Hello again,

Continuing in our Keys to Success series, we will now delve into the almighty search engines.

In order for your blog or site to come up in search engine results, the search engine must know it exists. Getting discovered, and indexed, by search engines is a critical first step to securing search engine traffic.

Contrary to the beliefs held by some, a search engine cannot simply “find” your blog or web site on its own. It must be led to the blog in some fashion. There are two general ways by which this can happen. You can either tell the search engine about your blog, or you can devise a means by which it will find you.

At first glance, it seems like just telling the search engine would be the optimal solution. At one time, this strategy was the easiest way of getting indexed. However, it is no longer the best way to go about things.

You can directly submit your site to Google, for instance. However, it may take the search engine months to get around to your request. At some point, in frustration, you might be led to submit the information again. There are fairly credible reports that frequent submission of a blog or web site directly to the search engine may actually lead to a penalty. They would prefer to find you all by themselves.

I have personally not noticed any problems with direct submission to MSN’s search engine. However, considering the variety of ways by which one can be found without utilizing direct submission, it does not seem necessary to tip off MSN in that manner.

This is a bit of an overview.  In the next few days we’ll get more into the meat of SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

Have a great day!

pj

Tags: design, web development, webmaster, website, creation, designer

Blogging, credible reports, google, keys to success, link popularity, msn, optimal solution, Page Rank, search engines, search engine results, search engine traffic, SEO, submission, Traffic, Training

Controversy

Continuing our series on driving traffic to your sites, I thought I would briefly touch on the topic of Controversy.  You see this in the newspapers, tabloids and more.  You have probably heard the adage, “Bad publicity is still good publicity.”  Nothing gets noticed quite like the controversial. If you are looking for a way to get some attention (and, thus, traffic), it is possible to do so by taking controversial stands on issues related to your topic. This can get you noticed in a hurry!

However, utilizing controversy as a means of generating traffic is not usually a reasonable long-term strategy. First, how controversial can you be on a regular basis? If your site’s success is based upon your willingness to take outlandish or controversial positions, you will put yourself in a position where you are forced to either constantly one-up yourself or becoming boring by comparison.

Second, intentionally taking a non-mainstream perspective just to get some attention risks alienating a portion of your potential audience. You want traffic, but you would probably prefer that not all of it came from people who want to argue with you! If you have a strongly held position that might create some controversy, don’t feel as though you have to hold back. Self-expression, after all, is what blogs are all about. However, you probably should not fall into the rut of using wild claims or inflaming rhetoric to drive traffic to your blog or web site. Instead, concentrate on authoring relevant, quality, thought-provoking content.

More on the “Keys to Traffic” tomorrow!

Have a great day,

p

Tags: creation, web development, website, design, webmaster, designer

authoring, controversy, drive traffic, mainstream, strategy first, Traffic, Training

Updating Content

People like new information. If they are interested in your topic, they want to see more information about it as often as possible. Search engines mimic people in that regard. They absolutely adore frequently updated sites. They reward blogs that provide frequent updates with better locations in search results. Providing regular content is one of the best ways to appeal both to your human readers and the search engine robots that will lead even more real people to your blog.

There is no magic number of posts per week you must add to your blog. However, the general rule of thumb is that more is better. Some bloggers will update their blog several times per day. Others will provide one weekly update.

Finding the right patterns will be a byproduct of experimentation, combined with your own personal time limitations and interest levels. I personally recommend updating a blog at least a few times per week. If you can update more frequently, do so. However, make sure these updates offer something of value. Writing for the sake of writing may help with respect to fooling search engine spiders, but it will undoubtedly antagonize real readers so much as to render the strategy useless.

Those who make a living online will tell you that “content is king.” Content is what brings people to any site. It is what keeps them there, too. It is also the favorite discover of every search engine spider. The more content you have, the better off you are going to be.

Some niches may be so underserved that a blog can continue to successfully generate traffic with infrequent updates. However, more competitive fields will require more and more content to stay afloat.

Updates can vary in length. Generally speaking, however, extremely short posts will have less value (both to the search engines and readers) than more involved writing. However, the desire to provide more lengthy and meaningful posts will need to be balanced against usability considerations, which we will discuss later. Many will argue that content additions that “weigh in” between 250-600 words are optimal.

Have a fantastic Saturday, more to come!

Pj

Tags: website, creation, webmaster, designer, web development, design

Blogging, posts, Training, updates, updating content, writing