Getting more visitors to your web site means, quite simply, getting good search engine positioning. And, if it's all about search engines, it's all about Google.

Google has become the most dominant search engine in the world. Here are a few statistics. Google's index contains over four and one half-billion web pages and they are adding more every day. They perform over 200 million individual searches each day and Google search engines are visited by 82 million different people each month. Impressed, there's even more. Google provides search data to AOL, AT&T Worldnet, Compuserve, Earthlink, Go.com, iWon.com, Lycos and Netscape. They account for over 60% of all traffic that goes to web sites through search engines. In addition, other search engines are beginning to quietly partner with Google to gain their technology.

If you optimize your web site for Google, you are going to be in pretty good shape with the other search engines like MSN and Yahoo.

While Google technology is proprietary and closely guarded, it is based on two concepts. The relevance of your web site to the search query and importance of your site based on Google's criteria. This primarily involves links to your site's web pages from other pages and other sites and the quantity and most importantly quality of the content on your web site.

Linking is a very big deal to the Google ranking algorithms (the complicated mathematical formulas search engines use to rank queries). More on this later. To improve your web site's relevance and importance, it is necessary to pay attention to terms like Key Words, Page Ranking, Page Rank and Page Title.

Web designers hate to hear this, but without good copy that carefully describes who you are and what your site offers, you are out of the search engine loop. The automated web programs that Google sends to visit your web site, called Google bots, simply can't read images. They only collect information from the text on your web pages. You've probably visited web sites that offer a fancy multimedia opening page that you can skip and go to the home page. The Google spiders not only skip it, they go to the next web site and never consider anything from that site. As far as Google is concerned, it simply doesn't exist.

Key words are the foundation of a successfully optimized web page. A key word is a word or short phrase that someone enters into a search engine. The better the key words and phrases on your site match, the higher your web site will appear on the search results. Where you appear is called Page Ranking. Think about your web searching experiences. How many times have you gone to the 2nd, 3rd or even 4th page? If your Page Ranking for a specific search is over 30, the chances are slim to none that anyone will click on the link to your web site. That's why key words are so important.

So how do you find and use good key words? Key words and phrases should be developed before you write the copy for your web site. First, write down the answers to these important questions about your site.

Exactly, what do you offer? What makes you different from your competitors? Do you have a specific marketing niche? Specifically, what is that niche? How will visitors benefit from your web site?

Think like a customer. What are they looking for? What problems do they have that you can solve with your products or services? What are your solutions to those problems? Take lots of time with this exercise, as the answers to these questions will form the building blocks for your key words. Do not use buzzwords, jargon that relates to what you do or marketing words and phrases. Again, think like your customers!

Once you have done that, there is a terrific little tool you can use to formulate and test your key words. It's called Wordtracker and can be found at www.wordtracker.com.

Wordtracker is an on-line tool that finds every possible variation of search phrases, including misspellings that people have typed into search queries. It will also tell you how many times these words have actually been used in search engine queries. It also tells you how many web sites that offer similar products and services use these words. Wordtracker is not difficult to use, but does take some getting used to. Before spending any money, take the tour and try the free trial. The free trial is really for understanding how Wordtracker works. It only uses information from a few minor search engines. If you want Google, you must sign up for the full version. Get comfortable first.

Another good thing about Wordtracker is that you can purchase usage for a specific period of time. If you know what you are doing, are prepared and only interested in a single web site, a day's usage is well under $10.00. A week's subscription is well under $30.00. They even have per day subscriptions if you only need Wordtracker for a quick project.

Wordtracker is one of those great little Internet secrets. It is the choice of search engines and web site optimizing companies. Use it and watch your traffic increase.

Key words are never a "one and done" proposition. You should be constantly reviewing your site for changes and adding new words to your copy. Web site changes are also a positive to the robots and spiders who don't like to see static web sites. Check your web statistics. Look for the key word visitors used to find your site. You can find new words and adjust or validate your Wordtracker results.

What about Meta Tags? They are still there, but apparently not to the Google bots. They look for the actual copy on the web pages themselves. However, it doesn't hurt to add key words and phrases to the Meta Tag code.

After a little work and a few false starts, you have produced your key words and phrases. Now, where do they go? Each web page needs to be optimized. Plan on using one or two key word phrases per page. If possible, use them more than once. Use both the first and second choice phrases on your home page. As you get into the web site, use the phrases that pertain more specifically to the actual page. Use your top phrase on the contact us, about us and the other not so relevant pages on your web site.

A last, but very important point on the placement of key words and phrases. Put them in the title of every web page. Again, use the same rules as entering copy, but make sure you have key words and phrases on the title of every page. It's a very big deal. The page title appears in blue bar at the very top of your Internet browser. The title is followed by the name of the browser you are using. Look for them. The good ones are chocked full of key words. Others just present the name of the web site, which is the default. They also defaulted a good Google page ranking.

Page ranking is the actual placement of your web site on a search engine's results page. Page titles that contain good key words and quantitative copy help contribute to a good page ranking. Think about it, do you ever go past a page or two when you do a web search? Page ranking should not be confused with Page Rank, which deals more with page content and linking.

A quick word about Google's Page Rank. While it is an extremely important part of the Google algorithm, Google no longer provides an updated page rank on its Google bar add on to a browser. Therefore, it is now impossible to obtain a current page rank for your web site. That's probably not a bad thing as what really counts is your search engine positioning.

Now that you are off to a good start, please understand that web pages need much more than just good key words. It may sound basic, but your site must contain interesting and well designed pages that people will find both interesting and enjoyable. Copy and good basic design is far more important than flash. The Internet is, first and foremost, an information source. Put (post) as much information as you can that pertains to your business on your web site. Here's a success story.

A year ago, I suggested adding more information to one of my hotel client's web sites. We posted banquet menus, meeting and wedding packages, conference room layouts and restaurant information. In three days their Google Page rank went from 3 to 5. What's really interesting is that the hotel decided not to have a reciprocal linking program, so it was content alone that improved their page rank. Right after that Google stopped updating their page rank, but it was great to see that huge jump.

Did it help the hotel? They are a Best Western property. Now over 50% of their business is booked through the sales office.

Make sure you take time and plan your site. Think about your own browsing experiences. How many times have you visited a site that was so bloated with all sorts of different things that you didn't really see anything, quickly became confused and quickly left. Don't try to sell everything on your home page. The home page must sell the concept of what you are about and convey the image of a responsible well run organization. The Internet version of "You got me at hello" is "You got me at the home page". If visitors like what they read and see and if your site is well organized and easily followed, they will spend more time and return more often.

After good key words and phrases, getting other web sites to link to your site is extremely important. It's so important that you should probably spend at least an hour each week looking for and exchanging links. Google loves links. To them, it signifies importance. If lots of web sites link to your site, you must have something important to offer and, therefore, will become more important to Google and the other search engines.

Since linking is important to everybody, most web site operators are interested in exchanging web site links. This is called reciprocal linking. Reciprocal linking is an important part of the Google Page Rank. Page Rank is one way Google establishes the importance of your web site. They use a patented algorithm which looks at both the quality and quantity of the links that go to a page on your site. These are both internal and external links.

Look for web sites that have something in common with yours, but aren't direct competitors. Do a Google search on some of your key word phrases and see what comes up. Look in places like Yahoo for sites that are in similar categories. Yahoo lists thousands of web sites in more categories than you even want or need to know about. Get your lists of prospects and then check them out. Visit their web sites. See if they have a links page. Make sure they are the kind of operation with whom you want to associate. If they are, send them an e-mail and inquire about a reciprocal link. If they are amenable, send them the html of your link. It's easy to do.

The secret to a good linking strategy is text links. Don't make your web site address the link people and the search engine "bots" see when they visit your link. Hide the address in the html code and use your key words. This way your important key words, that are related to your site appear in more and more places.

Here is the code for the link we are presently using.

<a href="http://www.innstuff.com" target="_blank" <strong>Hotel Supplies</strong></a>INNstuff.com offers hotel supplies specializing in printed materials for all hotel departments. Great Pricing and Free Shipping.

This is what the link looks like when viewed on-line.

Hotel Supplies - INNstuff.com offers hotel supplies specializing in printed materials for all hotel departments. Great Pricing and Free Shipping.

Clicking on Hotel Supplies takes you to www.innstuff.com.
Hotel Supplies is our main key phrase. Notice the brief description using secondary key words. .

You may also submit your site to various directories for linking purposes. Some are free, others charge a placement fee. Check out the Google and Yahoo directories. Also, try to get listed with the ODP (Open Directory Project). ODP, also known as DMOZ is important and free. However, not everyone is accepted and you must be very careful to submit your application correctly. To begin the process go to http://dmoz.org/add.html . Make sure you read the submission guidelines carefully and follow each and every step to the letter. ODP provides directory listings to Google, AOL, Ask Jeeves, Netscape and Hotbot to name a few. It's a great way to get your name out.

Do not, under any circumstances, submit your web site to Link Farms and FFA (Free for all) sites. You may have seen these or received e-mails from them promising you thousands of businesses that will link to your web site. They are simply pages and pages of links and some are of a very scrupulous nature. You simply don't want to be associated with these types of operations.

I recommend that you try every free link opportunity before you start paying for linking listings. If you are prepared to put in the time, you can get good results without spending a dime. Linking programs are a lot like work. Up until recently, there were no real short cuts. It isn't difficult to install an effective linking program, it just takes time.

This is also a good thing from Google's standpoint. They feel that a web site has legitimacy if their reciprocal links are developed over time. Google does not like to see a web site suddenly have 500 new links pointing its way. In fact, I believe there is a Google penalty for that type of linking strategy. A better plan is to take 10-15 minutes each day and work on your link exchange.

We have recently found an excellent web site that can help you with reciprocal linking, and it's free. www.linkexchange.com is an on-line community of people who want to exchange links. After signing up, you simply browse through their data base and select potential linking partners. E-mails are automatically generated and the process is extremely well automated. You can send up to 5 link exchange requests each day for free. If you want to do more, there is a very small membership fee. Link Exchange is a great way to exchange links.

If you do a good job with key words and linking, you are off to a very good start. Your web page will be optimized better than most of your competitors. Creating and operating a good web site isn't that difficult as long as you follow a few simple rules and, most importantly, keep at it. It's a never ending process that can bring in great rewards.

If you have any questions or comments about this article, please let us know by sending an e-mail to feedback@innstuff.com.

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