Website Promotion
Website Promotion
When we construct your website we carefully choose Title information (the description that occurs at the top of the Explorer page), and add what are called Meta tags which contain a description of the page and a list of appropriate keywords. We also construct ALT tags for images (so that when you move your cursor over a picture you get a description of the image). Search engines look for and store this information so that when someone is searching on a keyword they are supplied with a list of sites containing this word.
We supply this information to search engines using software which links with them. This is called search engine promotion.
However, submission does not guarantee that your site will be found. When you do a search (on Google or Yahoo, for instance) you get back references to your search term - thousands of them if your search was not very specific. How many pages do you look through? Three or four? This is the problem. Putting your details on the search engine is not enough - you need to do something to get into the first few pages of search results so that people will find your site before they get bored with looking through the references. Getting a "ranking" is an industry in itself, and there are hundreds of companies who specialise in this area. But, they cost!
How YOU can promote your website?
So what can you do to improve your ranking without spending large sums of money?
Your Web Pages
- Regularly promote your site to search engines
- Update your pages frequently so that there is always something new to see - make the site interesting. There is nothing worse than going to a site and finding stale and out-of-date information.
- Put some interesting news on your site, regularly, to encourage people to come back.
- Make your site informative - tell people about your products and explain things which are not obvious (For example, a new herbal product and what it does for you).
- Put something on your Home Page which encourages people to look at the other pages - this is called "stickiness".
Do not rely entirely on search engines - there is a lot else you can do to promote your site. For instance:
- Put your website address on ALL your stationery - letterhead, business cards, brochures, fliers, and so on.
- Choose a website URL (domain name) which is easy to remember and, preferably, short and catchy. This will be difficult as most of the "short and catchy" domain names have already been taken. If you have a business name that has been in use for some time, capitalise on this and use it as your domain name. This will reinforce the name visibility.
- Try to get other sites to link to yours - this will probably be a reciprocal agreement and you will need to carry a link to their site. But DONT attempt to link to a competitor's site for obvious reasons. Complementary sites are best - for example, if you are a hairdresser you could link to a small boutique and they to you.
- Arrange links from business and community organisations, such as Chambers of Commerce and Local Borough Councils. These have the advantage of being local, and will bring local people to your business.
- If you belong to a local club who have a website you could offer them a reciprocal link. Club members probably look at the site regularly for information and will find your business as a result.
- Talk about your site - to other business people, to your customers, to friends - word-of-mouth (now called "viral marketing") is still a powerful advertising medium. And have fliers at hand on your premises, strategically placed, for people to take away.
- Ask your customers if they would like to be kept advised of special offers via e-mail - this is called "opt-in" marketing - and build a mailing list. Do NOT send unrequested e-mails - this is called Spam and will only succeed in alienating a lot of people. Ask your customers to forward your e-mails to people they know who could be interested in what you have to offer, and when these people make enquiries offer to put them on your mailing list.
Remember, a website is another form of advertising. The advantages of a website over more traditional methods are:
- It is cheaper - running an ad in a paper costs money every week.
- It has a wider audience - potentially a worldwide audience.
- It has more impact - you can use colour, photographs, animations to make it attractive and interesting at a very low cost.
- It is accessible at all times - you are effectively open for business 24 hours a day.
- It is convenient - you can go window shopping from the comfort of your home.
- It is immediate - you can add new items and offers that will be current immediately.
If you need help in updating and maintaining your website, please contact us. We will be glad to assist you.
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