May, 2004How to Maximize Search Engine Traffic
Of all
traffic websites could generate ONE traffic source stands head and shoulders above rest
Search Engine Traffic.
Specifically, traffic from google.com and yahoo.com - leaders in finding things on web.
Considering highly targeted nature of this traffic and fact that it flows virtually without cost, search Engine traffic simply cannot be beat.
How can you maximize traffic from search engines? There is no trick or overnight solution. If you are looking for that, you can stop reading now. But what you read here today WILL increase your search engine traffic. It will take some time but it is well worth it.
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So let's go... The first thing to consider is how best Search sites determine where to send their clients -- searchers. It does not happen by accident. In fact all Search engines have complex algorithms that determine how they rank sites.
But after all smoke clears, I can point directly to ONE essential component that leads to ever-growing traffic from major search engines...
QUALITY.
Or more precisely, this equation is my formula for success with search engines...
Quality Content + Quality Links = SE Rank, Traffic and Sales.
Quality is what matters most to top search sites like Google and Yahoo. They want quality results for their searchers. And this ultimately translates into YOU providing quality to them.
Read that again. It is important to understand. As a webmaster, quality is something you need to be very concerned with.
There are two specific areas where quality really counts...
a) Quality of Content AT your Website b) Quality of Links TO Your Website.
Let's talk about this in a bit of detail.
Quality Content AT Your Site
A quality website with solid, reliable and substantial content will always do better than sites trying to "trick" their way to good ranking. That's why major search sites have such a huge market share -- they provide quality search results. Websites that qualify as such are usually first sites presented in their search results.
There is no secret to this. And providing quality content takes work. It can be done by writing articles like this. And you can do it by writing articles for your niche market. If your site focuses on collectibles, then write an article about a specific collectible every week. In a year you will have 52 keyword-rich web pages (or more) that will help grow traffic to your website. In two years you'll have 100+. And this content is cornerstone of your website.
Let's face it, nearly ALL people online are here to get information. Not many people want to pay for it either. After all, you can find in-depth information on any subject imaginable. Sure, you sometimes have to pay for best quality information, but if you surf long enough you can get to truth of any subject using World Wide Web.
If you are a website owner, paragraphs above translate into a simple strategy. Feed search engines that provide this valuable content. Create content for your niche market. Grow a website that is information rich and visitors will come. It may take time but they will come.
Of course, there are ways that you can move process along a bit. The best way is to show search engines what your content is about and how important it is. This is done by building...
Quality Links TO Your Site
You may have heard of importance of getting other sites to link to yours. So let's cover this a bit. Yes, getting lots of links coming to your site is important. But QUALITY of those links is even more important.
When it comes to actual links, quality is measured primarily by these two factor...
a. What sites link to your site b. Exactly how they link to you
The first one is toughest nut to crack. Getting quality sites to link to yours is not easy. Naturally, first step is to have a quality site yourself. More proof of my advice above. And once you have a quality site in place, you can start building links to it. First let’s discuss exactly how sites link to you.
For sure, text links seem to be better than banner links. And text links filled with your best keywords are better than any old text link.
For instance...
If you were trying to build links to your, let's say... fishing related site, how other sites display links to yours is extremely important. To decide what you want those links to say, you need to research keywords a bit. The word "fishing", would seem obvious but it undoubtedly has a ton of competition. So a better idea is to find more specific words. You can do that by entering your main keyword into tool at www.WordTracker.com or at Overture's keyword suggestion tool. And you'll get a list of related keywords. This particular test showed me that keywords "fishing tackle" or "fishing lure" get quite a bit of searching as well. So those would be a better choice of keywords to use in your incoming links.
