Site promotion
It can be hard work getting your web site noticed - and visited - by the world. Site promotion is a never-ending process, and includes more than just simple search engine submission, but good site design helps all round.
Not all websites cry out for popularity - for example, your site may be an extranet, restricted to a chosen user group, who have passworded access - but, in the majority of cases, you will want as many people in the world to know all about your site. And this means, among other things, being visible on the main search engines and acquiring links from other sites. It also helps to remember that 'old' media are still very much alive and kicking.
Albedo is not a PR and marketing company - and we, emphatically, are not search engine optimisers. But we have gained a great deal of experience over the years in this area and are ready to offer any assistance you may need. It rather helps that we design sites that are easily indexable by search engines, too...
Search engines
Search engines are often confused with web directories. The distinction is that directories, like Yahoo or the Open Directory, are dependent on human judgement as to the inclusion and placement of site links.
A true search engine, like Google, is mostly automated - it will scan your site automatically using a piece of robotic software known as a spider or crawler, follow links, and haul all the material back to home base for indexing. Once in the index, users can search for keywords or phrases in your material. But always remember that you may be competing with thousands of other sites for that juicy phrase that is all-important in your industry.
At Albedo, we always submit sites we have built to the major search engines once they are launched. This task has become less onerous in recent years, as about four engines fulfil most searches, while a few years ago there would be seven or eight to consider. And more than 50 percent of searches run via Google. This situation will, however, probably not last, so vigilance is the keyword.
Search engine optimisation
A minor industry has grown up on the offering 'search engine optimisation' - SEO companies. Such firms will offer - for a price - to remake and rewrite your site to gain a higher ranking for the phrases you value. Beware, for while many of these firms are honest enough, others may simply be opportunists selling little more than internet 'snake oil'. If you see an SEO offering guaranteed placement in Google's Top Ten - don't go there. No-one can guarantee this - except possibly Google themselves. And some of these companies may offer 'improvements' that will actually get your site barred by Google and others. It is best to avoid trying to trick search engine spiders - eventually the search engines pick up on these clever little games and you may suffer a ranking penalty or get banned entirely.
But, having said that, there is plenty that can be done to improve your status from day one. For one thing, it helps if you have built the site correctly from the start. Make sure there's lots of content, make sure the content is all linked up - having a sitemap helps here - and make sure that the site is coded properly so that the search engine spiders have a clean run. If you are using an inaccessible - and barely usable - technology like Flash, you will need to provide a proper HTML version too, otherwise you will be ignored by the search engines. The key thing to remember is that, if your site is usable and accessible by humans, the chances are that the search engines will be happy with it too.
Code and content
Making a site search engine friendly means paying close attention to many code elements such as: the title line; headings; picture captions (ALTs); links; bullet points; and sometimes keyword lists (META tags). But the best code in the world cannot compensate for poorly written copy.
Sadly, we do not possess an encyclopedic knowledge of every industry sector on the planet, so we may not be able to help much with the initial construction of your site content. You know - to succeed, you must know - your market. However, we can critique supplied content as to its efficacy on the internet. Some things are obvious - for example, are the key phrases you wish to be found on actually included on the site? But it is also important to look at where and how often they are present.
Finally, search engine success can be elusive - however, remember that persistence pays off.
Directories and links
But search engines are only part of the story. Rather than worry about that elusive search phrase, it may be better to spend your time getting other sites to link to you. Not only do you get the benefit of the visits from those sites, but search engines will rate your site more highly if it is linked to by other (legitimate) sites. And the more authoritative those sites are, the better.
First on the list are the big directories, like the aforementioned Yahoo and Open Directory. It isn't always easy to get listed by these but, once again, persistence can pay off. Secondly, more focused directories are definitely worth submitting to - these may be localised by geographical area, or they may be organised by industrial sector, but in any case, these may prove to be even more worthwhile than the big lists as they offer users a more focused search.
You may also wish to exchange reciprocal links with other sites - but be careful here. Make sure that the two sites are relevant to each other and do not submit to a 'link farm'. Link farms are nothing more than long lists of links which, site owners hope, will boost their rankings with the main search engines. They don't. The engines are aware of the 'link farm' scam, and you may find your site penalised if such a site links to it.
And we haven't yet mentioned paid advertising or the provision of downloads and other site freebies, but these are whole topics in their own right. Suffice it to say for now, that free (or cheap - they do take time to get right) methods of increasing site popularity should be dealt with first.
'Old' media
What did people do before before the internet came along? Well, the same as they should do now, actually - which is to make use of all the media at their disposal (and within their budget), so think about how you may make yourself visible in print, on TV, on radio...
It is easy for your site to get lost on the web, particularly if the search engines will not cooperate, but traditional media can command much more of the reader's, listener's or viewer's attention. Advertising on radio and TV may, of course, be a costly option, but print advertising, especially in trade journals, can be relatively inexpensive.
Better still, try and do a few newsworthy things and send out regular press releases (and not just via email - paper is more likely to be read), particularly to trade journals, who are frequently starved of stories to fill their news pages. This is free advertising at its best.
And then there are trade shows and conferences... But, in any case, the message is that internet 'e-marketing' is - in most cases anyway - a supplement to, not a substitute for, traditional PR and marketing.
