Worried that your web site is having trouble finding its target audience?
Here are five basic activities, some of which you may already be doing, ALL of which are fundamental tools in the web site marketer's toolbox.
1. Check How You Use Your Keywords
Keywords, or more correctly "key word groups" or "key phrases," are fundamental to how your web site is indexed by the all-powerful search engines. At it's most simple, a key word group is a set of words you expect (hope) a prospective visitor will type into a search field when looking for exactly your type of product, service or information.
Researching, and regularly monitoring, the keywords you use on your site is vitally important if you are going to hit, and keep hitting, your target market or "demographic".
Researching, and regularly monitoring, the keywords you use on your site is vitally important if you are going to hit, and keep hitting, your target market or "demographic".
How do you find the best key word groups?
The first and simplest guide is to ask yourself what you would type into a search engine if searching for your own web site. It is always a good idea for any web site owner to imagine himself in the shoes of his ideal web site visitor or ideal prospective client.
Make a list, it doesn't have to be long, and test these keywords out in a real search engine. Are the sites you see listed offering a similar service to yours? If so, you are probably starting down the right lines. Fishermen tend to fight over the patches with the most fish!
Another simple task is to ask family and friends, people not too close to your project or too "net savvy" what THEY would type if looking for your site. Often their answers can be quite surprising, but very enlightening.
In addition to real people, there are plenty of tools to help you analyze your keyword groups online. Google Adwords has an excellent tool to help you find key word groups. The Google Analytics package overall is an excellent free set of tools that can give you a great deal of useful information (though you must register for a free account).
So, you have a nice set of keyword groups, and want to know how best to use them on your pages. the golden rule is to use your key phrases in a way that gives them emphasis without choking the value out of your web site content. Nothing is less fun to read than a paragraph stuffed to the gills with repetitive key phrase combinations that obscure any meaning or readability in the text. Write them into your web content, yes, but don't sacrifice content quality to do it. A good web copy writer can weave keywords into text so you barely notice they are there. If writing web site copy isn't your thing, why not consider hiring a professional. Many are very reasonably priced, and all should be able to give you samples and references.
A quick note on "Flash". Flash animations look very pretty but any textual content embedded in a Flash movie is often completely invisible to Search Engines and therefore no help at all to improving you search placement. Use Flash sparingly and never just because it looks nice, though I know this is very tempting. The "ooh and ahh" factor is very enticing, but there are still many users who don't allow flash, and it can be slow to load and annoying to navigate. Never, never, never start your site with a splash page movie. It is very bad for search engine placement, and 99% will only want to press the "skip this screen" button to get to the pages that really matter.
The most important places to position your keywords are "tags" (important elements in the actual HTML), your title tags, meta description tags, the h1 and it's junior (h2, h3) tags, and the keywords tag itself (though this has been hugely down-valued by search engines in recent years because it is frequently misused).
Each page on your web site should be optimized for only two or three key phrases (though different for each page, if needed).
A title tag should be between 7 to 10 words maximum, and any key word should be used no more than twice (a nice trick is to use variants e.g. "design" with "designers").
A description tag should be no more than 15o characters (letters, inc. spaces) in length, it should be written in good English (or the language of your site), and should directly describe the content of that page.
Both the Title Tags and the Description Tags should be unique for every page on your site.
The H1 tag wraps the key text heading on your page. It should be near or at the top of your page, include at least one of your key word groups and you should only have one per page.
The keywords tag itself is still used by many designers, but Google and others have often stated it no longer plays a part in ranking because in the early days of search it was abused by many sites, being used to stuff vast quantities of keywords with no value to the visitor or the search engine.
I'll be devoting a future post entirely to tags and how to use them, and don't be afraid if you snicker at frequent use of the word "tag". I still do it all the time, but then, I am British.
On the flip side there are several "don'ts." Don't try and hide keywords by making the text the same color as the page background. Don't create lists of your key phrases repeating right at the page bottom. Don't duplicate content across your site as a quick and easy way to boost your keyword count.
As a rule, if it seems sneaky, underhanded or sly, it probably is, and you will probably be penalized for it by a Search Engine system that has seen it all before.
Make a list, it doesn't have to be long, and test these keywords out in a real search engine. Are the sites you see listed offering a similar service to yours? If so, you are probably starting down the right lines. Fishermen tend to fight over the patches with the most fish!
Another simple task is to ask family and friends, people not too close to your project or too "net savvy" what THEY would type if looking for your site. Often their answers can be quite surprising, but very enlightening.
In addition to real people, there are plenty of tools to help you analyze your keyword groups online. Google Adwords has an excellent tool to help you find key word groups. The Google Analytics package overall is an excellent free set of tools that can give you a great deal of useful information (though you must register for a free account).
So, you have a nice set of keyword groups, and want to know how best to use them on your pages. the golden rule is to use your key phrases in a way that gives them emphasis without choking the value out of your web site content. Nothing is less fun to read than a paragraph stuffed to the gills with repetitive key phrase combinations that obscure any meaning or readability in the text. Write them into your web content, yes, but don't sacrifice content quality to do it. A good web copy writer can weave keywords into text so you barely notice they are there. If writing web site copy isn't your thing, why not consider hiring a professional. Many are very reasonably priced, and all should be able to give you samples and references.
A quick note on "Flash". Flash animations look very pretty but any textual content embedded in a Flash movie is often completely invisible to Search Engines and therefore no help at all to improving you search placement. Use Flash sparingly and never just because it looks nice, though I know this is very tempting. The "ooh and ahh" factor is very enticing, but there are still many users who don't allow flash, and it can be slow to load and annoying to navigate. Never, never, never start your site with a splash page movie. It is very bad for search engine placement, and 99% will only want to press the "skip this screen" button to get to the pages that really matter.
The most important places to position your keywords are "tags" (important elements in the actual HTML), your title tags, meta description tags, the h1 and it's junior (h2, h3) tags, and the keywords tag itself (though this has been hugely down-valued by search engines in recent years because it is frequently misused).
Each page on your web site should be optimized for only two or three key phrases (though different for each page, if needed).
A title tag should be between 7 to 10 words maximum, and any key word should be used no more than twice (a nice trick is to use variants e.g. "design" with "designers").
A description tag should be no more than 15o characters (letters, inc. spaces) in length, it should be written in good English (or the language of your site), and should directly describe the content of that page.
Both the Title Tags and the Description Tags should be unique for every page on your site.
The H1 tag wraps the key text heading on your page. It should be near or at the top of your page, include at least one of your key word groups and you should only have one per page.
The keywords tag itself is still used by many designers, but Google and others have often stated it no longer plays a part in ranking because in the early days of search it was abused by many sites, being used to stuff vast quantities of keywords with no value to the visitor or the search engine.
I'll be devoting a future post entirely to tags and how to use them, and don't be afraid if you snicker at frequent use of the word "tag". I still do it all the time, but then, I am British.
On the flip side there are several "don'ts." Don't try and hide keywords by making the text the same color as the page background. Don't create lists of your key phrases repeating right at the page bottom. Don't duplicate content across your site as a quick and easy way to boost your keyword count.
As a rule, if it seems sneaky, underhanded or sly, it probably is, and you will probably be penalized for it by a Search Engine system that has seen it all before.
2. Make Sure Your Online and Offline Marketing Work Together
All marketing avenues should mutually enforce each other. Make sure you have a fairly consistent style to both your printed and online material. If you have a logo or corporate color scheme make sure these are used uniformly. Be sure to advertise your web address wherever possible. It should be on your business cards, t-shirts, vehicles, mail-shots, e-mail footers, mugs, in fact anywhere you are looking to attract people to your organization. Your web site is effectively your online shop front, but no shop will attract visitors unless people know it is out there. If people see your site address regularly it will stick in their mind and be top of their list to visit when looking for your particular service.
Don't be afraid to plug your web site address when meeting potential clients personally or in interviews or press releases. Your web site is a show case for what you do. Encourage people to visit and be impressed by it!
Don't be afraid to plug your web site address when meeting potential clients personally or in interviews or press releases. Your web site is a show case for what you do. Encourage people to visit and be impressed by it!
3. Feedback - What do Others Think of Your Site?
When you spend hours crafting a web site you can sometimes become too close to the project to be able to effectively evaluate what you are doing right, and what you are doing less well.
It is always helpful to get objective opinions from colleagues, friends, family, associates and ESPECIALLY your actual web site visitors. The more objective and honest the opinion, the more useful it is.
Ask visitors to navigate around your site, try out your shopping cart, read your text content. Even seemingly small issues such as poor grammar or an unclear line on a web form can have a large effect on how many visits to your site actually convert to a useful lead or sale.
Many sites have a feedback or comments area where visitors can post suggestions or just tell you how good a job you are doing. Internet users like being asked for their opinions, hence the wide use of polls on millions of sites. As a web site owner or administrator you should value every comment you receive. Even seemingly flippant or silly comments tell you something about the kind or audience you are attracting to your site.
It is always helpful to get objective opinions from colleagues, friends, family, associates and ESPECIALLY your actual web site visitors. The more objective and honest the opinion, the more useful it is.
Ask visitors to navigate around your site, try out your shopping cart, read your text content. Even seemingly small issues such as poor grammar or an unclear line on a web form can have a large effect on how many visits to your site actually convert to a useful lead or sale.
Many sites have a feedback or comments area where visitors can post suggestions or just tell you how good a job you are doing. Internet users like being asked for their opinions, hence the wide use of polls on millions of sites. As a web site owner or administrator you should value every comment you receive. Even seemingly flippant or silly comments tell you something about the kind or audience you are attracting to your site.
4. Web 2.0 - Using The Latest Tools and Trends
The Internet is constantly changing and growing. Over the past few years there has been a huge trend towards more online social networking and interactive content. It is important to embrace these trends where possible. These new forms of web site use are often referred to as Web 2.0, though it is really only an extension of the original Internet. As the technology improves these concepts will become more and more important.
Set up personal pages and pages for your organization on social networking sites such as LinkedIn or Facebook to promote yourself.
Start writing a blog, telling people news of your organization or offering people valuable content about your particular area of expertise.
"Tweet" (twittering or mini, immediate blogging) making notable updates to your activities, but please don't prattle endlessly about your latest coffee, washing your hair, or post the same thoughts over and over again. Restraint in tweeting is a much appreciated virtue! Use proper text if possible. Using obscure acronyms, or over use of "trendy" abbreviations is honestly quite annoying. There I said it.
Make a video and post it on one of the many Internet video sites (e.g. YouTube).
Put out regular audio podcasts for people to follow with RSS, and listen to at home or on their iPod as they travel.
Most of these services are free, aside from the investment of time and effort.
Don't be afraid to ask others what they use and how they promote themselves. Most people are only too happy to share something new and exciting they have found on the web.
If it all still seems overwhelming, talk to a friendly Internet professional. If they know their stuff, they should be able to answer your questions and concerns very quickly.
Whatever you do, don't forget to include a link back to your own site!! That, after all, is where you really want everyone to go.
Set up personal pages and pages for your organization on social networking sites such as LinkedIn or Facebook to promote yourself.
Start writing a blog, telling people news of your organization or offering people valuable content about your particular area of expertise.
"Tweet" (twittering or mini, immediate blogging) making notable updates to your activities, but please don't prattle endlessly about your latest coffee, washing your hair, or post the same thoughts over and over again. Restraint in tweeting is a much appreciated virtue! Use proper text if possible. Using obscure acronyms, or over use of "trendy" abbreviations is honestly quite annoying. There I said it.
Make a video and post it on one of the many Internet video sites (e.g. YouTube).
Put out regular audio podcasts for people to follow with RSS, and listen to at home or on their iPod as they travel.
Most of these services are free, aside from the investment of time and effort.
Don't be afraid to ask others what they use and how they promote themselves. Most people are only too happy to share something new and exciting they have found on the web.
If it all still seems overwhelming, talk to a friendly Internet professional. If they know their stuff, they should be able to answer your questions and concerns very quickly.
Whatever you do, don't forget to include a link back to your own site!! That, after all, is where you really want everyone to go.
5. Content, Content, Content!
This is the one area I cannot say enough about. The more fresh, well written, useful, entertaining, content you put out on the Internet, the more traffic and therefore the more business you will attract to your site.
Keep the content on your own site fresh.
If you post content on another site make sure it will have some use or interest for users of that site.
If you are adding text to your site consider breaking it up into manageable chunks with graphics or headings. Attention spans for Internet users are astonishing low, even for the best of us, and nothing makes the heart sink more than a huge page of uninterrupted text in a tiny font (I hope you don't find me hypocritical here!)
The more work you put into the content on your web site the more successful it will be. It should be value content, which means visitors will gain something from it. Keep it clear, keep it snappy and keep it interesting. Where appropriate, I also believe in keeping your content fun. If you can make a visitor smile you have gone a long way to keeping them on your web site.
Keep the content on your own site fresh.
If you post content on another site make sure it will have some use or interest for users of that site.
If you are adding text to your site consider breaking it up into manageable chunks with graphics or headings. Attention spans for Internet users are astonishing low, even for the best of us, and nothing makes the heart sink more than a huge page of uninterrupted text in a tiny font (I hope you don't find me hypocritical here!)
The more work you put into the content on your web site the more successful it will be. It should be value content, which means visitors will gain something from it. Keep it clear, keep it snappy and keep it interesting. Where appropriate, I also believe in keeping your content fun. If you can make a visitor smile you have gone a long way to keeping them on your web site.
Happy web building and content writing. Every tap of the keyboard takes you one step closer to web site success!
Han Hills
CEO
Wilmington Web Design and Hosting in Wilmington, North Carolina
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