Getting Found on the Web: SEO an SER Part 1

Getting Found on the Web:
Search Engine Optimization and Registration
Part 1
By Brooke Long

There are many reasons to create, update, or redesign a Web site. For many of you, trying to attract new clients is one of them. Simply having a web site will not guarantee that you will generate a lot of business on the Web. Just as with any other form of advertising or marketing you still need to get the word out. For instance, if you pay to place an ad for hairstyling services in the Yellow Pages under the heading "auto repair" you will not experience a high return on your investment because the people looking for your service won't find you. Your ad may be seen by a great number of readers, but not the ones that are looking to spend money for your service. Your Web site is no different - you want the maximum number of people looking for your service to see your site. One way to accomplish this is through search engine optimization and registration.

You may be asking, "What is search engine optimization and registration?"

Search engine optimization:
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of working with your Web site to achieve targeted traffic - getting the people interested in your product or service to your site. Once the process of optimizing and adding Meta Tags is completed your site is ready to be registered.

Search Engine Registration:
Search Engine Registration (SER) involves submitting your site automatically, or by hand, to many of the search engines. The pay for placement search engines are usually not included.

SEO and SER are often the first things omitted from a Web design plan due to budget constraints. This is unfortunate due to the importance of these two processes in generating traffic to your Web site. For example - you can have a great restaurant with all of the bells and whistles - but if you do not market your restaurant then only a few passers by might come in. Just like any other business, you need to market your Web site.

Marketing for your Web site should be budgeted into the cost. Take time to research the cost of different designers and different costs for SEO and SER. In many cases they might be combined. But not always - so be careful.

WARNING: Be careful of those who say they can guarantee top placement. Find out where - under what keywords or phrases? There is always some catch to this and you just have to find it.

WARNING: Be careful of the many companies out there that will submit your site to hundreds of Search Engines for a very low fee. They strictly use automated programs to do this. Most experts agree that the best way to promote a site is to submit by hand.

Depending of the number of sites submitted to, this could take a very long time. Automated methods are very quick, but can be error prone. If detected by the search engine, automatically submitted Web sites may be deleted or discounted.

We have determined that some systems do not know or do not care if programs submit a site. It is for this reason that we use both methods.

FEATURED SITE

Cinematters
What a great site for parents and kids! This site is informative and will get even better as time goes on.

It is the beginning stages - but you would be wise to jump on board to this great idea!

Cataluña works with a trained professional who is an expert in the area of search engine optimization and submission. We pride ourselves in delivering to

you the most effective Web site possible, maximizing your return on investment (ROI). For this reason, we now include search engine optimization and registration in all of our Web design quotes.

Next month we will go more in depth into the process of target marketing your Web site through SEO and SER and how we track the progress. To find out how search engine optimization and registration can benefit your site, call us at 952-496-2186.