Posts Tagged ‘Meta Tags’
Simple Tips on How to Promote Your Website For Free
So you’ve built your site and you’ve told everyone you know about it and where to find it. Now you are ready to tell the rest of the world about your new venture but you’ve got a budget of, oh, nothing. Whatever will you do? You may not know it yet, but advertising on the web can be as costly or as inexpensive as you want. It all just depends on where you go and what strategy you decide to employ.
On the high end, you could opt for banner ad placement on high profile sites such as Myspace and Amazon, but one of the more cost effective solutions can be just as effective. Here are a tips for getting free traffic to your website.
Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization or “SEO” as it is commonly called, means that you are making the proper edits to your website to make it more visible to search engines such as Google and Yahoo. There are many things you can do to your site’s source code that will help improve your ranking such as the inclusion of alt tags on all images, the use of meta tags, and the inclusion of a .txt file to show search engine spiders (programs that index your site to make is searchable) around. This is important and will be one of the first ways you will promote your site for free since most people use search engines to find what they are looking for.
Yahoo Answers
Yahoo Answers is quickly becoming one of the biggest reference sites on the web. If you use your website to promote your product, then you can benefit from answering questions on Yahoo Answers and build your reputation as an expert in your field. It will give you the opportunity to flourish in your environment and entice would-be customers to visit your site and find out more about what you have to offer. You can put a link to your site in your answer or in your profile. If someone reading likes the answer you give and wants to check out your site then you’ve got a customer in the door.
Twitter is a great resource for instant networking. Twitter is a very popular “miniBlog” site which allows you to create a profile with a link to your site. Once you join you can start posting “miniBlogs” at any time. You can use these blogs to ask your readers a question that will engage them and encourage them to visit your site. If you host a blog on your site or you need an opinion for a poll, then Twitter away and find out what people think. In the meantime you will be driving traffic left and right and oh, yeah, it’s FREE!
-By: Scott Brooks
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Top 10 Tips to Guaranteed Targeted Traffic
Increasing targeted traffic to your website is one of the easiest ways to boost your online productivity. Here are the top 10 effective strategies that will help you accomplish that:
1. Optimize Your Website
While SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a full-time career option, you can either hire an expert to do this or follow the suggestions below and get the ball rolling yourself -
a) Select Your Keywords Wisely – Keywords are the phrases people use to search and come to your website, thereafter, hire your services or buy your products. The trick is to find keywords that are highly relevant to what you offer and popular enough that your target audience will use in search engines, but not so competitive that you can’t rank well using them. (Tip: GoodKeywords.com provides a free keyword tool to help you get started. Find your ‘magic’ keywords and use them to build your website content!)
b) Create Your Meta Tags – One of the methods search engines use to evaluate and read your website is known as ‘Meta tags.’ Make sure you include your keywords, website title and description in meta tags in the source code of each of your web pages.
c) Create an SEO Friendly Website – Avoid bandwidth-hogging flash animations, fancy graphics or “alt” tags in HTML for pictures. Not only will this slow down your website’s loading speed, search engines bots will also find it difficult to read, index, and rank your web pages.
d) Get Links to Your Sites – Create a ‘Links’ or ‘Resources’ page and add links to good, relevant websites. This makes search engines think that your site provides valuable information and it should, therefore, appear high in search engine results.
2. Submit Your Website to Search Engines
Don’t wait for search engine robots or spiders to find you. Instead, go ahead and submit your website to major search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN, Dmoz etc. and remember to do this regularly!
3. Use PPC Advertising
The best PPC (Pay-Per-Click) programs are offered by Google and Yahoo respectively, called AdWords and Overture. It’s usually pretty tough getting top rankings in the search engines in a short period of time, but it can be very easy to get on the first page of results quickly enough, with a PPC campaign. A PPC campaign can be started with a very small investment and you retain full control over your budget. You only pay when someone clicks on your ad that takes them to your website.
4. Swap Ads with other Ezines
It’s a good idea to swap ads or links with other ezine publishers in your niche. These can be real ads, testimonials about your niche, or recommendations within the content of an ezine itself. Also, consider buying some ad space in ezine publications in your niche that have a large circulation. Always run an ad for at least 3 consecutive issues in order to get the best results.
5. Give Away Freebies
Everyone loves freebies and people will even come to your site just to check what you are giving away. So keep in mind to include a free eBook, a time bound discount coupon, a prize for every X-th visitor, etc. on your website. You can also partner with other JV (Joint Venture) sites where you can offer free products and get people to your own website. Make sure you capture your visitor’s name and email address using opt-in form so that you could easily follow up with them later. Remember, ‘the money is in the size of your list.’
6. Become a Guru
Other than freebies, people love free advice! So find sites where you’re allowed to answer questions, and then take some time off to provide detailed answers to each one of them. Become an expert in your niche, and with every answer you give or every solution you provide, don’t forget to add your website URL at the end.
7. Participate in Discussion Forums
Participating in forums, blogs, and discussion groups is yet another fantastic idea to drive targeted traffic to your site. Check to see if you can offer any advice or make valuable suggestions in forum threads. Always remember to provide your website URL at the bottom of each post you make. Each forum may have its own set of rules about promoting your website, so make sure you carefully read and follow their terms and conditions to avoid being accused of spamming.
8. Submit Articles
This is actually the most genuine and effective technique to getting targeted traffic to your website. Write articles that come under your niche, embed your website link within, and submit the articles to online article directories. Articles with quality content and information tempt readers to click-thru to your site, in the hope of getting more advice or tips. Once prospects reach your website, they’re also exposed to the products and services you offer – which can sometimes result in many sales for you!
9. Write A Press Release
Write a press release about your business and circulate it in the local media, online news sites and RSS. Be careful not to make it sound like an advertisement, though. For more information about press releases promotion, check out [http://www.prweb.com/pressreleasetips.php]
10. Online Networks
There are many sites today where you can network online. These networks usually have groups which you can belong to and post articles and comments. Some good examples would be Adlandpro.com, Ryze.com, Ecademy.com, Directmatches.com and LinkedIn.com to name a few. They work pretty much the same as discussion forums where you can post your articles, and comments, or discuss general issues with others. Many online networking sites offer you an individual page on the network where you can advertise what you have to offer and include a link to your website.
To conclude, these 10 tips of driving targeted traffic are tried-and-tested, meaning they do work. So put in some hard work and give it time… then watch your traffic grow by leaps and bounds!
-By: Lewis Low
Lewis Low is the founding editor of OnlineBizPromo.com. For more practical online business ideas and work-at-home opportunities, visit his home business directory at http://www.onlinebizpromo.com/business_ideas.htm
SEO Courses – Tips and Techniques to Enhance Visibility
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing a web site to achieve a higher ranking when a search engine looks for web pages based on particular word or phrase. The SEO courses empower you with the wherewithal to successfully set up and run an optimization program.
Who Is These Courses Aimed At?
These are designed for all levels and differ in the content based on who they are aimed at. While a beginner may be offered a basic understanding of SEO principles and techniques, webpage analysis service and other complicated aspects could be the ingredients of the study material for advance learners.
Duration
Though maintaining a website is an ongoing activity, the SEO courses can usually be completed in a week. You would need to spend about 60 minutes each day honing your skills.
Content
Although SEO is a vast and comprehensive training program, the content generally includes tags, ALT, Links, hints, tips and blogs. Here is a brief summary of the areas covered:
Title Tag
There are various tags at the top of a web site’s source code, the most important of them being the title tag. The title tag plays a huge role in the indexing of the site. This is the first thing the search engine looks at to determine the relevance of a particular page. Thus, it always pays to include a keyword in the title tag. An overuse could also put the page in bad light and make it appear as spam.
Meta Tags
There are two Meta tags – the description and the keyword tag. The description tag is important in the fact that it is listed in the search result and is what users read.
Heading Tags
Proper use of these tags helps the visitors know where the major key points of your copy are. The heading tags give priority to the content and help index the website.
Alt Tags
These tags help you place more relevant text on your page along with the image. This again comes handy when the search engine indexes the site.
Link Building
This is one of the more explicit ways to attract web traffic. There are many reputed directory sites which if linked to your own, can boost user response. With relevant content, you can generate links with the external pages and see your page ranking rise.
Social Media
Social networking has come of age in recent times. People get hooked on to these sites for hours. The media can thus lend a helping hand to your website promotion campaign. If you have a good network going and write interesting posts, more often than not your friends will submit to those posts. This gets noticed in the shared environment, resulting in enhanced traffic.
Relevant Content
Everything else discussed, there is nothing as crucial as having the appropriate content on board. You can have all the tags in order but if the content is not relevant to the defined keywords, everything goes down the drain.
About 90% of the web traffic navigates through search engines. SEO courses, as such, can go a long way in enhancing the performance of your website.
-By: Justin Cecilia
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing a web site to achieve a higher ranking when a search engine looks for web pages based on particular word or phrase. The SEO courses empower you with the wherewithal to successfully set up and run an optimization program.
