viewed as "popular" or "important" in the eyes of the search
engines.
Just as with any other popularity contest you need people to
stand up and say they like you. This is done through inbound
hyperlinks to your website. These are essentially considered
"votes" for your website.
Not all inbound links are created equal, of course. Here's a
crash course: Link Direction If a website
links to you and you don't link back, that's ideal. If you do
link back to them, search engines may simply discount both
links. Link Construction A text link is more
valuable than an image, or banner link. And a text link that
uses your keyphrases (from Step 1) as the link text is
ideal. Relevance of Linking Site Your web design
company needs links from websites that have to do with web
design. A link from a knitting website won't be as valuable as
one from a hosting company. Importance of Linking
Site A link from an important site is exponentially more
valuable than a link from a site that gets no traffic. These
types of links are difficult to get unless you pay for them -
which you should do. Type of Linking Site A link
from a news-related or media website is very valuable because it
is seen as an "un-manipulatable" site and an impartial resource.
Search engines assume that links from these types of sites are
more valuable as they typically can't be coerced or
purchased.
We've listed a resource for you below, but it is typically only
good for link exchanging. Ideally this step should be done
through a professional who can help purchase proper links for
your website. Resources: Arelis - 7/10
Questions?
If you have any further questions you'd like to ask about
website promotion please contact
us.
About the author:
Robin Eldred is the president of Apis Design, an Internet Marketing company
located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Apis specializes in
building and promoting eye-catching, user-focused websites that
work.
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