Basic
Search Engine Optimization for new Webmasters
as you build
If
You Build It Will They Come
by Shannan Hearne
http://www.SuccessPromotions.com
A
movie a few years back made the concept of building
something and having people show up famous.
And, as Hollywood would have it, it worked.
But this is the real world. Or at least the
real internet world, and things don't happen
exactly that way.
To
build a web site and have people come to it,
you have to complete certain steps. Let's take
a look at what is required to build it and have
them come. Can they find it once you build it?
Do they want it (or what it offers) when they
find it? Can they get it once they find it?
First,
and the most important, is having a site that
people can find. What is required to have a
web site that people can find? It’s a combination
of search engine rankings, advertising, and
linking.
Current
statistics show that between 70 and 85% of an
average site's traffic comes from search engines.
So having excellent search engine rankings is
all-important in having people come to your
web site. This is attained through search engine
optimization and web site design that takes
into consideration factors such as keyword density,
meta tags, and search engine friendly design.
When your site is designed and optimized for
great and relevant search engine ranking, you
are well on your way to receiving your fare
share of that 70%+ traffic to your web site.
The
second important factor to attaining good search
engine rankings is your overall advertising
efforts. You have to advertise where your niche
market is "hanging out" on the internet.
And you have to advertise with copy and banners
high powered enough to get your potential visitors
to come visit you. Advertising is a method of
driving traffic to your web site that you cannot
afford to overlook.
Finally,
links play a vital role in getting traffic to
your web site. Links on other web sites where
your niche market visits drives traffic to your
web site while also raising your search engine
rankings through a factor known as "link
popularity". Links are an inexpensive form
of advertising and driving traffic that help
you get more people to come to your web site.
The
next factor to getting people to your web site
is actually offering what they are looking for
or what they need to solve their problems or
cure their pain. You have to know who your niche
market is. You have to make sure that you create
the perception of need within that niche market.
And then you have to make sure that what you
are offering is meeting that need.
Your
niche market may grow and change over time.
But you have to know whom it is to keep up with
them and reach them through the factors mentioned
above. When you know whom these potential customers
are, you can focus on reaching them with your
marketing message and getting them to your web
site.
Once
you capture this niche market, you have to speak
to a specific need they have that your product
or service will fill. Or you have to create
a need within their minds that your product
or service will fill. Nobody buys anything that
they don't believe that they need.
So
make sure that your product or service meets
those needs and service it accordingly.
The
final item to deal with in this article is making
your site shopable. No, this isn't a word you
will find in Webster's Dictionary. But it should
be.
Many
internet newbies get to a web site and fall
out of the ordering process because it is too
difficult for them. You have to provide an ease
of ordering and quality level of service that
makes shopping easier than going to a brick
and mortar store or another web site. Without
doing so, you can get all the traffic in the
world out of your potential niche market and
still never sell anything. If you don't know
whether or not your shopping cart system is
easy to use, try walking through placing an
order yourself and see what happens. Get your
friends to try it as well.
If
even one person feels that the ordering process
is too difficult, then you need to look into
streamlining the process and/or getting an easier
to use ordering system.
If
you analyze each of these steps individually,
then you will build a site to which people will
come and buy.
====================================
Shannan
Hearne is the president of http://www.SuccessPromotions.com,
an internet marketing and search engine optimization
service company that offers marketing, consulting,
and ranking services to help build your e-business
better.
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