SuperUser Account posted on March 16, 2010 16:47
Small business is traditionally responsible for creating 80 percent of all new jobs in this country and the entreprenuers who run those businesses are the driving force for new innovations in almost every field. To that end many of these small businesses will have a need to ramp up exposure to their new products or services quickly. This article will provide an overview of how to get your Web site up and running quickly and how to start driving the traffic you'll need to be successful.
Identify the Purpose of Your Web Site
Why do you have a Web site? Is it to sell your product or service? Perhaps, you just want to provide valuable information and have visitors call you. Whatever it may be, it is important to remember the purpose of your Web site when you are building each page. If you are trying to generate leads, be sure to ask the visitor to "Call Now" or "Email Us Today" and provide the needed information to call or send an email. If you are selling a product or service, be sure to give the visitor multiple opportunities to "Buy Now" or "Add To Cart". Never underestimate the power of a carefully placed call to action.
Select Your Keywords and Use Them Wisely
The best way to get online exposure for your product or service is to be found in the search engines. To get the search engines to list your Web site just how you want to be listed, you will need to identify some keywords or keyword phrases. These are words or phrases that your potential customers might use to find you if they were searching for your product or service in the search engines. Once identified, try to use these keywords and phrases throughout the content on your site. This effectively tells the search engines what your site is all about.
Content Is King
There is no substitute for quality content on your Web site. Content is what attracts visitors and search engines to your Web site. When creating content for your Web site, give some thought to how your visitors might benefit from your content. Rather than go on and on about how great your product or service is, why not write about how it has helped your other customers and what benefits they have received using your product or service.
It is good to give people a reason to return to your Web site. There are many ways to accomplish this using quality content. Some ideas could be; to include a weekly survey about a hot news or entertainment item; multi-part articles released over a period of days or weeks; update photos in photo galleries to name a few. There are many other ideas to attract visitors to your Web site and to keep them coming back using quality content.
Submit Your Listing to the Search Engines
Be sure to submit your Web site listing to the search engines. This is typically a free service and most search engines have a link on the Home page for submissions. Create a decription for your Web site that incorporates your keywords or keyword phrases and then use this description in your submissions as it will most likely be displayed on the search results page.
Trade Links with Vendors and Customers
One of the more important aspects of getting a good ranking in the major search engines is cross-linking. This is the practice of putting a link on your Web site to another Web site and having that other Web site link back to yours. If the other Web sites are larger or recieve more traffic than yours, you can significantly increase your search engine rankings. If the other Web sites are in the same industry or even in a complimentary industry then it helps your rankings even more.
Promote Your Web Site Everywhere
When promoting your Web site it is wise to include your Web address in every promotional piece. Try to include it in every email, business card, advertisement, flyer, coupon, billboard...you get the idea. The more visitors you get to visit your Web site, the more opportunity you will have to expose your potential customers to your product or service.