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Just putting up a web site will not get you IMMEDIATE results.
You may have heard of people getting thousands of "hits" per
day. This does not happen overnight and these sites are usually
sites that have vast amounts of FREE information to offer.
You can expect it to take at least six months before
you see much "traffic" to your site. Putting up a site
is just the first step. You must list your site in the major
search engines. For best results, these should be done by hand.
Using automatic submission sites can get you off
to a fast start, but most of these that claim they list your site with
hundreds of "search engines," list them with Free For Alls.
What are Free For Alls? They are sites that list your site, but
they only list so many sites at a time on a rotating basis. As more
sites are submitted, you are eventually pushed off the list.
You have your site up and listed in the major search
engines, but you're still not getting a lot of traffic. Do you have
good metatags? What are meta tags? They are tags at the top
of the page that tell the search engines the description of your site
and the key words to use for searching (the words people will enter to
search for your site). You also need to make sure that your site
has many of the key words used in it on the first page and near the top.
Some search engines don't use meta tags. They use the contents of
your page.
You need to put your web site address on EVERYTHING
you publish, your business cards, your invoices, your letterhead, your
envelopes, your advertisements - everything! Search engines have
thousands of sites using some of the same key words you have, so...you
may be in the search engine, but 300 or more down on the list - difficult
to find you.
If people are finding you, but they aren't staying
around. Be sure your site loads quickly. That is one reason
NOT to use large graphics, long pages or music - unless it is for
entertainment.
People surfing the web are impatient and if your
site takes too long to load, they will just click on their "stop" button and go elsewhere.
People are finding you, staying around, but not
ordering. Do you offer them something they simply can't refuse.
Are you offering them something that will benefit them and telling them
why they should purchase from you. You may need to use more "you"
words and less "I" words.
Do you make it easy for them to order from you?
Web surfers will not pick up the phone and call you, they will not write
you a letter and they will not fill out a printed order form and mail
it to you. They want INSTANT access to you. They want to be
able to contact you by e-mail and they like to use secure order forms. However, your site should also contain your name, mailing address and
phone number so that they know there is a person available.
Your own Domain name?
There are advantages and disadvantages. Advantages: It gives you
a short address. If they know your company name, they can just type
it in without going to a search engine. Some think it looks more
professional. Disadvantage: You are out there all by yourself.
If you don't opt for a domain name, the next best
choice is to be on a community site, a site that has other sites within
it and lists all the sites on its opening page with descriptions and links.
Each site in this community, along with the
main page, are listed in the search engines individually. As people
come to these sites, they will usually explore the whole site and if they
see something that interests them, they will visit it.
The free sites like aol, free yellow, and a host
of others, are not "community" sites and they give you a VERY
LONG ADDRESS. Also, everyone knows they are FREE SITES.
Whether or not you choose to use our services for your design and hosting needs, I hope this information has been
informative and helpful to you.
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