Web Marketing Articles: Get Search Engines to Notice Your Site

Reprinted from DM News, November 17, 1997

Get Search Engines to Notice Your Site

by Debra A. Jason, The How-To Writer

When it comes to ensuring that your online results meet or exceed your expectations, understanding and mastering placement on the search engines will help you get the most "bang for your buck."

Several strategies should help you in this regard. First, take a look at your site's placement in search-engine results. A Web site with a top search-engine listing may certainly see a dramatic increase in traffic. Are you in the top 10 or on the third page of a long list of competitors?

Here's what you can do to influence your position within a search engine's list of results.

To begin with, keep in mind that there is no one special key that opens the door to No.1 positioning on a search-engine list. Together, a number of factors may boost your chances of being found by online Web crawlers.

To improve your position, look at the creative content of your individual Web pages. Are your keywords in the first two paragraphs of the initial text? Keywords should be relevant to your business and to your site content.

For example, if you're in financial services, terms like "mortgage rates, low-interest rates, first mortgages, home improvement loans, and debt consolidation" may be some of your keywords.

Search engine "spiders" look for keywords to appear near the top of each page. According to Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Watch, the crucial locations for keywords on your Web pages are the title of the page, the page's headline, and the first paragraphs of your page

Are you listed within your "niche?" There are several specialized search engines for specific subjects or topics as well as directories for specific niches.

For instance, at the Niche Resource Directory by Paul Siegel (http://www.tricky.com/lfm/niches.htm) there are niches for "expertise" in business, finance, government and politics, or "products" related to business services, Internet, consumer, etc.

Have you gotten your site listed within a specific niche? If not, start doing so. It's one more thing you can do to influence how often your site appears in the search results. Remember, Web users are being directed to be more specific in their search, so the more defined you can be about where you're listed, the better your site's chance of being revealed -- to your prospects -- in that search.

Uncover the 'mystery' of META tags. which are programmed into your site's HTML. Not all search engines support Meta tags. For those that do, these tags can prove useful in communicating the value and importance of your site during a search.

There are several types of Meta tags, but for the purpose of this article I'm referring to the "description" and "keywords" tags. They are hidden when you view your page(s) online, but are helpful in conveying vital description and keyword information about each page within your site.

If you're unsure about whether or not your pages incorporate Meta tags, go to your site. Click on "view," then on "document source." This takes you to the HTML code. If that individual page has description and keyword Meta tags, you'll see something that reads like this:

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>The Direct Marketing Company</TITLE>
<META NAME="KEYWORDS" CONTENT= "direct marketing, direct mail, fulfillment, database, etc. . . .">
<META NAME="DESCRIPTION" CONTENT="The Direct Marketing Company boosts your direct marketing efforts. We design power direct mail programs, offer fulfillment and database services, etc.">
</HEAD>

For home pages that simply show a logo and say "enter," using Meta tags, behind the scenes, ensures that the site will be found during a search by those search engines that support Meta tags.

Visit the Meta Tag Generator (www.websitepromote.com/resources/meta/). After you supply it with your keywords and a description, it creates the specific Meta tags you need. Then with a simple cut and paste, you can insert them into your Web pages' HTML.

Although there may be no ONE magical solution to being No. 1 in search-engine results, there are ways to maximize your efforts. Try the strategies outlined here and watch the difference it can make in generating traffic to your Web site.

Debra A. Jason is principal of The Write Direction (formerly based in Boulder, CO and now on Kauai, HI), which specializes in direct marketing communications. The company's Web site address is http://www.writedirection.com.

©Copyright 1997 Debra Jason dba The Write Direction. All rights reserved. PO Box 608, Hanalei, HI 96714.

Return to The Write Direction Home Page

Copywriter's Bio // Web Marketing // Client List // Portfolio // Fee Schedule // Client Testimonials // Marketing Articles // Online Resources // The How-To Catalog

Have You Checked Out This Quarter's FREE How-To Report?