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Once a web site has been created and is fully functioning, the next step is to drive traffic to it. One way to drive traffic to a site is by registering it with Search Engines. Search Engines are sites that allow visitors to search for related sites by entering a specific word, phrase, or topic. When a visitor enters a word (or words) they want to search on, the Search Engine searches its directory looking for sites that match that word. Following these guidelines should help your site's ranking with Search Engines.
- Pick Your Target Keywords
How do you think people will search for your web page? The words you think visitors will type into the search box are your target keywords. For example, if your site is devoted to stamp collecting, when someone types "stamp collecting" into a Search Engine, you want your page to be in the top ten search results. In this example, 'stamp collecting' would be a good target keyword for this site. Make a list of the target keywords you come up with. Whenever possible, include target keywords that are two or more words long. Too many sites will be found when searching on a single word, such as 'stamps'. To improve the chances that your site will be found by Search Engines, pick phrases of two or more words to include in your target keywords (e.g. 'stamp collecting').
- Set Your Page Titles
Page Titles are also very important. Page Titles appear at the top of the browser and are set in the 'Page Title' box located in the 'Page Information' section of each page of your web site. Each page within your site has it's own unique Page Title. Failure to put target keywords in the Page Title can cause perfectly relevant web pages to be poorly ranked. Build your Page Titles around the top two or three phrases that you would like the page to be found for. The Page Titles should be relatively short and attractive.
- Build Links
Every major search engine uses link analysis to help determine the ranking of sites. By building links, you can help improve how well your pages rank in link analysis systems. It's important to understand that link analysis is not about "popularity." In other words, having lots of links to your site from just any sites will not ensure success. Instead, you want links to your site from good web pages that are related to the topics you want to be found under.
Go to the major Search Engines (you'll find a list of them below). Search for your target keywords. Look at the pages that appear in the top results. Now visit those pages and ask the site owners if they will link to you. Not everyone will, especially sites that are extremely competitive with you. However, there will be non-competitive sites that will link to you -- especially if you offer to link back to them.
- Submit Your Site
Don't trust the submission process to automated programs and services. Some of them are excellent, but the major Search Engines are too important to leave to chance. There aren't that many, so submit manually, to ensure that your site is correctly submitted.
- Be Patient
It can take up to a month and sometimes even two months for your "non-submitted" pages to appear in a search engine, and some search engines may not list every page from your site.
Note: Resubmit Your Site Any Time You Make Significant Changes
Search Engines should revisit sites on a regular basis to check for updates. However, some Search Egines have grown smart enough to realize some sites only change content once or twice a year, so they may visit less often. Resubmitting after major changes will help ensure that your site's content is kept current.
Website Submission Checklist
Before submitting your site to Search Engines, make sure you've completed each of these steps.
- Your website is completed
- Your website will be online 24 hours a day
- Incoming links to your site have been established on other related sites
- All pages have been optimized with appropriate titles
- Target keywords and a site description have been added
- Know each Search Engines' submission guidelines
Top Search Engines
There are literally thousands of Search Engines, but the top few receive the majority of the traffic, so you want make sure to submit your site to those few. Submitting your site to even just the top few Search Engines should ensure that a large percentage of your potential customers can find your site.
There are services that regularly rank Search Engines. They each use slightly different criteria, and therefore they each rank Search Engines in a slightly different order. The order in which these services rank Search Engines changes frequently, but the following Search Engines have consistently ranked well.
Source: Search Engine Watch
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