So you want a website do you? - Part 1

July 24, 2008 | Filed Under Websites for beginners. | 1 Comment

What do you know about SEO?

Getting to know everything about SEO is like learning 55 languages at once. Each search engine has its own rules and set of tools to assist the SEO to analyze the site and the success of the site over a given period.

The main problem of the SEO is to keep up with latest technologies because as the search engines develop, they develop more “artificial intelligence” which basically is the spiders back bone and which tells the spider how relevant the site is. The better the spider and the algorithms are, the more traffic that particular search engine is going to get and the more the SEO knows about the spiders, the more he knows about possible pitfalls that can get a site banned or pushed back in the search engines space.

Search engines are not interested in the design and look of the site. (Usability) – The site can look drab, but if the webmaster is an SEO wizard or has a Search Engine Optimizer working with him, they can place the site as high up in the rankings as possible. (Below page 3 is usually worthless.)

The very beginning - want a website?

  • Make sure that you define the goal or aim of what you hope to achieve from the site before looking for a web designer.
  • If you already have a site, ask yourself if it is achieving your aims. If not, then make the necessary conclusion of if you are wasting money or if you want to make the necessary changes.
  • If your site is not achieving your aims, ask yourself why?
  • Ask other peoples opinion of what they think as well? (Not people that work for you.
  • If you designed the site yourself, put your ego aside and take an unbiased look at the site. (A slightly impossible thing to do, but a necessary step anyway.)
  • If you are serious having a productive site, then hire a professional to take a look and to give you constructive criticism about what to improve and how you can do it. (It is worth the money, believe me.)
  • DO NOT GO TO ANYBODY THAT PROMISES TO GET YOU ON THE FIRST PAGE OF GOOGLE AND WHO CAN GET YOU LISTED IN 10,000 SEARCH ENGINES. These guys only give their profession a bad name. (Besides the fact that you can do this by yourself if you have the time.)

Understanding the match between the Search Engines, the Web designer and the SEO

If you choose any topic or search word and search for it in any SE, you will notice on the top right side in blue is the number of relative results the SE has in its database. Most keywords searched for will have well over 10,000 results.

These are the total results on the Internet which that particular SE has listed for that topic.Your job is to make sure that no matter how many results there are with your particular keyword, your Search Engine Optimizer gets you as close to the top of given results as possible with any Search Engine and that your website is designed to allow browsers to come in and stay in your site.

Your Store front

The most popular myth of the internet is the illusion that the look and feel of the site is likened to a store-front window which should be attractive enough for the browser to enter the site.
This is untrue.

Your description that appears on the search engines results page is the first thing that the browser will see. Your description is therefore your store-front window of your store. This should have relevance to the subject and an enticing reason for the person to click on your link aside from the other 10 sites on the page. That reason is your call to action. Peoples mind on automatic mode when scanning a SE results page. Your aim is to trigger that mindset with a command and a good reason to click on your link and to visit the “foyer” of your store.

The Foyer

What we call the foyer of your store is what keeps the browser on your site and that your aim of turning a browser into a client is achieved. Always keep in mind that the second that browsers do not find their way in the navigational process of your site, you lose them forever as the next action that will follow is “Back” or “Close” to continue their search on other sites that will give them the answers to the questions that they have.

Your foyer has to follow the basic rule of “Kiss”. You personally need to “KISS” the customer by“Keeping It Smart and Simple”

  • Make sure that info is easy to reach. This basically refers to having the browser not having to click more than 3 times to reach their target.
  • The look of your foyer depends on many factors and as long as you remember to KISS, you have a better chance of keeping your browser and achieving your goal.

The Search Engines

If you are not a professional SEO, then do not even try to understand the methodology of the SE’s. The only things you HAVE TO KNOW are that the SE’s have strict codes of relevancy and an even stricter policy of ethics.

  1. If you are selling a product and try and disguise it by using unique unrelated keywords, you will be blacklisted from the SE’s.
  2. If you use keywords relative to your product, but you do not have relative content or relative links you will also find your site blacklisted.
  3. If your webmaster, unknowing to you, uses illegal methods to try and trick the SE’s, your site will be blacklisted. (The list of these tricks gets longer as the SE’s improve their artificial intelligence within their search algorithms.)
  4. The more relative content and “incoming links” that you have, the more respect you will get from the SE’s and the higher your site will be placed.
  5. The older your site is, the more respect you get from the SE’s.
  6. Your website has to have a Site Map. The site map is probably the most important page on your site as this assists the spiders through your site. (Your SEO will assist with the placing)

The Webmaster / Web designer

The webmasters part in building or redesigning your site according to a specific schedule, design and as close to the rules of the individual SE’s as possible. The first step in designing a site is your decision as to the purpose of your site.

  • Do offer a service that you want to advertise?
  • Do you accept Credit Cards etc?
  • Do you want an interactive forum?

Based on the above, you can now start collecting quotes for the best webmaster/web designer to do your site for you.
Do not make the mistake and expect the web designer to write content for the site. The job of writing relevant content is entirely your job. Now is the time to get in touch with the SEO.

The SEO

The SEO’s job function is to assist you and the webmaster to achieve your goal of your site.
There are many items that need to be covered by the SEO and we will start with the most important item which both you and the SEO have to do together.

The SEO will know what the search engines are looking for and how they work. The SE sends out a program that scans the web for new sites, new content and sees that the old unchanged site has not changed subject of interest. This program is related to as the “spider”.

Once the spider finds a new site, it goes through a check list to find out what the site is about. Sure the technology is that does this is great, but it is not so great that it can “look” at a page and know what the site is relevant to. You and the SEO have to tell it by leaving certain “hints”. This is the SEO’s first step.Normally, the SEO will ask you a lot of questions about your business, your market and your competitors. He/She will also ask for a list of 10-20 keywords or key-phrases that relate to your market. He will also ask you for any literature that you have so that he can learn about your market. Approximately 1 week later, the SEO will come back with a multi staged proposal from helping you with your keywords and rewriting/redesigning of your content so that it serves your purposes best in the fight to gain the highly rated 1st page of the Search Engine queries results page.

WARNING!!

DO NOT BE BLINDED BY FUTILE PROMISES. REACHING THE TOP 3 PAGES CAN TAKE UP TO 6 MONTHS TO ACHIEVE AND IT IS VERY HARD WORK. If your site has been up for a while, this 6 month period may be shortened, but any good and honest SEO will tell that the worst thing that you can do is to rush in and expect miracles. This may even work against you.

Check back here shortly for part 2.

The disadvantages of building your own site.

July 10, 2008 | Filed Under How to build a website | No Comments

Why not build your own site!

Many professionals and company owners, who have not seen the light as to the value of an Internet website, may one day look around and find that they are on a fast melting iceberg of people in the same position.

Those that have taken the dive into the vast sea of the Internet have a head start on them with all the advantages that the Internet has to offer.

Eventually, the majority of businesses in the world will be represented on the Internet as it is turning into an integral part of our lives. Turning to the Internet for assistance is becoming as natural as brushing our teeth. Mobile Internet is advancing with enormous strides and in the next few years will offered as a viable and cheap option for Internet usage.

Many of you who are looking for ways to get off that melting iceberg may be impressed with the “Fast and Free” website tools that are available, and see this as a quick way to having your own website. However, building your own site has very specific problems that will be setbacks more than the savior you are expecting. This is only because you probably:

1. Do not have background knowledge of the Internet. This means you may not be aware of the basics that are needed to build a successful website. (Successful = when you finally have a website, it will work for you and not against you.)
2. Do not know how to best get your website listed in the major search engines (and not banned)
3. Do not know how to write for Search Engines as well as the customers that you are writing for.
4. Do not know the coding needed when writing web content.
5. ………….
6. ………..

YOU DO NOT HAVE THE TIME OR THE RESOURCES TO GET A SITE THAT WILL MEET YOUR OWN EXPECTATIONS.

This list could go on and on however I think the message is clear enough. It is better to spend the extra dollars for a good professional site than to attempt to do it on your own, no matter how good the free tools are.

On a final note: If you do not have the time nor resources to plan and keep track of a group of professionals, hire someone to do it for you.

David Singer

WebsiteOverseers.com
Technorati Profile