Search Engines:

If you've used Internet at all you know that search engines are most common way people find websites. Having a high ranking in a search engine can be priceless... and drive a ton of traffic to your site. The best part...many search engines are still free. If you haven't submitted your site to all major search engines you won't be getting all traffic you deserve!

With that said, just submitting to search engines often won't help you as much as you'd like. Being indexed in search engines is first step but if you really want to explode your traffic you are going to have to get ranked HIGH, preferable in top ten!

For more information on how to succeed with search engines send an email to: mailto:setools@internet-marketing-results.com.

Free Classifieds:

This is another cheap and easy way to get qualified traffic to visit your site. If you think about it, who is more qualified than someone who is willing to search through online classifieds for a specific product or service? When they run across a website, that will meet their needs, they're already primed and ready to buy.

Let me make a few things perfectly clear. You will not make your fortune online using free classified ads. But you will gain visitors by using them. There is absolutely no such thing as 'bad traffic'. Any visitor you get to your site is another chance to convert them into a paying customer.

Discussion lists:

This is a way of promotion that is not as popular or as useful as it use to be. Discussion lists are places where people go to discuss a specific topic. There are literally tens of thousands of these discussion lists ranging from car racing to square dancing.

Discussion lists have fallen out of favor because most people now use them only to advertise their products or services. They no longer engage in actual discussions about topic. There are still some discussion lists that are closely monitored and are still relevant.

The one advertising method that is still acceptable in discussion lists is advertising in your 'Sig file'. I would encourage you to make a meaningful contribution to group discussion and at end of all your messages include your 'Sig file' that has an incentive to visit your site. This way you can establish your self as an expert in your field and still entice people to visit your site with out offending people with blatant advertising (also considered SPAM).

You can check out www.usenet.com and search for discussion lists related to your interests.

To find 5 more powerful techniques to advertise your online business for free send an email to: mailto:adsforfree@interenet-marketing-results.com.

You can also read this article about FrontPage, which contains a link to an online tutorial for learning how to use program. http://www.searchengineworkshops.com/articles/FrontPage.html

Or, if you’d rather have someone else create your Web site for you, look in your yellow pages and find someone locally. Or, try Look Sharp Designs, which will create Web sites for a very reasonable price. And, their designer also knows how to create Web sites that are “search engine friendly,” which is a big consideration when looking for a Web designer.

http://www.looksharpdesigns.com

Web site design –

If at all possible, keep your Web site design very simple. Don’t use frames, excessive graphics, database-generated pages, Flash home pages, or lengthy JavaScript. Each of these design strategies can present problems for you when you’re trying to get a good ranking with search engines, which is where you’ll probably get majority of your traffic.

So, if you hire a professional Web designer, make sure he or she knows that you want design kept simple.

Let’s face it – when YOU go to a Web site, you would much prefer a simple Web site, wouldn’t you? You want to find what you’re looking for quickly and easily. You don’t want to have to spend time trying to find something. And, you don’t want to see a Flash movie that crashes your computer or that keeps you from getting into site where real content is. You want CONTENT!

In fact, one study shows that Americans experience “search rage” if they don’t find what they’re looking for within 12 minutes.

Keep that in mind when you’re designing your own site. Use simple, clear navigation. Include a site map that has links to all of pages in your site. This site map is valuable to both your users and search engines.

Keep graphics to a minimum, and only use them when you want to point eye to a certain location.

When you use graphics, here’s something else to consider.

Let’s say that you are a real estate agent, and your home page is covered with your awards, a picture of you, and maybe logo of your company. Do you think your visitors care about your awards or your picture? No! They want to see pictures of houses you’re selling! They want to learn about schools in that area or crime rate. They want to see a mortgage calculator. They want to see content! Put yourselves into shoes of your visitors, and think about what your visitors want to see, not what YOU want to show them.

If you use a picture of a house on main page of your site, use a picture that has a happy, smiling family in front of house, obviously pleased with new home that you’ve sold them. The visitors will automatically put themselves into picture with happy family, and they’ll be more receptive to becoming a potential home buyer. But, just a picture of a home on main page of your site doesn’t evoke those emotions.

Or, if you sell toys, don’t just have pictures of toys. Have pictures of smiling children playing with toys! Appeal to emotions of your Web site visitors.

Keep in mind another thing regarding graphics. The search engines can’t “see” graphics. So, if you have a page that is loaded with graphics, there’s no way that engines can know what page is about. Therefore, offer a paragraph or two of text above images that describes what page is about. Give engines something to index, and your pages will have a better chance of visibility in search engines.

Build valuable content --

When people come online, they generally aren’t looking to buy something. Instead, they are looking for information. Consider your own Web site. What information can you provide that would help attract visitors (and search engines) to your site?

Let’s say that you have a local store that sells TV’s. Could you create content that would be beneficial and possibly provide cost savings to your Web visitors? For example, are there any little tips you could offer to extend life of a TV? Or, could you write content that focuses on latest innovations in TV’s? What about a page that deals with history of television? The more content you build, stronger you’re making your Web site, and better chance you have that visitor will return. Plus, as a huge bonus, engines love a content-rich site, so you’re boosting your chances at better search engine rankings.

Remember that you’re also “introducing” your online business to these visitors. You’re creating name recognition and credibility. So, when visitors are in market for a TV, won’t they consider an online business that they can trust? Make it your goal to be that online business!

More to come later

As you can see, we’ve just scratched surface when it comes to having a successful online business. In next month or so, I'll cover more tips, which I hope will help you turn your Web sites into true online businesses that will make you some money.

In meantime, you may want to take some training that will help boost your chances at achieving online success. Here are a couple of choices:

Search Engine Workshops offers on location workshops in search engine marketing to both beginners and advanced folks. These workshops are held in various locations across globe. http://www.searchengineworkshops.com

The Academy of Web Specialists offers online courses in search engine marketing, where you can take beginning or advanced classes online in comfort of your own home. http://www.onlinewebtraining.com/courses.html

Copyright 2003 Robin Nobles. All rights reserved.