A common challenge for agents with Web sites is attracting
enough visitors to make the effort worthwhile. The good news is
that there are many techniques that you can apply, often at no
additional cost.
Here are a few pointers:
Use several free registration services that enable you, the Web
site sponsor, to promote your site and have it recognized by all
the search engines for free. The services function like free
ads.Sample registration services are Submit-It (www.submit it.com);
Free Websites (www.freewebsites.com); PostMaster(www.
netcreations.com/postmaster/); Town USA
(www.town-usa.com/getlisted.html), and Web Step 100
(www.mmgco.com/top100.html).
You register by going to each of these addresses and filling in
templates that ask for your Web address, a brief description of
your site and a few words you think would be appropriate to use in
searching for it.
On your home page, use keywords -- or "meta tags" as they are
called in geekland. Meta tags also refers to a technique used when
creating a source code for a home page.This technique allows you to include in the code any number of
meta tags that various browsers (like Yahoo!, Excite, Infoseek and
others) can identify and use to place your company appropriately on
lists of sites that are generated when surfers seek lists within
specified categories.
As an example, you might include the following meta tags --
travel, Florida, vacation travel -- that would cause your site to
appear in the lists resulting from searches based on those
words.
When using a registration service, you are relying on a third
party to submit your information to the search engines. When you
use the meta tags procedure, you are taking more control over how
those engines will look for your site. This works to your advantage
because your Web pages are indexed automatically.
You might consider an additional approach. It embraces the same
type of technique but applies a different logic. Instead of using
typical keywords, or meta tags, which reference travel, your Web
site would use words that highlight the best-known names in the
world.As an example, using keywords like American Airlines, Hyatt,
Hertz, Federal Express, Coca-Cola, etc. would get your Web site
displayed along with any site related to these marketing giants.
The results thus far have been astounding. Web site sponsors using
this approach report an average of a 100% increase in traffic to
their home pages regardless of the product.
However, keep in mind that these names are copyrighted. If you
reference copyrighted trademarks like these, you must have some
reference to their products on your page as well as permission to
use the names in your meta tags. If you take a look at my Web site,
at www.newms.com, you will see I have promoted Federal Express. I
also included the meta tag Fed-Ex in my home page source code.
Thanks to this simple addition, the search engines that look for
keywords in my Web site will now list my site along with that of
Federal Express should a surfer search for information on the topic
"Federal Express." The reason is simple: The search engine has been
fooled by seeing the keyword "Federal Express" in my Web page and
it relates that topic to other topics on that subject, namely, the
real Federal Express.
It works, and Federal Express has approved because I feature its
site on my site. Give it a try, be respectful of copyrights and see
the results for yourself.
Rock Blanco is president of New Media Solutions in Medfield,
Mass., a firm that offers Internet-based solutions to the
trade.