Adding to intense thrill of web site ownership are keyword comparisons and bidding for good keyword positions in search engines. You might hire a search engine optimization specialist who can track elusive algorithm clues and is unfazed by page rank drama. Your programmers and designers insist they get along. The marketing department actually believes deadlines are met. The new bank account is waiting for fresh revenue. And oh yes, it's assumed someone will come looking for your web site and wants to use it.

You did build it for them, right?

For every search result, there is possibility that:

a. The engine will display a description that makes sense. Or not.

b. The page search engine refers to does what description said it would do and is about what search engine said it would cover. Or not.

Your SEO/SEM, if you hired a good one, helped you write your title tag statement and Meta page description and structured it so it makes sense in SERPs (search engine results pages).

Your Usability professional, if you hired one, evaluated page to make sure it would meet customer expectations and convince visitors there are other hot pages inside web site to look at too. Without call to action prompts, well displayed, logically labeled navigation links and credible content, chance of someone remaining on that page is pretty slim.

Says Gordon Hotchkiss, President and CEO of Enquiro Search Solutions, Inc., in a recent Search Day article written by Shari Thurow, called Creating Compelling Search Engine Ads and Landing Pages, "Once searchers arrive on your landing pages, you have 13.2 seconds to convince visitors that they are on right site." Impossible Mission?

Had enough of web page abandonment? Are those cost per click fees putting you further in credit card debt and not producing any bang for your buck? Which part of "understand your web site visitor" didn't make it to drawing board?

I know this is hard. You're not a mind reader. Unless you have access to costly studies and data about who to build your web site for and their computer usage habits, chances are you simply wanted a web site and hoped people would find it and use it. By incorporating skills and expertise of an SEO/SEM along with a user centered design specialist, you will not be wastefully tossing your web site off search engine cliff. Rather, your adoring fans will clamor up cliff to get to it.

Sometimes a web designer is also trained in these fields or is partnered with people who are. This is something to consider when shopping around for web site assistance.

Selecting Perfect Domain Name

The first issue I have with magician web sites is improper use of domain names. Examine following list of URLs and select most professional one:

• www.freewebspace.com/users/losers/reallosers/Hire-me.html (Example 1)
• http://www.Kooool-Magic-2day4U2.tv/ (Example 2)
• http://www.WebToastyHosty.com/234asdkjfd/No-hire-me.html (Example 3)
• http://www.TikiMagic.com (Example 4)

Example 1

Unfortunately first site is too common today. It is too long to be remembered. It is also too long to be accurately typed. Who knows what site your potential visitor may end up loading into their browser. More importantly it is unprofessional. With low cost to register domain names and host web sites, there is no longer any reason to use this type of web site as a professional magician.

These URLs are usually found on business cards with perforations around edges. If this applies to you, then please listen to this simple advice. Please spend small amount of money it takes to look like a professional or don't pretend that you are one. Your potential clients are not impressed. They will not hire you. This advice applies to both web sites and business cards. Let's review pros and cons.

www.freewebspace.com/users/losers/reallosers/Hire-me.html

Pros

• It's free

• It's free because your visitors are bombarded with ads (Viva Cialis)
• It's unprofessional. You look cheap because you are. Don't Be!
• It's too loooooooooooooooooooong.
• It too hard to type out without mistkes.
• Too many limits on designs and script usage.

Example 2

The second example shows another trend. The good domains are often taken. Magicians look to claim some Web real estate by getting a domain name with cute names by substituting numbers or misspellings to find a "suitable" domain name. The main issue is that potential visitors may not remember your "cute" name and never find your site. It is better than first URL, but not much.

This example shows another common strategy. Magicians will use a less common extension such as .org , .biz or .tv. It is my belief that a weaker name with ".com" is better than a stronger name without ".com". Most people don't understand about domain names. The general sentiment among your potential clients is that .com appears more professional than .biz.

www.Kooool-Magic-2day4U2.tv/

Pros

• It's slightly better than prior example
• It contains some keywords (mostly misspelled and numberized)
• It's your own domain name

• Doesn't use .com
• Words are misspelled
• Numbers are substituted for words
• It uses too many hyphens
• Too long
• More cute than professional