Read Start Your Own Business Online
Authors: Inc The Staff of Entrepreneur Media
Start Your Own Business (95 page)
For the best exposure, be sure your website is listed on most of these sites. To use search engines effectively to draw visitors to your site, the keywords you choose in your domain name, title tag and the text of your main page can spell the difference in your search engine rankings. Keyword-rich domain names, title tags and main pages boost traffic. And when using keywords, remember it’s important to have them appear naturally.
TIPThink of all the keywords and phrases for your product or service, and put them in your URL. For example, try discountchairstore, discountsofas-and-chairs or buydis countfurniture. The search engines are likely to pick up multiple keywords, thereby boosting your rankings.
The easiest way to get ranked on search engines is to submit your domain name to various search engines. Maximizing the number of times your URL comes up in a search result is an ongoing process. It takes patience to monitor the search engines by visiting them frequently and studying your log files to see which search engines send you the most traffic. If you need to make changes in your website, particularly your opening page, to move up in the search engine rankings, do so.
With so many search engines out there, you might also use a web tool like the one at
TrafficBoost.com
to submit your website address to more than 500 search engines for a modest fee for one-time submission, slightly more for an initial hit and three quarterly updates. Also check out
SelfPromotion.com
, a free resource for do-it-yourself web promotion. Here you can find information and tips about search engine submission, along with automatic submission tools that help you submit your URL to all the major search engines. Once listed, you can use free online tools, including:
TrafficBoost.com
to submit your website address to more than 500 search engines for a modest fee for one-time submission, slightly more for an initial hit and three quarterly updates. Also check out
SelfPromotion.com
, a free resource for do-it-yourself web promotion. Here you can find information and tips about search engine submission, along with automatic submission tools that help you submit your URL to all the major search engines. Once listed, you can use free online tools, including:
•
SiteRankChecker.com
.
Gives you an overview of where you rank on top search engines
•
SiteReportCard.com
. Compares your site with your competition
•
LinkPopularity.com
. Lists all sites that have linked back to your domain name
If you get good results with AOL Search using one set of keywords and do well with Google using another set of keywords, that’s fine.
Also keep in mind that the narrower the category, the better your chance of scoring hits; for example, “percussion instruments” and “ice skating dresses” are more specific than “drums” and “sports attire” and have a better chance of scoring hits.
Paid Search ServicesMany companies are also using paid search services as a supplement to SEM. These services basically allow you to pay to have your website be part of the results of a user’s query on a search engine site. There are three types of paid search services: paid submission, pay-for-inclusion and pay-for-placement.
In
paid submission
, you can submit your website for review by a search service for a preset fee with the expectation that the site will be accepted and included in that company’s search engine—provided it meets the stated guidelines for submission. Yahoo! is the major search engine that accepts this type of submission. While paid submissions guarantee a timely review of the submitted site and notice of acceptance or rejection, you’re not guaranteed inclusion or a particular placement order in the listings. Yahoo! charges $299 for this service, which it calls Yahoo! Directory Submit.
paid submission
, you can submit your website for review by a search service for a preset fee with the expectation that the site will be accepted and included in that company’s search engine—provided it meets the stated guidelines for submission. Yahoo! is the major search engine that accepts this type of submission. While paid submissions guarantee a timely review of the submitted site and notice of acceptance or rejection, you’re not guaranteed inclusion or a particular placement order in the listings. Yahoo! charges $299 for this service, which it calls Yahoo! Directory Submit.
Paid inclusion
programs allow you to submit your website for guaranteed inclusion in a search engine’s database of listings for a set period of time. While paid inclusion guarantees indexing of submitted pages or sites in a search database, you’re not guaranteed that the pages will rank well for particular queries. Of the major search engines, only Yahoo! does paid inclusion.
programs allow you to submit your website for guaranteed inclusion in a search engine’s database of listings for a set period of time. While paid inclusion guarantees indexing of submitted pages or sites in a search database, you’re not guaranteed that the pages will rank well for particular queries. Of the major search engines, only Yahoo! does paid inclusion.
“Many a small thing
has been made large
by the right kind of
advertising.”—MARK TWAIN
In
pay-for-placement
, you can guarantee a ranking in a search listing for the terms of your choice. Also known as paid placement, paid listings or sponsored listings, this program guarantees placement in search results. The leaders in pay-for-placement are Google, Yahoo! Search Marketing and Bing Search. These programs allow you to bid on the terms you wish to appear for; you then agree to pay a certain amount each time someone clicks on your listing. Costs for pay-for-placement start at around a nickel a click and go up considerably based on how high you want your site to appear—and competition for keywords has the biggest bearing on that. For example, a bid on “web hosting” will result in payment of a few bucks a click if you want to get on the first page of results. But if you’re promoting, say, lighthouse tours, you may be able to get on top paying just a dime a click.
pay-for-placement
, you can guarantee a ranking in a search listing for the terms of your choice. Also known as paid placement, paid listings or sponsored listings, this program guarantees placement in search results. The leaders in pay-for-placement are Google, Yahoo! Search Marketing and Bing Search. These programs allow you to bid on the terms you wish to appear for; you then agree to pay a certain amount each time someone clicks on your listing. Costs for pay-for-placement start at around a nickel a click and go up considerably based on how high you want your site to appear—and competition for keywords has the biggest bearing on that. For example, a bid on “web hosting” will result in payment of a few bucks a click if you want to get on the first page of results. But if you’re promoting, say, lighthouse tours, you may be able to get on top paying just a dime a click.
In the Google AdWords program, Google sells paid listings that appear above and to the side of its regular results, as well as on its partner sites. Since it may take time for a new site to appear within Google, these advertising opportunities offer a fast way to get listed with the service.
In the Google AdWords program, the cost of your campaigns really depends on how much you’re willing to pay and how well you know your audience. It all boils down to knowing your own goals and letting Google know what they are. There’s a nominal one-time $5 activation fee for Google AdWords. After that, Google will grant the highest position to the advertiser with the highest bid for keywords and the highest click-through rate.
The Bing Search, known as Microsoft adCenter, doesn’t charge you to create an account; you only pay when someone clicks on your ad. The highest position is given to the advertiser with the highest bid for keywords and the highest click-through rate.
Yahoo Sponsored Search allows you to bid on the keywords for which you wish to appear and then pay a certain amount each time someone clicks on your listings. For example, if you wanted to appear in the top listings for “clocks,” you might agree to pay a maximum of 25 cents per click. If no one agrees to pay more than this, then you would be in the No. 1 spot. If someone later decides to pay 26 cents, then you fall into the No. 2 position. You could then bid 27 cents and move back on top if you wanted to. In other words, the highest bid gets the highest position on Yahoo’s Sponsored Search.
TIPWhat’s the best day to send e-mail marketing messages? According to Infusionsoft, a leading e-mail marketing provider, in general the prime days are Tuesdays and Thursdays between 10 A.M. to 2 P.M.
Yahoo Sponsored Search displays its listings on its own search results, in addition to InfoSpace and many other partner sites.
To get started, set up an account through a self-service channel or through a service called Fast Track, which has a one-time service fee of $199 and includes a custom proposal with suggested keywords, bidding recommendations and more. Yahoo’s minimum bid requirement is 10 cents. By carefully selecting targeted terms, you can stretch that money for one or two months and get quality traffic.
Another paid search program to check out is from Miva Inc. (
miva.com
), which is a major search player.
Local Searchmiva.com
), which is a major search player.
Want local customers to find you? Then try local search engine advertising, which lets you target ads to a specific state, city or even neighborhood. A growing number of small businesses are using local search. New research released in 2009, from a joint survey conducted by Nielsen Online and Webvisible, found that the majority of small-business owners use the internet to search for local services, while 82 percent of consumers and small businesses use search engines first to find information online compared with 52 percent who turn to Yellow Pages online as their primary search tool. Like other search engine advertising, the local variety lets you track your account closely to find out which keywords are most successful at drawing customers and how much you’re spending each day.
TIPIf you’re willing to experiment with mobile advertising, you can use either paid search engines or display mobile advertising companies, such as AdMob, Smaato, Ad Infuse, InMobi, Mojiva, BrandPort or Rapid Mobile. Google AdWords has allowed marketers to select “mobile” as one of its ad distribution channels for some time. If you’re not sure if your mobile setting is on or off, log into your AdWords account and check your campaign settings.
As you can imagine, the major search engine companies offer local search options. To sign up with Yahoo! Search Marketing, for example, go to:
searchmarketing.yahoo.com/local
. To sign up with Google, go to
adwords.google.com/select
, and to sign up with MSN, go to
advertising.microsoft.com/home
. In general, all of the programs follow a pay-per-click model.
Affiliatessearchmarketing.yahoo.com/local
. To sign up with Google, go to
adwords.google.com/select
, and to sign up with MSN, go to
advertising.microsoft.com/home
. In general, all of the programs follow a pay-per-click model.
Firms that sell products and services on their websites for commissions offer another way to draw site visitors. The web is democratic; a SOHO (small office home office) can be an affiliate of a Fortune 500 firm, as can other corporate giants, midsized businesses and even charities.
e-FYIWant to know more about search engines?
Searchenginewatch.com
can answer your questions. It compares the major search engines and tells you how to get listed. It also provides tips for searchers so you can learn to think like your customers and make it easier for them to find you. Plus, you can get a free newsletter.
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