HOW TO DRIVE TRAFFIC TO YOUR SITE, PART 1
Here is a list of actions that will help: 1. Provide worthwhile
information 2. Make sure you please the search engines as well
as your visitors 3. Give as much as you can; it will come back
to you tenfold It's a short list and may not be exclusive, but
under each category are several subcategories.
Let's deal with information first. The Internet is the largest
storehouse of information that has ever existed, and it grows
massively every minute of every day. Users go online most often
to seek information.
What do you do?
Think about your own actions. How do you find the information
you want in this mountain of data? The same way as almost
everyone else: search engines such as Google, Yahoo, Jeeves or
MSN, right? How far down the list of sites presented to you do
you look. As far as Page 21? Not likely. Most searches are
restricted to the first or second pages. If your listing is on
Page 21, it might as well not be there at all.
Search engines are computerized indexes. They make their money
from advertisers. They satisfy their paying clients, their
advertisers, by bringing only the right types of eyeballs to the
specific pages on which each advertiser presents his message.
The computers try to determine what content specific types of
humans will want to search. They are not yet perfect at what
they do, but they employ hundreds of brainy people whose job is
to make them a little better each day.
Optimization
What do you want when you search for something, anything? Plenty
of relevant information. That is what the search engines want,
too. They are a little clumsy in their selections so far. That's
why they have to be fed keywords to get their attention and to
make them 'understand' the purpose of your page. This is called
search engine optimization, or SEO.
An example: let's assume we have a page that talks about search
engine optimization. Look on the Web under that phrase, as you
will see something you might not have noticed before.
Yahoo will offer 27,100,000 pages. In the top spot when I looked
(an incredible feat when you think about it) is one of several
listings that start with the words "search engine optimization".
The first words in the description below the title are "search
engine optimization...." Go to the page, and the headline is
"Search engine optimization". The copy beneath that reads: "
Search Engine Optimization and as placement strategies are being
applied by more and more webmasters, it is becoming more of a
need than a luxury for competitive website owners to use
effective search engine optimization, placement and ranking to
remain competitive. Search engines couple with good optimization
practices can provide your website with vast amounts of targeted
traffic."
Even a machine should be able to recognize that the page is
about search engine optimization. It will check to make sure the
same phrase repeats an appropriate number of times, according to
the length of the article, typically about once for every 100
words, or thereabouts. A page will lose points for too many or
too few mentions of the keyword or phrase.
Keyword placement
The keyword should be in the page title (what you see in the
search engine listing), its description (also seen in the search
engine listing), its page heading and in the first 90 characters
of the article. The closer it is to the beginning of each of
these elements, the better it is from a search engine point of
view.
Can't write, you say? Tell someone what it is you want to say.
Give them a note to work from (you may find you have written
your page right there, and all it that needs is a little
editing). But if you truly can't write, get someone else to
write your message for you. Alternatively, find a company to
work with that will build a free website for you.
About the author:
Matthew Eigbe has over 25 years experience in consumer marketing
and now focuses on network marketing using the internet. He is
webmaster at http://www.mattlinks.ws, a site that explains how
you can gain Financial Freedom by inviting people to have their
own domain name.