5 Steps to More Free Website Traffic!
Article written by Jennifer Haubein
One of the biggest questions I receive as a website developer is how to get a website to rank number one Google or Yahoo? This can be a difficult task to achieve, but with a few steps you will be on your way to more free traffic.
Before we get started let me define some techie terminology for you.
Title Tag- In HTML code, the title tag specifies the title of your Web page. It is code which is inserted into the header of your web page.
Meta Tag- Used by search engines to allow them to more accurately list your site in their indexes.
On to the steps that will help bring in that free traffic!
1) Get More Inbound Links- The number one way search engines determine ranking is based on how many other websites are linking to your website. This is very important, because this is something you can do as a business owner. It takes a lot of dedication but the quicker you grow your inbound links, the closer to number one you will get. The easiest way to get more inbound links is to submit your website to online directories like Yahoo Directory and DMOZ. Also, if you write an ezine then submit your ezine articles to an article directory like EzineArticles.com. Make sure you include a link back to your website in resource box of your article.
2) Pay attention to your competitors- There is a reason why your competitor's website is number one, they understand search engine optimization. So why don't you find out what they are doing. Find out what websites are linking to your competitors website and try to get your website listed there as well. Go to Yahoo.com and enter the following into the search engine box:
linkdomain:www.your-competitor.com-site:www.your-competitor.com
(Replace your-competitor with your biggest competitor's domain name)
Also, take a look at their titles at the top of the web page and if you're feeling adventurous take a look at the source code to find out what key words they are using.
3) Keywords- Keywords within your website are the next best way to boost your ranking. As a business owner make sure to think about your keywords when you are writing your website copy. Your main keywords should be used at least 4-5 times within your copy. Also, make sure to include these keywords within your title tag, meta tags, and even your domain name if possible.
4) Time Can Be Your Friend or Enemy- It depends on your circumstances as to whether this is a bad thing, but search engines reward the websites that have been around a while. Also, make sure that you are aware that it takes sometimes two months to see your new website listed within the search engines or to see any new results. Be patient, you won't get to number one overnight.
5) Make Sure Your Website is Searchable- This can be difficult for you as the business owner, but you need to make sure your website is using text as much as possible. Graphics and Flash technology are not searchable by the search engines. Unfortunately there are still only 9 reliable font choices available on the web, so some things will need to be graphics rather than text. But please do not make your entire webpage images or else there will be nothing to search. You can help Google see your website effectively by setting up a sitemap with Google. We sell a solution called Traffic Blazer that handles all of this for you. Traffic Blazer will develop the sitemap automatically and give you step by step instructions on how to submit it to Google.
One of the biggest questions I receive as a website developer is how to get a website to rank number one Google or Yahoo? This can be a difficult task to achieve, but with a few steps you will be on your way to more free traffic.
Before we get started let me define some techie terminology for you.
Title Tag- In HTML code, the title tag specifies the title of your Web page. It is code which is inserted into the header of your web page.
Meta Tag- Used by search engines to allow them to more accurately list your site in their indexes.
On to the steps that will help bring in that free traffic!
1) Get More Inbound Links- The number one way search engines determine ranking is based on how many other websites are linking to your website. This is very important, because this is something you can do as a business owner. It takes a lot of dedication but the quicker you grow your inbound links, the closer to number one you will get. The easiest way to get more inbound links is to submit your website to online directories like Yahoo Directory and DMOZ. Also, if you write an ezine then submit your ezine articles to an article directory like EzineArticles.com. Make sure you include a link back to your website in resource box of your article.
2) Pay attention to your competitors- There is a reason why your competitor's website is number one, they understand search engine optimization. So why don't you find out what they are doing. Find out what websites are linking to your competitors website and try to get your website listed there as well. Go to Yahoo.com and enter the following into the search engine box:
linkdomain:www.your-competitor.com-site:www.your-competitor.com
(Replace your-competitor with your biggest competitor's domain name)
Also, take a look at their titles at the top of the web page and if you're feeling adventurous take a look at the source code to find out what key words they are using.
3) Keywords- Keywords within your website are the next best way to boost your ranking. As a business owner make sure to think about your keywords when you are writing your website copy. Your main keywords should be used at least 4-5 times within your copy. Also, make sure to include these keywords within your title tag, meta tags, and even your domain name if possible.
4) Time Can Be Your Friend or Enemy- It depends on your circumstances as to whether this is a bad thing, but search engines reward the websites that have been around a while. Also, make sure that you are aware that it takes sometimes two months to see your new website listed within the search engines or to see any new results. Be patient, you won't get to number one overnight.
5) Make Sure Your Website is Searchable- This can be difficult for you as the business owner, but you need to make sure your website is using text as much as possible. Graphics and Flash technology are not searchable by the search engines. Unfortunately there are still only 9 reliable font choices available on the web, so some things will need to be graphics rather than text. But please do not make your entire webpage images or else there will be nothing to search. You can help Google see your website effectively by setting up a sitemap with Google. We sell a solution called Traffic Blazer that handles all of this for you. Traffic Blazer will develop the sitemap automatically and give you step by step instructions on how to submit it to Google.
Off to Greece
Next, I would just like to say that it's been a blast in PM Money's first year of existence. I suppose I should mention that my low posting frequency has been due to being at university. In turn, I have had a relatively low success making money from this blog in particular, but the earnings haven't been invisible. I am steadily increasing my income and learning things as I go along. I am making money with other blogs. This blog is more for me to write down my thoughts and lessons learned.
I will be going on vacation to Greece and thus I will post again in January. Thanks to everyone who has stuck with this blog despite its low post rate. I still like doing it and hope you watch as it evolves.
Merry Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanza, Eid, or whatever else you may celebrate. Leave me an email, I'd love to get some chat going with other bloggers/readers. Reach me at morrow0000 to the g mail.
