People who want a website created are usually interested in knowing how to promote it. There’s a lot of talk about SEO (search engine optimization) and services charge from a few dollars up to several thousand dollars per month for website promotion.
I’ve consistently created top ranking sites for only $18 per year — the cost of domain name registration and hosting, and now you can too, by following these guidelines.
Here are some simple things you can do to get great search engine results and make your business and website(s) easier for people to find.
- Be Outcome Focused. Before you develop a web strategy, think about your desired outcome. For example, if what you want is to receive emails and phone calls from new customers, then build your websites with that goal in mind.
- Consider a Multi-Site Strategy. Being successful online is really not about “having a website.” You want to create multi-site and multi-point discoverability. You may need several websites, and accounts on multiple social network services.
- Choose a Business Name Website Address. You’ll want a website address that matches your planned business name or DBA name. That way, existing customers and word-of mouth customers looking for you by name can easily search and find you.
- Choose Search Terms Website Address. You may want to have at least one other website besides your primary business website. This can help create the equivalent of an advertisement on the web that’s specifically tailored to be found for certain search results. The general formula is [area/region] + [business/service] = domainname.com. So, if you have a web design business, you’d want a website address such as IowaCityWebsiteDesigners.com so that people who do a Google search for those words will find your site. If the name you want is taken, create a variation such as IowaCityWebDesignArtist.com that will include the primary keywords. Being first to market with an effective website name isn’t enough. There’s more to it, but having a good name will be a good start.
- Further Reading: Business names can be catchy and unique, yet sometimes there’s nothing in the name itself that conveys what the business is about. Only after years of success when a business becomes a ‘household name’ does it then have meaning. Originally the name ‘Google’ was a nonsense word. The name ‘Apple’ was known only as a fruit. Yet these companies are now well known. So, until your business has the same name recognition, you’ll want to consider creating some websites with keyword search terms in the website address.
- Choose a Website Name. A website name is different than your website address. The name is a descriptive title and sub-title for the site. Often the name of a site has the repetitive reinforcement of using the same name as the address. That’s a good idea. You can also include one or two extra descriptive words. The sub-title (or tagline) is additional text you can add that helps search engines understand what your site is about. Try not to repeat words.
- Example. So, here’s an example. Let’s say your website address is XTX4.com and you want the website name to be more descriptive. You’ll still want the business name and address in the name, so a name like XTX4 Life Automation Systems with “Your Life on Autopilot” as a sub-title would work.
- Create Static Content (Pages). The more written text there is on your site, the bigger a target it can be for search engines to find and analyze, and more content means more reasons for people to find and come back to your site. Static content is content that doesn’t need much ongoing maintenance or feeding. An ‘About’ page is an example of this. Once written, it can mostly stay the same, except periodic additions and updates as your life changes. Static content is usually placed on ‘pages’ and not posts. To learn more, click here to read about difference between pages and posts.
- Create Timely Content (Posts). Timely content would be articles and posts related to certain topics. A posts will have keywords assigned to it (tags), and a date, as well as an author name. These are heavily indexed by Google. To learn more, click here to read about difference between pages and posts.
- Get Inbound Links. It’s helpful to have ‘inbound links’ to your website. That means you’ll have other reputable sites linking to yours. People who pay for thousands of inbound links frequently end up with too many and get blacklisted from Google and other search engines. So, keep it real.
- Create Outbound Links. For your pages and posts, make sure that important terms and words link to other sources of information on the Internet. This also helps search engines determine what your site is about.
- Advertising. By placing ads on Facebook and elsewhere, it’s possible to build public awareness of your online presence and business.