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Search Engine Placement

Eye of Newt & Mummy Dust

Sometimes it just seems like a lot of hocus-pocus getting ranked in the search engines. So many SPAMMERS and companies claiming that if you'll subscribe to their magic service or buy their magic software or hold your mouth just right while combing your eye brows, you'll get hits. And why not? Garnering web traffic is what everybody wants. It's like trying to find a map to that elusive mother lode. No one knows how rich it is, but it must be worth a ton of money. That hope is what keeps those with 'maps to sell' in business.

Content

This is the first and most important ingredient to any successful site. In order to bring any traffic at all, you have to have something worthwhile to say. Search engines, more than anything, are concerned with gathering original content that is valuable to their users. It's not that hard for a web crawler to tell if you've plagiarized your text from another on-line source. Just changinge a word or two won't help either.

Some folks think great photos, design or animation will make their sites more popular. The truth is, sure, once folks find your site they might be really impressed by all that; but if no one can find your site in the first place, they won't ever reach that point. The problem is web crawlers can't judge a site by its graphics. In fact, some of the highest-ranked sites are actually quite ugly.

So you need to say a little more. There are lots of ways to increase your content, but the easiest way is simply to start a column or periodical newsletter. If you keep with it, you'll be able to build your content to an impressive level in a relatively short amount of time. And the content will add credibility to your site. Customers and associates visiting your site will see the amount of depth and be more likely to trust you in your business.

References

It's more difficult for a search engine or web crawler to evaluate the value of your content. For that, they rely on other methods. One such simple method is to look at your links. The look at links from your site, but more importantly they look at links to your site. And if there are reciprocating links, which go in both directions to and from your site, the value can be even greater. They also look at the ranking of the sites you are linked with, so you are more likely to benefit by an exchange of links with a highly-ranked site.

Networking is beneficial all the way around. Look for opportunities to exchange links with associate businesses, chambers of commerce, and local news agencies. If the newspaper writes up your business, post a link to it in your site. Make sure they post your URL in the article as well.

A Good Consultant

You can't believe everything you hear about search engine placement. It's such a dynamic field, what's true today may not be the case tomorrow. It always helps to consult an honest and experienced professional in the field. True, honesty and real expertise are difficult to find in this field, but it's still worth looking for.

A consultant will help make the difference between a site with good placement into a site with great placement. Your consultant will explain the latest strategies with things, such as meta tags, linked pages, title arrangement and search engine submissions. They can explain why the automated software for seach engine submissions is more likely to penalize you than help you.

Tom Ogden Design can give you recommendations on a good consultant. Contact us for more information.

It's Possible

Just remember, it's not usually the big companies or the beautiful sites that get top ranking. Have a look. It's the companies that know how to work the program.

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