Search Engine Guide

What to Expect - Website Marketing:

Most new website owners build a site under the hope that it will drive new clients to their business, specifically by way of search engines like Google. While it is certainly possible to get to this point, it's important to realize that this will not happen right away, and more importantly, that it won't happen automatically on its own. You need to do more than simply build a website in order to attract online customers. Your website is like a physical studio - you can move in, but no one will find you if you don't advertise.

In the beginning, a website's primary purpose is as a marketing tool. Additionally, for artists, it is the quickest method of showing your portfolio to clients. To get to the point where your website steps beyond this purpose and becomes it's own agent of business, you need to engage in marketing, networking, and SEO (Search Engine Optimization). This in turn will eventually catch the interest of the search engines. This may seem like a backward concept - shouldn't the search engines be catching the interest of potential clients for you? Eventually, yes, but in the beginning, the opposite is true - you need to woo the search engines.

Interest and activity on your website are what attract the search engines. This interest is driven by you, through your marketing efforts: properly preparing your site with well-researched and pertinent keywords, getting other websites in your same field to link to you, engaging in Pay Per Click Advertising, and getting involved in the online community. If it is within your budget, it is highly recommended that you hire a professional SEO expert to help you. If you do this well, the engines will begin to take notice and start to rank your site better.

To make sense of this, it's key to remember what a search engine's primary purpose is. They are in the business of providing relevant information to their clients. Their clients are those people who are conducting searches. Their clients are not website owners (unless you directly advertise with the engine, see below). This is an critical distinction, because the engines are primarily interested in showing websites that they feel provide good, solid, relevant information that their searchers want to see. It is your responsability to make sure that your website provides this kind of information and experience.

We've compiled a primer to get you started. It is not an exhaustive list of search engine techniques, but should cover the basics:

Steps to getting Listed with the search engines

Research Your Keywords

What would someone type into a search engine if they wanted to find you? What if they are not looking for you in particular, but want to find someone who offers the services you offer? It's important to use the most commonly used search terms to improve your chances of being found online. Luckily, you don't need to guess - you can research keyword popularity among search engine users at these websites:

Check Keyword Difficulty

Make a list of keywords that you want to be listed for, then narrow it down to 25, listing the most important ones first. Focus on key phrases rather than single keywords - there is less competition for "medical illustrator" than there is for "illustration".

Enter Text in Text Wizard

Start writing the copy for your website, liberally peppering it with your list of important keywords and phrases. Greater emphasis is placed on text located higher on the page so place your important search keywords and key phrases in the first paragraphs. Copy writing is a vital step - the engines need to know what your site is about if you want them to list your website. The copy should make generous use of keywords, but also be natural and readable. After all, your clients will be reading it too, not just the engines.

How to Write Copy for Websites

Title Your Pages

Place a title on each of the pages of your website. This is a crucial step, for a number of reasons. Just as a librarian would locate a book based on its title, a search engine will locate a website based on its page title. Therefore, your title should include the keywords you want to be found for.

The title is used by the engines when it lists your site in a query result. The title will show up as the clickable link in the list of results. Therefore make it interesting, descriptive and compelling in order to draw visitors to your site.

Each page should have its own title accurately reflecting the content on the page. The more closely related the page title and page content are, the better the engines will respond. This also lets the engines know that all your pages have unique content and should be indexed individually.

Search Engine Meta Tags

Although not as important as the body copy and Page Title, you should enter a description and keywords into your Search Engine Tags section. Not all engines will use this information, but its good to have it there for those that do.

Your space for a Description is limited to two or three sentences so make them count. Some search engines will use the Description beneath the clickable title when they list your website, so this is one more chance to draw people to the website.

Search Engine Submission

New websites may benefit from a search engine submission. A submission alerts the engines to your new presence on the web. This is not a placement service - it doesn't place your website on the engines. Rather, it lets the engines know that a new site exists. This may get you into their system sooner than if you were to wait for them to find you on their own. A single submission when the site is first launched should be sufficient.

SiteDesignWorks Search Engine Submission includes all the major search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN, plus hundreds more. Though these smaller engines may not get as much traffic as their larger cousins, additional incoming links may help get more traffic.

Get Linked Up

After you've prepared and submitted your website, it's time to start promoting it. The most important thing you can do is get other websites to link to yours. The best links come from websites that are engaged in a similar or related type of business. This is called a "relevant link", and search engines view relevant links as an indication that you are a legitimate business, which other businesses or individuals in your field would recommend. It's like a Vote in your favor.

In addition to relevancy, you also want links from well ranked websites. Naturally, the engines place more importance on links from high ranking websites than they do from unknown websites. As an added bonus, when the other site gets traffic, there is the added chance that one of their visitors will click on your link and come visit your site too.

You probably already know many people in your business who would be willing to exchange links with you. You may also be a member of an online community such as group portfolio websites, online galleries, artist associations, and other places where you can add a link to your website. If you aren't already a member of these other websites, it may be the time to sign up.

Finally, as tempting as it may be, do not engage in the large link trading schemes that people will try to sell to you to boost your search engine rank. More is not necessarily better. You want links from good websites that are related to the same subject you yourself want to be listed for.

Advice about Building Links

Where to Build Links

Get Listed with a Directory

Submit your website to established directories such as Business.com, JoeAnt, Best of the Web, GoGuides, UncoverTheNet, Ezilon, DMOZ. Use the ISEdb to find niche directories. Many niche directories are part of associations which you can join.

These directories are reviewed by humans, not computers, so read their guidelines carefully before submitting your website. Don't include marketing hype in your description. Editors rarely like this. Be factual and make good use of your keywords.

Of special note is the Yahoo! Directory. An annual fee of $299 will get you listed for one year in their commercial directory. This may help your site get listed more quickly by the crawler-based engines like Google, who primarily use a website's incoming links to determine how they will list a website in their own index. Having a Yahoo link can be a great boon.

SearchEngineGuide on Directories

Paid Advertising

You might consider trying out paid advertising on the major search engine such as Google's Adwords or Yahoo/MSN's Overture. It is often helpful to use their programs in the beginning if you want a faster listing, even if only for a limited amount of time to get things started. Some people cancel their paid advertising once their site begins showing well on the free organic indexes, while others always keep their paid advertising active for added traffic.

For more information visit Google Adwords and Overture.

PPC and SEO

Get Involved - Social Networking

The online community is just that - a community. Reputation is a valuable commodity and if nurtured, will drive traffic to your website. Get involved with the Blogs, Forums and other Social Media Marketing (SMM) avenues available to you, especially those related to your industry - most are Free and Easy To Use. As you contribute to the conversations, people will grow to trust you and be more inclined to give you their business.

SMMs to Consider:

Blogger - Google's free online blogging software. It enjoys an established community and is easy to use. A great place to start your own Blogging adventure.
FaceBook - A very popular social networking community.
Twitter - Real Time online communication tool with extensive tools and features.
LinkedIn - One of the foremost professional networking sites.
MySpace - One of the first social networking communities.
Flickr - A picture sharing network.
Digg - Visitors vote on favorite stories. Top billing on Digg can direct a remarkable amount of traffic to a website.
Reddit - Similar to Digg. Also very popular.
StumbleUpon - Visitors vote on favorite websites (Social Bookmarking).
YouTube - A video sharing network.
Craigslist - Top-Ranked forum for all sorts of things including advertisements for services and products.
del.icio.us - Very popular Social Bookmarking community - others online can view your Bookmarks or Favorites.
Imeem - A music sharing network.

Resources:

Blogs:

Blogging is an increasingly popular tool for Social Networking. It gives you the opportunity to converse with your visitors in a more immediate and personal manner. You are able to respond to feedback, get new ideas for improving your services directly from your clientele, and keep your website current. New content on the site also encourages repeat visitation.

Studies show that this open style of communication fosters trust, as well as giving you the opportunity to display convincing Testimonials, straight from your visitors. In this environment, even a stray negative review can be a positive thing if handled professionally, since one negative review among many great reviews only makes your reviews seem more genuine. This can often have the effect of encouraging, rather than discouraging, business.

However, blogging is not for everyone. It takes regular contributions to attract a readership, which can be time consuming. It also exposes you to more public scrutiny than you may be looking for.

Tips on Blogging:

Follow the Blog's etiquette and rules.
If the Blog allows, include your website address in your Signature.
Be professional but also be yourself. Having a "Voice" is important.
Set aside time for regular posts and contributions. Many people will visit a Blog every week, or even daily.
If you have an option to add a Profile, use it. Include meaty keywords. They can get picked up in Search Engine Queries and are very important. Be sure to link back to your own website if allowed.
Don't spend your time just talking about yourself. This may be the most important piece of advice, yet it is a common mistake for first time Bloggers. Your readers will stay interested if you provide them with pertinent information that they can apply to their own lives. Give them a reason to visit your blog. Make your posts informative, tip oriented, educational, interesting, clever or amusing. Think of your Blog like a weekly article in a Newspaper or Magazine. The reader must find something that interests them or relates to them personally. Think about what would interest you. For example, a photographer might talk about a great new lens or camera on the market, or a foolproof technique to capture sunsets. Apply this concept to every post, and you may find your Blog becomes the go-to place for those in your industry.
More Advice About Blogging

Educate Yourself

You do not need to be an expert, but you should be familiar with general search engine trends. Consider signing up for an SEO (Search Engine Optimization) email Newsletter for monthly tips and tricks. Some good ones include Search Engine Guide, eMarketer, and HighRankings.

Hire a Guru - Professional SEO Services

If you don't seem to be getting the listing that you like, don't have the time needed to devote yourself to a high ranking, or if you were completely lost after reading the first few paragraphs in our Primer, then it may be time to consider hiring an SEO professional. While it is possible to successfully market a website on your own, it takes research and determination. In the ever-changing and complex world of search engines and the Internet, having a professional SEO expert on your side may be an investment worth making.

Much like a financial consultant, a good SEO Marketing Company will constantly keep up with the tricks of the trade and the latest trends, using finesse and insight to navigate the complex and competitive online marketing industry. Ideally your SEO professional should have a few top ranking sites in their portfolio. Get referrals!

SEO Firms

We sometimes get positive feedback from our clients about certain SEO companies that they have used. While SiteDesignWorks does not certify or endorse the use of any particular SEO company, we have included our clients' recommendations below. We highly recommend that you perform your own investigation and interviews before settling on an SEO company - they vary widely in cost, effectiveness, and customer service:

Technology Therapy
Search Summit
Register Everywhere
Pole Position Marketing

Realistic Expectations

Lastly, be realistic in your expectations. It's not about being in the top ten, competing with the largest corporations and design firms. It's about improvements - if your site is doing better than it was before, you're succeeding. Jennifer Laycock at SEG wrote a great article about keeping things in perspective:

Focus on Improvement, not Domination