12 important tips for announcing
your site the right way!
Be everywhere in a flash!
(Note: many of these tips are based upon the ideas
of Joseph Bastien at Joe's WebSite Designs )
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each month!!
Tip #1
HAVE TEXT ON YOUR HOME PAGE
Search engines catalog the text read from the various home pages the engines visit. If
a page lacks descriptive text, then there is little chance that page will come up in the
results of a search engine query. It's not enough for that text to be in graphics. It must
be HTML text. Some search engines will catalog ALT text and text in comment and meta tags.
To be safe, a straight HTML description is recommended.
For more see Consulting.
Tip #2
PICK MEANINGFUL KEYWORDS
Focus on the two or three keywords that you think are most crucial to your site, then
ensure those words are both in your title and mentioned early on your web page. Generally,
most people will already have those words present on their pages but may not also have
them in page titles.
Tip #3
MORE KEYWORDS
Keep in mind that the keywords you consider crucial may not be exactly what users
enter. The lack of success with some search engines does not mean that the site isn't
being found. Many people find the site by entering more words. For example, if you had a
web site centered on "Essex County", others might go to a search engine and
enter words such as "Essex County Ontario" or "Essex County Web." The
addition of just one extra word can suddenly make a site appear more relevant, and it can
be impossible to anticipate what that word will be. The best bet is to focus on your
chosen keywords but to also have a complete description. These keywords should be in the
text of your site and in the Meta tags. You can also use these same keywords when you
submit your own site to search engines.
Tip #4
HAVE LINKS TO INSIDE PAGES
If there are no links to inside pages from the home page, it seems that some search
engines will not fully catalog a site. Unfortunately, the most descriptive, relevant pages
that are often inside pages rather than the home page. You can also try sending search
engines directly to your lower levels, if they don't ordinarily go there.
Tip #5
THE META TAG
Meta tags will help you control your site's description in engines that support them.
They will NOT guarantee that your site appears first. Adding some meta description code is
not a magic bullet that cures your site of dismal rankings, but you should still do it.
O.K.. But what is a meta tag?
A meta tag gives a spider specific information, such as keywords or site summaries,
about a site. In Web lingo, meta tags are defined as "information about
information."
These tags are part of the HTML code. They stay behind the scenes -- the end user never
sees them. A Web author may surround sentences, even whole paragraphs, with these tags.
Certain spiders then read the information in the tags as a way to help them index the
site.
Can you give me an example?
Here are two common examples of Meta tags that you would put in the header of your HTML
document:
<META NAME="description" CONTENT="Automotive Web USA is the Automotive
Industries Internet Publishing Service. Use AWUSA to find out who's who in the Automotive
Industry! See how easy and lucrative it is to advertise your auto products and services on
the Information Superhighway.">
<META NAME="keywords" CONTENT= "autos,cars,for sale,services,web
hosting,web design,classifieds,dealerships,manufacturers.">
Tip #6
SUBMIT TO THE "BIG 5"
After you have done all the right things with text, keywords, Meta tags, etc. submit
yourself to the following search engines. 95% of all links come from these locations:
- Yahoo
- Excite
- Lycos
- Alta Vista
- Infoseek
Or simply join Joe's WebSite Designs family right now and be submitted not only
to the "Big 5" but, the "Top 500" starting
@ a one time fee of only $59.99
Tip #7
SWAP LINKS
Swap links with other sites! First place a number of related links on your site, and
then contact those sites asking for a reciprocal link. You'd be surprised how many people
are willing to do this. If they're really cooperative ask if you can include a graphic or
banner with the link! Better yet have a page on your site exclusively for this purpose,
call it "Hot Links". Want to trade links with this site?
 E-mail us
We will visit your sites content and let you know if you qualify to be listed in our
"Hot Links" page.
Tip #8
THE LINK EXCHANGE
If you're really adventurous, join the "Link Exchange", a free banner
exchange program linking sites all over the world. They have some quirky rules, and it can
take a lot of energy, but the results are worth it! Simply visit (write this down)
www.linkexchange.com
Tip #9
BE PERSISTENT
Once you are in an engine, check your site at least once a week. Strange things happen.
Pages disappear from catalogs. Links go screwy. Watch for trouble, and resubmit if you
spot it. Or simply join Joe's WebSite Designs family right now
and receive free reports telling you where you are located in each search engine
Tip #10
RE-SUBMIT REGULARLY
Many engines are now visiting sites on a schedule developed from site changes. The
engines have grown smart enough to realize some sites only change content once or twice a
year, so they don't visit regularly. Resubmitting every month or two will ensure that your
site's content is kept current. Join Joe's WebSite Designs family right now and
automatically be re-submitted every 99 days. Find out more here.
Tip #11
HAVE PATIENCE
Some search engines take weeks or months before they update their catalogs. They may be
"crawling" each night, but those new findings aren't available to the public
until the catalogs are updated. For example, in mid-April 1996, WebCrawler's catalog only
listed finds through Feb. 1996. The same seemed true for Alta Vista. On the other hand,
Excite's catalog consistently reflected changes soon after they were made, an indication
that the catalog is constantly updated. However, recent reports reflect that they too are
slowing down considerably due to the massive volume of submissions.
Tip #12
DON'T SPAM OR TRY TO "BEAT" THE SYSTEM THROUGH ABUSE.
For one thing, spamming doesn't seem to work with every search engine. Ethically, the
content of most web pages ought to be enough for search engines to determine relevancy
without Webmasters having to resort to repeating keywords for no reason other than to try
and "beat" other web pages. The stakes will simply keep rising, and users will
also begin to hate sites that undertake these measures. Efforts would be better spent on
networking, link exchanges and alternative forms of publicity.
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