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A good maintenance plan will include providing a ranking report, tweaking keywords in your source code as needed for a monthly/six month/yearly fee and may also include log stats so you can see where your traffic is coming from and what keywords your visitors are using to visit your website.
Methods that work
Good content
Content is one of
most important items you need for your website. Once visitors arrive, you need to keep them there. Adding keyword-rich text that makes sense and serves concept of web page improves your ranking and keeps your visitors interested. The more text, better for Search Engine spiders when they index a website.
Good navigation
There is nothing worse than arriving at a website and having difficulty understanding where to go for information you are seeking. Have easy to use, clearly marked navigation so your visitors click through instead of click-away in frustration. Search Engine spiders (robots) index text and links; having good navigation is important to indexing of your web pages.
Title/META tags
Individualized Title and META tags for each of your important web pages gives you best chance for optimum success in ranking. Title tags are necessary for Search Engine ranking, in particular with Google's Search Engine. META tags have decreased in importance, but are worth using for clarity and search results. The META description is still used by some Search Engines as default text indexed by Search Engine spiders for search results. The keyword tag is least important but is still used by some engines. My theory is, you never know when rules of Search Engines will change, or a new engine will want them, so take time to include these tags in all your web pages.
Link popularity
Links from other popular websites back to your website are one way of increasing your site's popularity. Finding websites with similar content (but not your competitors) and high link popularity, then trading links to be posted on each site, is one way of increasing your site popularity. Good content is vitally important because visitors who stay longer while visiting a website help measure popularity of site in Search Engines.
Paid Inclusion
Paying a one-time fee or (as is most recently case) a yearly renewable subscription fee to be included in Search Engine results. Directories also use this style of service to accept submissions. Paid inclusion does not guarantee that you will be listed with Search Engine or Directory, but gives a shorter time-line of acceptance if they do.
PPC (Pay-Per-Click)
Overture is most popular PPC engine. You bid an amount per keyword phrase to get highest ranking in Overture search results compared to your competitors.
Google AdWords Select
Google AdWords is a program that uses your chosen keywords in an ad in Google Search Engine results in order to promote click-throughs.
Log Stats programs
Having a log stats program is very helpful in tracking your visitors, finding which keywords they are searching on to enter your website, tracking which pages they leave from and much more. Analog is a good free log stats program. WebTrends is a popular paid logs program used by many businesses.
Free submissions take patience
After paying for inclusion, try submitting to some of secondary Search Engines and directories. Long before Google was a household word, I thought it might become popular and submitted company website. It certainly paid off a year later when Google became best of upcoming Search Engines.
Another avenue to venture down are specialty directories. As web grows larger over time, specialty directories (also known as vertical portals or "vortals") focused on your business area may help you get more link popularity and your company name out to public.
Stay Honest
Stay honest, create good content and do your homework when hiring for services.
Using affordable Search Engine Marketing services you will add to your audience exposure on web. In this way you will always be ahead of game and hopefully, ahead of your competitors.
*definitions supplied from Webopedia website: http://www.webopedia.com/
**definition supplied from Marketing Terms.com website: http://www.marketingterms.com/
When you are ready to put your website to work for you, it's time to contact us.
Search Innovation Your Search is Over™ http://www.searchinnovation.com info@searchinnovation.com
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Daria Goetsch is a Search Engine Marketing Consultant for Search Innovation, a Search Engine Marketing company serving small businesses. Her background involves many years as a Search Engine Marketing Consultant, including three years as the Search Engine Specialist for O'Reilly & Associates.
