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Home >> Articles >> Promoting and Marketing >> Growing Your Traffic Is Hard To Do - Or, Is It? Part 2 - UPDATE AND OPTIMIZE - REQUIRED STAMINA
Author: Ken
Added: November 1, 2005
Views: 1,661
Rating: 10/10
UPDATE AND OPTIMIZE - REQUIRED STAMINA
Welcome to the second in a series of three articles focused on growing more traffic to and targeted audience for your website. The first article, Growing Your Traffic Is Hard To Do - Or, Is It? http://www.dev-central.com/articles/view/89.html is an overview of some marketing strategies; specifically, beginning to accustom you to listening to and learning about some of what was referred to as the "alphabet soup of acronyms."
Its to be hoped that youve recovered sufficiently from that experience to continue your journey into another level of understanding about some of the techniques, marketing models and possibilities there are available to grow (or continue to grow) targeted traffic to your website.
As the title implies, this article will focus on the need to regularly update your website and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and keywords.
You may be thinking to yourself at this moment, "I have gone through the process (good or not so good) of getting my website launched and now Im being told that I have to update it regularly?!" Yes, its true. However, it might help to explain some of the technical (but not too technical) reasons why updating your website regularly is not only good but required.
Updated content is the essence of a useful website. Lets explain a bit about why and in what ways in the points below:
If the changes to your site permit, use the same directory structure and page names - i.e.. home page, services page, products page, contact information page, etc. Why? If you do this, users who have book marked those pages will always be rewarded by being returned to exactly where they want to go (and where you want them to go, as well) - to your website. Voila! Sounds easy, right? Theres more.
In addition, search engines - i.e.. AltaVista, Creative Commons and Google to name three of many - that have a lag time of several weeks between their indexing crawls of your site will always show the correct page.
From time to time, for whatever reason(s), websites require significant changes in location or organization. In that case, be aware of the reality of broken links from a users bookmarks and search engine indexes. To eliminate broken links to your valuable content, visitors should be redirected to the new URL.
The best way to redirect visitors to your new URL is to use server redirection functionality. This usually has to be done by your server administrator. Ask them for further information, or to request a redirect. Warning! - if your current server administrator does not know about server redirection, find yourself a new administrator immediately.
Do the graphics within your website all have the proper tags? Generally, graphics on your web pages should be limited to illustrations that can be presented any other way - for example: logos, artwork, charts, and photographs of people, places or things that are central to the message you
e presenting. Are your photographs or other graphics still current? Is it time to replace them with a new version?
Elements to avoid within your sites graphics are: graphics for page decoration purposes; or, graphics that are unnecessarily large. Why? "They
e so pretty" - or - "I like the way this looks now" you say. It makes your pages more difficult to find; and, that defeats your purpose in this - you want to be found.
Additional questions to ask yourself are, in terms of usability, does the current version of your website meet the needs of the audience you are intending to target/to service/to sell? Are the categories or topics labeled appropriately? Does your page or site now have a different scope or theme than when it was originally created? Do you need to redesign or recast the content/writing for any part of your page(s)? Consider re-thinking your headlines for the benefit of search engine indexing that rates headline-tagged text higher than other text.
If you
e beginning to appreciate that your website is "organic," that it requires updating on a regular basis and why updating is important - both in terms of how part of the World Wide Web works, technically; and, in terms of keeping your content fresh, interesting, informative and up-to-date for those users who have bookmarked your pages - then, you
e beginning to get the hang of this.
A quick "for instance" here might help. If you were an actual bricks-and-mortar storefront owner/professional service provider, wouldn you regularly change your front window or announce a new service within your speciality? That is the context within which you need to think regarding your website. Is there an element/page within your site that can be updated because Fall is here; or, because there is a new offer you
e making to your subscribers/readers. As you learn more about what drives prospective customers to your site - your "storefront/office" - what do they, specifically, want? For what were they looking, what did they find within your storefront/office and what made them stay and (its hoped) eventually buy from you. The technology is important - theres no getting around that. After all, your website exists only as "dressed up" zeroes and ones in the pixilated environment of the WWW. What you
e trying to create and maintain is a unique, individualized presence within that technological realm - your presence, your website, your storefront, your office.
Don despair - there is another strategy to bring those clambering customers/clients to your front door, ready to walk in, browse around and make the decision to buy from you - metaphorically speaking.
Weve now come into the realm of SEO or Search Engine Optimization, also known as keyword. A brief definition is - the process of choosing targeted keyword or keyword phrases related to your site, and ensuring that your site places well when those keywords or keyword phrases are part of a web search. Simple. Clear. Concise. Right? Theres more.
Optimization requires making pages readable to search engines and emphasizing keywords within your content. Basic optimization may involve not much more than ensuring that your site does not, unnecessarily, become part of the invisible Web. Advanced optimization includes significant research into every element of your page design, site structure and off-the-page criteria.
Before pages can be optimized, research must be done to determine which keywords to target. This involves finding relevant keywords and/or keyword phrases, determining their popularity - i.e.. what word or combination of words is someone using as their search criteria - assessing the amount of competition for these words or combinations of words, and deciding which keywords can be supported with quality content within your site. Related terms for SEO/keyword are: keyword research, link popularity, meta tags, pay per click search engine, search engine submission and top 10.
If youve gotten this far and you
e still "standing" you have stamina. Stamina is, also, whats required to set-up, develop, update, optimize and grow your website. Remember, your site is your storefront/office. Continue to think in those terms as you read the last of this series. Comming soon...
Note: This article is copy written. Please do not use without permission.
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