Let’s see, you have just viewed the final version of your Web site, and it is absolutely perfect. The design is amazing, the speed at which each page loads makes you think you have a high-speed connection, and all the content you worked so hard to create is finally there, for all the world to see. So now what?
Well, you obviously intend for people to see this wonderful creation, but how? Telling Aunt Marge to spread the word will only get you so far. What you need is good search engine positioning. The question becomes: How do I get MY site to the top of the search engines? Good question, now let’s see if we can answer it.
The first step is to ensure that your Web site contains a few essential items. Each of these is important in getting search engines to list your site before somebody else’s site.
Title – contained in the head tag of an HTML page. Each page in your site should include its own title – as descriptive as possible – but only one or two words. Some companies include their name in each title as well.
Alt tags – alt tags are a part of image tags. They are displayed either when you move the mouse cursor over an image (in the little yellow box), or the text is displayed by itself if the person viewing your page has image loading turned off.
Text links – whenever possible, you should use text links along with image links, even with JavaScript or an image map. Remember, the more distinct words on your page, the better chance of a good search engine spot.
Meta tags – one of the most important things you can add to the HTML of your site is Meta tags. Essentially, Meta tags are keywords and descriptions, used by some search engines to find your site. When you are creating your tags, get input from a wide range of people about what words they might use to try and find a site like yours. It is crucial to pick words that both tie in with your site and are generic enough so people using search engines will use them. Overture
The next step is slightly more complicated: submitting your site to all of the different search engines. This can get difficult because each engine has its own way of doing things. The best bet here is to go to the major search engines and look at their requirements for site submission. Most are accepting fees, but have no guarantees as to when or where you will be ranked
There are, however, a couple of tips which will apply to most search engines. First, you are going to need to have a good, short description for your site to submit to the search engine. Twenty-five words is a good place to start, but some engines only accept 15 words, possibly less, so be sure to write a couple of descriptions of varying lengths.
The other tip is to monitor your position regularly. You can also monitor too much and drive yourself nuts. Each search engine will have a different set of rules on how often you can resubmit your site, so you should set up a schedule to resubmit periodically. Searching for your own site will help you determine how well you are doing in the listings. If you are not very high in a particular engine, check their help sections to find ways to increase your position. There are almost always ways to improve your standing.
If you have further questions on search engines and how you can “be first!” a good site to go to for more information is searchenginewatch.com. They have more-detailed information as well as links to the major search engines. You can also call us if you’d like to know how to get started.
*Originally published at LangDesign.com
Rebecca Lang is founder of Lang Design, Inc. an Internet web design and development with an emphasis on marketing website business. Serving businesses nationwide, we are located in Wilmington, Delaware, just south of the Philadelphia Metro area.
