Internet Marketing for Wealth Creation

Lesson 9: Promoting your Website

(b) Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

To take advantage of search engines, you need to understand how they function. First thing you need to understand is that a 'web directory' and a 'search engine' are different.

To get listed in a web directory, you need to visit the website and enter your details under appropriate categories. A search engine will automatically search the web and if you are "eligible", your website will automatically be indexed. Alternatively you may enter your information at an appropriate URL, the search engine will visit your website and based on the predefined criteria, your website will be positioned in the list.

If you are listed in a web directory and if they (directory) have optimized their pages properly, it is quite possible that when someone searches at a search engine, your name could appear in the search results - may be on the top, in the first page.

Function of search engines

We use search engines to find information on a specific subject. A search engine's job is to provide results based on our search term (or keyword). If the results are not satisfactory will you visit that search engine again? Obviously not!

Search engines use software robots called 'spiders' to collect information on the internet and to store them in advance (before a search is done). This process is called 'crawling'. The data collected by the robots from internet is then analyzed to find the exactness of the data and decide the relevance of the sites.

So at all costs, search engines ensure that the data they collect by crawling is precise and that the website owners are not manupulating to get listed on the search results.

The below given information will help you understand what is happening at Search Engines and how to rank on the top, without manipulation.

Algorithm of search engines

Every search engine has its own formula in doing this process. In general, the factors like domain name, URL of the webpage, title of the page, keywords, font size & colour of the title (bigger the better), repetition of certain words (genuine usage), contents of the page, number of inward and outward links at your site (known as 'link popularity'), contents and relevance of those linked sites, etc. are considered by almost all the search engines.

Earlier the search engines used to check something called "Meta Tags" as the main criterion in sorting the websites. But since the webmaster took advantage of the search engines to attract visitors by manipulating the Meta tags, search engines have tightened their process to decide the relevance.

In other words, search engines have become more intelligent than the website owners and you cannot manipulate your website to rank high.

SEO

To get your website listed on the search engines and to get it on the top of the list, you need to do a lot of home work. Web Optimization (or Site Optimization or Search Engine Optimization) is an ongoing process. You need to continue the work as long as your website exists. The rest of this chapter will explain the most required aspects for success with search engine optimization.

Website URL: Your website name (URL) should preferably contain your keywords in it. The domain name of a website selling 'Antique Furniture' having shop and target audience in India may preferably be registered as "www.AntiqueFurnitureIndia.com". If you have a page that talks about exports of antique furniture, then you can store the information in a file "exports.htm". So now your URL will be "www.AntiqueFurnitureIndia.com/exports.htm".

Age of the Website: As your website becomes older, it will become easier for you to get on top of the search engine results. This is because, search engines do not encourage fligh-by-night operators. If your website is old, it shows that you are in business for a long time.

Domain Registration: Search engines also check for how many years your domain name has been registered for. You can register your domain name by paying registration charges for 1 year or above (upto 10 years). You will register for 10 years, only if you have plan to take your business that long. So search engines give priority to those who plan their business for a long term.

Meta Tags: Though many search engines do not use meta tags anymore, some still do. So it is still a good idea to use them. Meta Tags are placed between the tags and in your html file. A basic Meta Tag consists of two parts. They are:

Keywords: This is a list of keywords that are relevant to your site's content and should also be around 100 to 150 characters. Each keyword or phrase should be separated by a comma. For example:

<meta name="keywords" content="keyword1,keyword2,keyword phrase1,keyword phrase2">

Description: This is a brief statement about your site's content and should be about 100 - 150 characters in length. For example:

<meta name="description" content="A short and attractive description about this website">

In case you do not know how to create meta tags, check the internet marketing tools for free meta tag generators. You just have to create, copy and paste it into your html file.

Page Title: This is very important in getting a good position in search engines. Provide a brief description, with the keywords that will be most relevant. In the above-mentioned example, the title could be "Exporters of antique furniture from India".

Content: Needless to say, the content of the webpage should be relevant to your keywords, description and page title. Keywords must be repeated as many times as possible. Please remember that you cannot manipulate for the sake of ranking high on the search engines. The content should flow naturally while using keywords as many times as possible.

Relevance: When you suggest your URL to the search engines, you need to select the right category that is appropriate to the purpose and contents of your site. If not, your website will never be listed in the search results. And there are possibilities that your site may be banned due to irrelevant content.

This is one important reason why you must never use the automated Search Engine Submission software to submit your URL to 100's of search engines at a time. You need to personally submit to search engines, if you want to rank high.

Link Popularity: In the last chapter we discussed about getting links from other websites. This is one of the factors that are used to weigh your website. The number of websites you are linking to or linking from is counted and the quality of the websites is checked (i.e. whether or not the websites linked are related to your business / content and their reputation in the field).

For example if your website is linked from about 100 websites that are related to your business / information at your website. And your competitor is linked from about 150 websites, out of which, only of 50 are related to their business. Then you rank above your competitor, as far as this benchmark is concerned.

If you want to know how many websites (and who) are linking to your website, search in Google for "link:www.yourwebsite.com". This will show you the complete list of websites that are linked to your website.

Search Engine Submission: Though submission of your website is not necessary for most of the search engines, you may still submit your website to search engines. You must do so only when your website is completely ready. Generating inbound links is an ongoing task. So you need not wait until you finish getting the inward links.

Please stay away from the software programs and other free-submission services. They do more harm to website than not doing anything to your website.

In a nutshell: If you are selling a book on 'Human Resources' and you want your site to be displayed on top when someone searches "human resources", you must preferably have most or all of the following: A domain name something like "www.humanresourcesguide.com", page title like "Ultimate Guide for Human Resources Managers", has keywords like "human, resources, hotel, industry, employees, insurance", font size of the title as bold and prominent as possible, the words "human" and "resources" repeated (at least) in the first few lines of your webpage, contents that are relevant to the keywords, the sites linking from your webpage are relevant to your content and your site is linked from as many sites as possible that are similar to yours.

Patience: Using Search Engine marketing, you cannot create instant traffic. Only PPC ads can bring you instant traffic. It can sometimes take weeks or even months for a listing to show up on some of the bigger search engines. Most people run some automated submission program once and then expect the traffic to flood their website. It does not work that way.

Important:

• There is no single technique to rank high on search engines. You need to work on all the above-mentioned techniques to rank above your competitor.
• Some search engines will rank you higher based on keywords, others use the description and some use the title, while others use the text of the web page. By maximizing each of these areas, you will find better results with search engine listings.
• Remember, this will be an ongoing process for you. All the search-engines keep changing their formula very fast. As you start working on Search Engine Optimization, you will get to know the techniques slowly. Frequently visit various search engines and search for the keywords relevant to your site. See where your site comes up. Compare the site that comes on top with yours and modify whatever is required. Keep testing various aspects one-by-one.
• Also remember that the search engines like the websites that are frequently updated. So keep adding more pages (as frequently as possible) to your website.
• Do not forget that the changes will take place only after about a week or a month. Be patient and be persistent you will be successful.

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Previous Chapters

Lesson 1: Introduction to Internet Marketing

Lesson 2: Online Business v/s Conventional Business

Lesson 3: Major ways of Earning Money On-line

Lesson 4: Understanding Legal Aspects and Scam
Lesson 4: (a) Usage of Credit Cards, Passwords and Misuse
Lesson 4: (b) Copyright, SPAM and Scam

Lesson 5: Online Business to "Sell Products"
Lesson 5: (a) Get an Idea to Create a Product
Lesson 5: (b) The Sales Process and Planning the Website
Lesson 5: (c) Link emotions to your product

Lesson 6: Online Business Automation

Lesson 7: Affiliate Marketing Business

Lesson 8: Online Advertising Business (Adsense)

Lesson 9: Promoting your Website
Lesson 9: (a) Various Methods to Drive Traffic

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