Getting your Website Noticed
Why isn't my site appearing in Search Engines?
You've built your site and proudly published it. You know that 'Blunt & Son Widget Makers of Brighton' is a unique company name. So why isn't it on the first page of Google - or Yahoo or MSN or any of the Search Engines?
Don't worry - this is entirely usual.
Getting placed on the first page of any search engine is not a simple business. Position and ranking on Google, for example, is determined by complex algorithms which are not really known outside of the company.
Your positioning in a search engine is dependant on the content of your website, the searches done for the keywords contained in your site, the number of incoming links you have to your site (and the importance of those sites linking to yours), and finally the age of your site. More mature sites, that is those over 7 or 8 months old, will have much higher listings than new sites.
If, for example, your site is a local business, you may find that other local business directories will always show above you in the search engine results when people search for you by name. This is very annoying, but these business directories have higher page rank and importance than yours - the only thing you can do is to work and develop your site, attracting more visitors and incoming links until your site also improves in page rank. Concentrate on improving your performance on other keywords, and becoming a popular site which people will end up finding by subject matter.
You've built your site and proudly published it. You know that 'Blunt & Son Widget Makers of Brighton' is a unique company name. So why isn't it on the first page of Google - or Yahoo or MSN or any of the Search Engines?
Don't worry - this is entirely usual.
Getting placed on the first page of any search engine is not a simple business. Position and ranking on Google, for example, is determined by complex algorithms which are not really known outside of the company.
Your positioning in a search engine is dependant on the content of your website, the searches done for the keywords contained in your site, the number of incoming links you have to your site (and the importance of those sites linking to yours), and finally the age of your site. More mature sites, that is those over 7 or 8 months old, will have much higher listings than new sites.
If, for example, your site is a local business, you may find that other local business directories will always show above you in the search engine results when people search for you by name. This is very annoying, but these business directories have higher page rank and importance than yours - the only thing you can do is to work and develop your site, attracting more visitors and incoming links until your site also improves in page rank. Concentrate on improving your performance on other keywords, and becoming a popular site which people will end up finding by subject matter.
So what can you do to improve your Search Engine Performance?
Use Search Engine Optimisation techniques.
Use Keywords which do not have a lot of competition
Expand and improve on the content of your site. If you are stuck for ideas use the mind mapping approach discussed in the design section of this site.
Exchange links with other reputable sites. But beware of joining Link Farms - search engines do not take much notice of the number of links you have, but of the importance of those links. If a site with a very high page rank links to yours it raises the importance of your site.
Of course, in the beginning you may not get high ranking sites to want to link to you, but nothing is achieved unless you ASK. Although a boring part of web development, you should put aside time each week to search out appropriate sites to exchange links with, and approach them. Reciprocal link exchange sites can be useful, but only if you can use them sensibly remembering it is quality, not quantity, than counts.
Use Search Engine Optimisation techniques.
Use Keywords which do not have a lot of competition
Expand and improve on the content of your site. If you are stuck for ideas use the mind mapping approach discussed in the design section of this site.
Exchange links with other reputable sites. But beware of joining Link Farms - search engines do not take much notice of the number of links you have, but of the importance of those links. If a site with a very high page rank links to yours it raises the importance of your site.
Of course, in the beginning you may not get high ranking sites to want to link to you, but nothing is achieved unless you ASK. Although a boring part of web development, you should put aside time each week to search out appropriate sites to exchange links with, and approach them. Reciprocal link exchange sites can be useful, but only if you can use them sensibly remembering it is quality, not quantity, than counts.
So how do you get your first traffic?
These are some ideas to get you started!
1. Word of mouth. Don't be shy, tell all your friends and colleagues about the site. You will probably find that 'Uncle Fred is into Widgets - I'll let him know about it!!
2. Go round with a sticker in the back of your car advertising your site.
3. Print off some business cards and leave them where you can.
4. Use your web hosting company's forum to advertise your new site.
5. Consider paying for inclusion in web directories of services (but only if you think the cost is worth it).
6. Remember, Rome was not built in a day, and neither are successful websites. You will need to wait a number of months before seeing any real traffic - so be patient!
These are some ideas to get you started!
1. Word of mouth. Don't be shy, tell all your friends and colleagues about the site. You will probably find that 'Uncle Fred is into Widgets - I'll let him know about it!!
2. Go round with a sticker in the back of your car advertising your site.
3. Print off some business cards and leave them where you can.
4. Use your web hosting company's forum to advertise your new site.
5. Consider paying for inclusion in web directories of services (but only if you think the cost is worth it).
6. Remember, Rome was not built in a day, and neither are successful websites. You will need to wait a number of months before seeing any real traffic - so be patient!
