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Internet
Marketing Tip of the Month
Search Engine Success
July, 1999
One
of the most appealing aspects of having a website is that people who don't
already know about your product or service might find it on the Internet by
searching for related phrases, such as "diabetic supplies" or
"adoption agency." Since there is usually no cost for having your
website listed in search engines--the search websites like AltaVista, Excite and
Yahoo--there is a tendency to think that your site might be entitled to a flood
of qualified prospects.
The
reality is not always as rosy. First of all, you need to ensure that your
website is designed for maximum searchability, using the words and phrases
you've identified as important. Then, your site has to be submitted to the major
search engines, and to minor ones targeted to your field or geography, if that's
important. And finally, someone has to follow up to ensure that your site is
listed--and most importantly--that it is searchable (high ranking) for the words
or phrases you've targeted.
All
of this takes time, effort and expertise, and most importantly, patience. Each
search engine produces different results, and some take months or even years to
add a site to its listings. (Yahoo is the worst offender, but also the only
search site assembled by people and completely categorized.) The good news is
that once your site is listed and ranks high, it will continue to due so with no
further action required. Rankings will change only when a search engine adjusts
its search methods or when new competitive sites are listed higher. We have
rarely found a search engine to drop a site listing!
Finally,
the most important guarantee of search engine success is to measure the actual
result. Site activity reports can show exactly which search engines are
referring how many visitors and the actual search words and phrases used to find
your website. That is the bottom line.
Dynamics
Online can help to:
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Prepare
your site for searchability.
By reviewing your site and the sites of high-ranking competitors, we can
develop a prioritized list of search words and phrases most likely to be
used by qualified web surfing prospects. We can see any searchability
techniques the search engines can see. Then we place search words in
strategic locations on your website, including the home page, the meta
tags and the often-overlooked page titles. We also pay attention to the
how your search engine listings will appear, because ranking high works only
if the listing entices visitors.
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Submit
and verify listings.
We maintain a frequently-edited list of sites and methods for efficient and
thorough submission. Most importantly, we verify listings and rankings every
month until your site is listed on all major sites, and we report the
rankings back to you.
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Measure
the results. Our
monthly or quarterly Website Activity Reports provide all the detail you
need to determine if your site is attracting qualified search engine
visitors. We can help review the reports and make adjustments to your
website's searchable characteristics.
You
can see examples of high-ranking listings we achieved recently for our clients:
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Search
for party planning on lycos.com
or altavista.com
to see Party411.
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Search
for illinois adoption agency on go.com
to see Center for Family Building, Inc.
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Search
for cleveland furniture on yahoo.com
to see Kronheims Furniture.
Contact
Dynamics Online to maximize your website's search
engine effectiveness.
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