As the Green Day song goes - "Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me..."

Posted by Gomathi at 6/26/2007 5:37 PM and is filed under How To
Everyone on the web wants to be found.  Unfortunately for a site owner hoping to get their site at the top of the search engines, there are many web sites out there like yours that have been created by people just like you.  It's something you can't change but what you CAN CHANGE is HOW you spin the content in your web site.  Search engines don't see page layouts, templates, flash, or images.  What they DO see is text. 

This means you have to litter your pages with as much relevent text as possible.  I'm not talking about making the circa 1993 one-page web site that scrolls for 20 presses of the "Page Down" button, I'm talking about putting REALLY effective content on your site into manageable chunks so your audience doesn't get overwhelmed.

I know what you're thinking.  You're thinking - "Clifford, I already put content about what I do / sell / offer / teach / play / wash / say / sing - what else do you want me to write!?"

It's not that easy.  You have to think like someone who is going to be searching for what you offer.  If you offer something that's local like piano lessons, you and everyone else will post information about your location, the city/town you teach in, your rates, etc.   But that's the easy stuff - try sharing about your piano teaching experience, credentials, schools or neighborhoods that you are near, etc.  All of this relative information will help search engines understand what you offer on your site and will have an impact on how well you place in the search engines. 

For example - let's say you offer classical piano lessons in Arizona.  Make it as specialized as possible because when it comes down to a search for piano lessons in Phoenix, Arizona - people are going to be searching for "602 piano lessons", "Phoenix piano lessons", Scottsdale piano lessons", "classical piano lessons", etc so make sure you add the relative content somewhere on your page like this:

"$5 Classical piano lessons offered!  Serving the Phoenix, Scottsdale, and surrounding areas!"

Another thing is page file names in the address bar.  Although we limit the file name character count in WebSite Tonight, we no longer name pages "page2.htm", "page3.htm", etc so use this to your advantage!  Take some time and plan what you want to call your pages.  It doesn't help to just name a page "Rates".  Name it "Piano_Lesson_Rates" to score more keywords in the address bar.

In WebSite Tonight®, we've also enabled you to add a Description, what shows up in the search engine listings, and keywords.  Keywords are specific words that you believe people may use to search for content that you happen to offer on your site.  By adding these two items, your chances of getting found increase.  Also keep in mind that search engines rank a site's legitimacy based on how many other pages link to it.  That being said, you might want to get chummy with other site owners so you can pass some links back and forth. 

Well, that's enough for today, hope that helps you all get found.  Should you have any questions, suggestions, or comments, please post them up.

All the best,

Clifford

 

What did you think of this article?




Trackbacks
Trackback specific URL for this entry
  • No trackbacks exist for this entry.
Comments
Display comments as (Linear | Threaded)

Leave a comment

Submitted comments will be subject to moderation before being displayed.

 Enter the above security code (required)

 Name (required)

 Email (will not be published) (required)

 Website

Your comment is 0 characters limited to 3000 characters.