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Search Engine Menu
What is a search engine? |
Search Engine Marketing
The original purpose of the Internet was to act as a free and open resource tool used in scientific research. That is, a place where a person could find information on a given subject that would enhance the work he/she is performing. However, now the Internet is made up of billions of commercial Websites having nothing to do with science. Since information is provided via a site, you would have to know the specific address of the site in order to find the information you're looking for. In order to get around this problem, a few forward thinking gurus invented what we now call the search engine. What engines do is to allow you to enter a "key word" that represents a particular subject. The engine then retrieves a list of sites that use these "key words" in their titles, Meta tags or in the body of the site page. This allows a Web surfer to view a list of sites that provide information on the subject of interest. Examples of the best known search engines are Google, Yahoo, Excite, Lycos, WebCrawler, Microsoft, etc. In the early days of Website development, there was a race between site developers to see who could get the best position on the search engine. To be in the top ten meant that anyone entering your site name, keyword or subject would see your site on the list. That person could then click on the link and go directly to your Website. This desire to be at the top of the list created what was euphemistically called the search engine wars. Today, most savvy Web marketers are no longer fighting the (SE) or search engine wars to the same extent. The reason that peace was finally declared was for the same reason that most wars come to an end. The participants were wasting too many valuable resources trying to maintain a positional advantage on the search engine list. Staying in the top ten on the search engines required an enormous amount of man power and did not necessarily translate into more customer visits. As a result, the search engine combatants changed their strategy. Please don't misunderstand the above paragraph. Having your site URL appear in the top ten under a particular keyword is still highly desirable but it is not the end all to Internet marketing. You must keep in mind that the majority of search engine users are seeking information on a specific subject. The visitor wants to research a subject, but has no specific site in mind. He is simply surfing the Web looking for all sites related to the subject of interest. The majority of your potential customers will still visit your site because of the search engine result. All you need to complete is an understanding of how to pick keywords that your competitors may have overlooked. The end of the search engine wars does not mean that you can ignore registering with the search engines. In order for someone to find your site, by intent or accident, you must register your site with at least the major search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN. To do so is to increase your Website's "Find-ability". Registering your site must occur if you are serious about using the Internet for commerce. First and foremost, you must have a URL in order to register it with a search engine. This may sound obvious, but you would be surprised at the number of folks who don't know this. To learn how to acquire a URL, visit the "Hosting" segment of this training course. Please note that you can purchase a URL, hosting and optimization services directly from Disability Associates. We will help you to build and optimize your site for maximum effectiveness. There are two basic methods of registering your URL with a search engine. The first method is called self-registration. To self-register, you must first acquire a list of the major search engines. This is done by visiting a well known search engine like Yahoo, and typing in the terms "Search engines". This will result in a list of all the search engines and companies that specialize in registering sites. You would then visit each search engine site separately, and follow their instructions for adding your site to their list. The upside of this approach is that it can result in better positioning on the search engine. The down-side is that self-registration takes a lot of time and effort. We suggest that you use a registration service. The fees are usually reasonable, around fifty dollars or less and the process is completed faster. The upside of using a registration service is that it removes the burden of search engine registration from your shoulders. The downside is that you will probably not be listed in the top twenty. This is not such a bad problem! There are a number of other techniques that you can use to increase your "Find-ability" on a search engine despite what the registration service does. Yes, we do know that there is no such word as Find-ability. However, in Web jargon, this word says it all. Most of these techniques we are about to discuss can be implemented directly from your Website's Home page. We are assuming that you have built your site using Frontpage or Dreamweaver Web editing programs. These programs allow you to view HTML code and directly insert information into the page. We also assume that you do not speak HTML. What is nice about using these direct approaches is that they work simultaneously on all search engines, all be it not to the same degree. The following is a list of techniques that you can use to significantly improve your URL positioning on a search engine: Using appropriate Meta tags Meta tags are simply words that describe the subject or content of a site. When someone searches for a site, they usually input words that related to the subject of interest. After doing so, the search engine will read the content of all pages that contain those words to determine if the site contains the appropriate subject. These words are called keyword because they relate to that subject. For example, the word disability relates to the subject of disability. If someone is looking for a disability advocate and types in "disability", all subjects related to disability, including advocates will appear on the list. The more specific the keyword term used, the more specific is the search. Therefore, in order to improve your "Find-ability" you must include keywords on your Home page that are related to the subject of your site. The following is suggested list of keywords for disability advocates: Your city name We could go on and on, but I think you get the point. Words related to the service you offer will cause your URL to be presented on the search engine list. Note that we started the list with the name of your city and state. This was no accident. Listing your city and state first is extremely wise because your service is local. Those seeking advocacy service will be looking for help in their loca areal, not throughout the nation. If you list your city and state, and someone types in "disability advocates Denver", a list of advocates in Denver should appear. Of course, you can also expect a list of thousands of other sites which may not offer the exact same service, but use similar keywords. Now that you know what Meta tags are and how they are used, it's time to add them to your Home page. To add Meta tags, enter your Web editing program and open your Home page. If your using Expressions, click on the HTML button. This will cause your Home page to be displayed in HTML code. As you view the HTML code, you will note a line of code that looks like this: <meta name="Generator". Highlite the word Generator between the "" and begin typing in your keywords. Then save. That's all there is to it! You have just entered a list of your keywords that will improve your chances of being found on the Internet. On many Website Home pages, especially business sites, the first thing you will see is an image. It is possible to turn that image into a marketing tool for your site. The problem with images in your Web page is that the (SE) search engines do not index them. Therefore, your logo for example, may say who or what you are, but the (SEs) don't show it. In fact, if your logo image loads higher on your page than your text, your page is automatically handicapped in a big way. Therefore, in designing your Home page, it is a good idea to place your logo below the location of your Meta tag keywords. If you cannot do this, here is an incredible alternative that will assure good positioning on the SE. Always include the <ALT="here is a list of my keywords"> state in your image or <IMG SRC="image"> tags. Here is an example: <IMG SRC="Your Logo.jpg" ALT="We will assist you in acquiring SSA disability benefits - Your city name - Your State - Social Security - Disability - Advocate - Consultant, etc." Height = 116 Width=440 > Using this approach, the search engines reads and indexes the above list of keywords in the same way as it indexes keywords under the Meta tag. To further improve positioning, use both the Meta tag and Image keyword approaches when appropriate.
As part of the design of your page, leave a little white space. This space can be any background color that is the same as the text color. List your keywords in this space and make sure they blend or are invisible to viewers of your page. Since no one will see the invisible text, use the smallest available font. The text become invisible because they are the same color as the background color. By doing this, you have added an additional list of key words to your page that the (SE) will index. Here is a professional marketing trick that few Internet professionals even think about, let alone use. This technique is extremely simple. It involves adding an (s) at the end of an otherwise usual keyword. By adding an (s) at the end of the word, the search engine will index that word in both its singular and plural context. Example, if you use the word advocate, add an (s). The search engine will now index both the word advocate and advocates. Whether you know it or not, using the above search engine techniques are important Internet marketing concepts that can make or break your site. However, before ending this segment, I want to briefly discuss two general search engine marketing techniques that you should also consider. These are: a) Always select your keywords and words for your Web page title based on how your potential customers will search for you on the Web. For example, Disability Associates specializes in both representation and training. Therefore, it makes good sense for us to use the word training in both the Meta tag and somewhere on the Web page. Try to think specifically as to what it is you are offering. Then choose words in the title, meta tag and body of your Web page that your potential customers might use to find you. This advice will greatly improve your "Find-ability" on the Internet. b) Try to be original. Beyond using the keywords that we have recommended, use words that specifically describe the uniqueness of your service. I'm not saying that you shouldn't emulate success. It is always a good idea to do what seems to work for others. But, it is a bad idea to emulate others without adding some level of originality.
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