Difference between revisions of "Bring Traffic To Your Website Class"

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''NOTE: This is a work in progress started 7/17/12.  Please check back for updates.''
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== Optimize your website for traffic (tinyurl.com/fgtraffic) ==
  
 +
=== Pre-class reading material ===
 +
http://zenhabits.net/conduct/
  
−
== Optimize your website for traffic ==
+
=== The Bottom Line ===
 +
Creating compelling and original content is the best and least expensive way of getting people to your site.  All the advertising in the world will do little for a poorly designed website, one with no information or one whose pricing is higher than anyone else's.
  
  
 
=== Keywords ===
 
=== Keywords ===
  
−
Keywords
+
Keywords:  A collection of words and short phrases that are used strategically to garner traffic from search engines.
 
* Research what people look for concerning your business
 
* Research what people look for concerning your business
−
* Think from the customers perspective!!!  What would the average person type into Google if they were looking for a business like yours.  Type that in and see what comes up.  Look at the content and tags of the first few sites.
+
* Think from the customer's perspective!!!  What would the average person type into Google if they were looking for a business like yours.  Type that in and see what comes up.  Look at the content and tags of the first few sites.
 
* Ask family and friends what words and phrases they would use if they were looking for a product like yours.
 
* Ask family and friends what words and phrases they would use if they were looking for a product like yours.
 
* Target keywords to fit your business.  What product do you most want to push?  Are you selling locally, nationally or globally?
 
* Target keywords to fit your business.  What product do you most want to push?  Are you selling locally, nationally or globally?
 +
* Research your competitor's key words and phrases
  
 
Google keyword tool (adwords keyword tool) – possibly using misspelled words, gauging competition and effectiveness vs. price
 
Google keyword tool (adwords keyword tool) – possibly using misspelled words, gauging competition and effectiveness vs. price
−
* '''http://adwords.google.com/o/Targeting/Explorer?__c=1000000000&__u=1000000000&ideaRequestType=KEYWORD_IDEAS'''
+
* The Google Adwords Keyword Tool can help you find words and phrases you might not have otherwise considered.  It can also help you gauge search popularity plus effectiveness and cost of buying advertising through Adwords.
 +
* '''http://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal'''
 +
** '''http://support.google.com/adwords/bin/answer.py?hl=en&ctx=widg&answer=2470029'''
  
 
Inserting keywords into contents
 
Inserting keywords into contents
Line 22: Line 28:
 
*** ''ComputerManufacturer, Inc., located in Portland, Oregon, makes high-quality, affordable computers such as Brand A, Brand B and Brand C.  Come shop for deals and discounts at our show-room which is located at 1234 SE 10th St, Portland, OR 97201(with embedded map or link that opens in a new window)''
 
*** ''ComputerManufacturer, Inc., located in Portland, Oregon, makes high-quality, affordable computers such as Brand A, Brand B and Brand C.  Come shop for deals and discounts at our show-room which is located at 1234 SE 10th St, Portland, OR 97201(with embedded map or link that opens in a new window)''
  
−
Black hat vs. white hat tactics - '''http://insidesearch.blogspot.com/2012/04/another-step-to-reward-high-quality.html'''
+
Black hat vs. white hat tactics
 +
* '''http://insidesearch.blogspot.com/2012/04/another-step-to-reward-high-quality.html'''
 
* Don't use font colors too similar to the background.
 
* Don't use font colors too similar to the background.
 
* Don't keyword stuff.
 
* Don't keyword stuff.
Line 28: Line 35:
 
Font size
 
Font size
 
* Words and phrases with larger header tags and in bold are weighed more by search engines.
 
* Words and phrases with larger header tags and in bold are weighed more by search engines.
−
 
+
* Header tags H1 Header --------> H6 Header are ''most important'' --------> ''least important''
 +
** Don't waste your header tags on text that does not define the structure of a page
 +
** Use them sparingly
  
  
Line 42: Line 51:
 
Multiple names leading to one site - ''Computermanufacturerinc.com/biz/org, portlandcomputer.com, portlandbranda.com, etc''
 
Multiple names leading to one site - ''Computermanufacturerinc.com/biz/org, portlandcomputer.com, portlandbranda.com, etc''
  
−
'''http://www.namecheap.com'''
+
Possible Domain Registrars:
 +
* '''http://www.namecheap.com'''
 +
* '''http://www.networksolutions.com/domain-name-registration/index.jsp'''
 +
* '''http://www.name.com'''
  
−
'''http://www.networksolutions.com/domain-name-registration/index.jsp'''
 
  
−
'''http://www.name.com'''
+
===Meta tags and title===
 +
These have been deprecated in most search engines as far as ranking is concerned, but are useful for search engine results display.
  
 +
Title
  
−
===Meta tags===
 
−
Title
 
 
Description
 
Description
−
Title and Description as It relates to search engine search results
+
 
 +
Title and Description as it relates to search engine search results
 +
* Title shows up as the clickable header in search results.
 +
* Description shows up as the wording under that.
 +
* While they don't affect rankings, title and description could lead someone to click on your site as opposed to another on the search engine results page.
 +
 
 
Keywords
 
Keywords
−
robots
+
* This used to be critical, but is now something that should be avoided
 +
 
 +
Robots
 +
* The ''robots'' tag is used to let search engines whether you want to be indexed (appear on search results) or have them follow your links
 +
* The tag to use for public pages on your website is ''<META NAME="ROBOTS" CONTENT="INDEX, FOLLOW">''
 +
* Also use the ''robots'' tag to hide sensitive data or information that is not useful to SEO or the general public
 +
 
 +
Meta Tag Resources
 +
* '''http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2067564/How-To-Use-HTML-Meta-Tags'''
 +
* '''http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meta_element'''
 +
* '''http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=79812'''
 +
* '''http://www.w3schools.com/tags/tag_meta.asp'''
  
  
 
===Content is king (or queen)===
 
===Content is king (or queen)===
−
Original content or other's content that your are licensed to use
+
Other's content that your are licensed to use
−
 Creative Commons
+
* Creative Commons - Licenses that allow for varying levels of use
−
 Public Domain
+
** '''http://creativecommons.org/licenses/'''
−
Update regularly/be consistent
+
* Public Domain- Can be freely used
 +
** '''http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_domain'''
 +
 
 +
Original Content
 +
* Make your content interesting and unique.  Your goal is to make people want to come to your site to read your writing or use it on their website.
 +
* Making your content available to other websites
 +
** Creative Commons licensing stating attribution and non-commerical use
 +
** '''http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/'''
 +
 
 +
With all content, update regularly and be consistent.  If someone comes back to the same content over and over they may stop visiting all together.
 +
 
 
Get people to interact with you (end with a question)
 
Get people to interact with you (end with a question)
 +
* Enabling feedback forms, live chat, emails
 +
* Prizes and contests
 +
* Enable reviews
 +
* Enabling interaction make a customer feels safe, gives them a sense of importance and makes for customer relationships
 +
Leaky vs. leak-proof websites
 +
* The goal is to make people stay on your site.
 +
* Use target="_blank" to get links to open in a new page, keeping them on your page.
 +
* Never link to manufacturers or competitors.
 
Reference other websites (and link to them) to get their attention
 
Reference other websites (and link to them) to get their attention
−
 Leaky versus leak-proof websites
+
* Make sure the sites don't link to competitors or manufacturers
 
Link back to your own posts
 
Link back to your own posts
−
Prizes, contests, etc.
+
* Use your website and social media in your email signature, on forum signatures, in blog posts, etc
 
Write content on other websites (guest blog, etc.)
 
Write content on other websites (guest blog, etc.)
−
 Making your content available to other websites
 
−
  Attribution
 
 
Make it easy for people to subscribe (via email or RSS) - Feedburner
 
Make it easy for people to subscribe (via email or RSS) - Feedburner
 +
 +
 +
===Site Mechanics===
 +
Use mostly text for navigation.  Search engines cannot read the text in images unless ''alt'' or ''title'' tags are present.  They may not be able to read the text in javascript menus such as ''tree menus''.  The text and menu hierarchy can not be read from Flash.
 +
 +
Create or enable a mobile site
 +
 +
Create an XML sitemap for Google Webmaster Tools
 +
* '''http://code.google.com/p/sitemap-generators/wiki/'''
 +
 +
Create an HTML sitemap for your users
 +
* This could be added as an include at the bottom of pages or a page unto itself
 +
 +
Create custom 404 pages with HTML menu hierarchy or suggested pages
 +
* A 404 page is an error page that appears when the page searched for is not found
 +
* '''http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=93641'''
 +
* '''http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=136085'''
 +
 +
Create user-friendly URLs.
 +
* ie. ''wiki.freegeek.org/index.php/Bring_Traffic_To_Your_Website_Class'' instead of ''wiki.freegeek.org/index.php/classes/102.php''
 +
 +
Create short, descriptive anchor tags
 +
* Anchor tags link to other internal or external pages
 +
* The HTML ''For free classes, <a href="www.freegeek.org/index.php">please visit the Free Geek website</a>.'' will show up as ''For free classes, '''please visit the Free Geek website'''. (where the bold is a clickable link)
 +
* Use descriptive tags that pertain to the linked material
 +
** Use something like the above instead of ''For free classes, '''click here'''.''
 +
* Style your links to make them obvious
 +
 +
Image tags
 +
* Use the ''alt'' tag with images in case they don't display correctly
 +
* Use the ''title'' tag to to create a text pop-up
 +
* Be descriptive with both.  While search engines can't read text in an image, they can read these
 +
* Use descriptive image filenames - ie. ''computer_class.jpg'' instead of ''image1.jpg''
  
  
 
===Site analytics===
 
===Site analytics===
−
Using logs (incoming and search) to determine what people are looking for and amend pages accordingly
+
Using logs:  Logs are collections of data from your server, host, ecommerce platform system, google analytics, internal search function and more.  The point of site analytics is to amend your website according to traffic and needs determined from that data.
 +
 
 +
What can be determined:
 +
* Physical location
 +
** Useful in geolocating marketing efforts, translating website and choosing keywords
 +
* Referring site
 +
** What page people were on when they clicked a link to you
 +
** Will tell you what sites or search engines are referring you, what articles or reviews might have been linked back to you, people who are hotlinking images, etc
 +
* Search terms
 +
** What terms were used on various search engines to find your site
 +
* Operating Systems, browser, screen size, etc
 +
 
 +
Facebook Insights
 +
* '''http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=120881494659811'''
 +
Google Analytics
 +
* Google Analytics is a free service from Google used to gain a wide array of information about the visitors to your website.  This information should be used to tweak your website display, website wording, advertising, etc.  * Some of the things that Google Analytics can track are:
 +
** Number of visitors
 +
** Geographic location of visitors
 +
** Referers - The website, webmail client, direct IP, etc of how the person got to your site
 +
** Search engine and search terms - Which search engine was used and exactly what terms led the person to your page
 +
** Which forms of advertising brought people to your website
 +
** Bounce rate - The rate at which people clicked on your page and then left without exploring further.  This could indicate poor design, confusing menus, misleading advertising or more.
 +
** Conversions - If you run an ecommerce site you can track which people bought, where they came from and what advertising works best to gain completed transactions
 +
* '''http://www.google.com/analytics/'''
  
  
 
===Find online venues to bring in traffic===
 
===Find online venues to bring in traffic===
−
Should be related to your topic (Doubleclick Adplanner)
+
Should be related to your topic
−
Shadow for a while to get a feel for the culture
+
 
−
Don't want to "spam" these forums
+
Google Ad Planner
−
Provide quality content
+
* Google Doubleclick Ad Planner helps you identify websites your target customers are likely to visit and lets you build a media plan around that
−
Links back to your website include your key search terms
+
* '''http://www.google.com/adplanner/site_profile'''
 +
Forums
 +
* Lurk Moar - Shadow for a while to get a feel for the culture.  Study their nettiquette.
 +
* Don't want to "spam" these forums.  Write something because it is relevant and interesting.
 +
 
 +
Links you create back to your website in your signature, etc should include your key search terms
 +
 
 +
Effectively promote your website without spamming/over-sharing
  
  
 
===Using social media===
 
===Using social media===
−
Encourage people to share
+
Encourage people to share.
−
Use each venue specifically.  
+
 
−
Better to have fresh content on each stream.
+
Use each venue specifically with as much unique content as possible.
−
Remind people about social media class.
+
 
−
Namechk.com
+
Take the social media class for an in-depth exploration of this topic
 +
* '''http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=p3cbgpr03ofq2lngffkn333u20%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Los_Angeles'''
 +
Use namechk to search for a business username that is viable over various social media sites
 +
* '''http://namechk.com/'''
 +
 
 +
 
 +
===Google-Fu===
 +
 
 +
Google Keywords Tool - ''information above''
 +
* '''http://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal'''
 +
Google Analytics - ''information above''
 +
* '''http://www.google.com/analytics/index.html'''
 +
Google Webmaster Tools
 +
* Google Webmaster Tools provides you with detailed reports about your pages' visibility on Google. It also allows you to view potential errors affecting visibility, search traffic, search queries and allows you to submit sitemaps to Google
 +
* '''http://www.google.com/webmasters/'''
 +
Google Places
 +
* Google Places helps you submit your business information to the listing that will pop up on Google Maps and other places.  You can submit hours, business description, correct address, contact information, services and brands provided as well as create coupons and discount codes.  Customers can get directions, search nearby and add reviews.
 +
* '''http://www.google.com/places/'''
 +
Google Alerts
 +
* Google Alerts email you the latest search results for queries you specify
 +
* Put in your company name, CEO/owner name(s), type of business + location (shoe store portland), competitor's names, brands, industry etc
 +
* '''http://www.google.com/alerts'''
 +
Google DoubleClick Ad Planner - ''information above''
 +
* '''http://www.google.com/adplanner/site_profile'''
 +
Google Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide
 +
* '''http://www.google.com/webmasters/docs/search-engine-optimization-starter-guide.pdf'''
 +
A 3rd party listing of Google services
 +
* '''http://www.googlekeywordtool.com/'''
  
  
 
===Offline/non-website methods===
 
===Offline/non-website methods===
−
Put website information on your business card
+
Put your website on ALL 'old media' advertising (billboards, TV, newspaper, etc)
−
Put a link to your website in your signature
+
 
−
Put up flyers in related businesses
+
Make sure at least your website URL and main email are on your business card
−
If you offer receipts, include relevant information (including social media)
+
 
 +
Put up flyers in related businesses/businesses of friends
 +
 
 +
Put all your information (name, phone, address, email, website and social media) on receipts, invoices, letterheads and posters.
  
  
 
===Other resources===
 
===Other resources===
−
[http://searchengineland.com/]
+
'''http://searchengineland.com/'''
−
[http://www.seomoz.org/beginners-guide-to-seo]
+
 
−
[https://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=35291]
+
'''http://www.seomoz.org/beginners-guide-to-seo'''
−
[https://mashable.com/]
+
 
−
[http://seo.alltop.com/]
+
'''http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=35291'''
 +
 
 +
'''http://mashable.com/'''
 +
 
 +
'''http://seo.alltop.com/'''
 +
 
 +
'''http://browsershots.org'''
  
−
seo bible
+
[[Category: Classes]]
−
browser shots.org
+
[[Category: Current Classes]]

Latest revision as of 16:43, 4 March 2014

Optimize your website for traffic (tinyurl.com/fgtraffic)

Pre-class reading material

http://zenhabits.net/conduct/

The Bottom Line

Creating compelling and original content is the best and least expensive way of getting people to your site. All the advertising in the world will do little for a poorly designed website, one with no information or one whose pricing is higher than anyone else's.


Keywords

Keywords: A collection of words and short phrases that are used strategically to garner traffic from search engines.

  • Research what people look for concerning your business
  • Think from the customer's perspective!!! What would the average person type into Google if they were looking for a business like yours. Type that in and see what comes up. Look at the content and tags of the first few sites.
  • Ask family and friends what words and phrases they would use if they were looking for a product like yours.
  • Target keywords to fit your business. What product do you most want to push? Are you selling locally, nationally or globally?
  • Research your competitor's key words and phrases

Google keyword tool (adwords keyword tool) – possibly using misspelled words, gauging competition and effectiveness vs. price

Inserting keywords into contents

  • Use keyword-heavy writing. Keyword density.
    • In this scenario, you are trying to compete locally and you find your customers are looking for quality, low-priced computers of specific brands.
      • ComputerManufacturer, Inc. makes computers to fit your needs. Come shop at our store-room.
      • ComputerManufacturer, Inc., located in Portland, Oregon, makes high-quality, affordable computers such as Brand A, Brand B and Brand C. Come shop for deals and discounts at our show-room which is located at 1234 SE 10th St, Portland, OR 97201(with embedded map or link that opens in a new window)

Black hat vs. white hat tactics

Font size

  • Words and phrases with larger header tags and in bold are weighed more by search engines.
  • Header tags H1 Header --------> H6 Header are most important --------> least important
    • Don't waste your header tags on text that does not define the structure of a page
    • Use them sparingly


Domain name

Make it easy to remember/spell.

Use your keyword research in considering names.

The keywords in domain names are considered heavily by search engines.

If Computermanufacturer, Inc. has a local store, they should consider variations on portlandcomputer(s).com/org/etc. If they also do repairs they might consider using names like computerrepairs.com, portlandcomputerrepairs, etc.

Multiple names leading to one site - Computermanufacturerinc.com/biz/org, portlandcomputer.com, portlandbranda.com, etc

Possible Domain Registrars:


Meta tags and title

These have been deprecated in most search engines as far as ranking is concerned, but are useful for search engine results display.

Title

Description

Title and Description as it relates to search engine search results

  • Title shows up as the clickable header in search results.
  • Description shows up as the wording under that.
  • While they don't affect rankings, title and description could lead someone to click on your site as opposed to another on the search engine results page.

Keywords

  • This used to be critical, but is now something that should be avoided

Robots

  • The robots tag is used to let search engines whether you want to be indexed (appear on search results) or have them follow your links
  • The tag to use for public pages on your website is <META NAME="ROBOTS" CONTENT="INDEX, FOLLOW">
  • Also use the robots tag to hide sensitive data or information that is not useful to SEO or the general public

Meta Tag Resources


Content is king (or queen)

Other's content that your are licensed to use

Original Content

  • Make your content interesting and unique. Your goal is to make people want to come to your site to read your writing or use it on their website.
  • Making your content available to other websites

With all content, update regularly and be consistent. If someone comes back to the same content over and over they may stop visiting all together.

Get people to interact with you (end with a question)

  • Enabling feedback forms, live chat, emails
  • Prizes and contests
  • Enable reviews
  • Enabling interaction make a customer feels safe, gives them a sense of importance and makes for customer relationships

Leaky vs. leak-proof websites

  • The goal is to make people stay on your site.
  • Use target="_blank" to get links to open in a new page, keeping them on your page.
  • Never link to manufacturers or competitors.

Reference other websites (and link to them) to get their attention

  • Make sure the sites don't link to competitors or manufacturers

Link back to your own posts

  • Use your website and social media in your email signature, on forum signatures, in blog posts, etc

Write content on other websites (guest blog, etc.) Make it easy for people to subscribe (via email or RSS) - Feedburner


Site Mechanics

Use mostly text for navigation. Search engines cannot read the text in images unless alt or title tags are present. They may not be able to read the text in javascript menus such as tree menus. The text and menu hierarchy can not be read from Flash.

Create or enable a mobile site

Create an XML sitemap for Google Webmaster Tools

Create an HTML sitemap for your users

  • This could be added as an include at the bottom of pages or a page unto itself

Create custom 404 pages with HTML menu hierarchy or suggested pages

Create user-friendly URLs.

  • ie. wiki.freegeek.org/index.php/Bring_Traffic_To_Your_Website_Class instead of wiki.freegeek.org/index.php/classes/102.php

Create short, descriptive anchor tags

  • Anchor tags link to other internal or external pages
  • The HTML For free classes, <a href="www.freegeek.org/index.php">please visit the Free Geek website</a>. will show up as For free classes, please visit the Free Geek website. (where the bold is a clickable link)
  • Use descriptive tags that pertain to the linked material
    • Use something like the above instead of For free classes, click here.
  • Style your links to make them obvious

Image tags

  • Use the alt tag with images in case they don't display correctly
  • Use the title tag to to create a text pop-up
  • Be descriptive with both. While search engines can't read text in an image, they can read these
  • Use descriptive image filenames - ie. computer_class.jpg instead of image1.jpg


Site analytics

Using logs: Logs are collections of data from your server, host, ecommerce platform system, google analytics, internal search function and more. The point of site analytics is to amend your website according to traffic and needs determined from that data.

What can be determined:

  • Physical location
    • Useful in geolocating marketing efforts, translating website and choosing keywords
  • Referring site
    • What page people were on when they clicked a link to you
    • Will tell you what sites or search engines are referring you, what articles or reviews might have been linked back to you, people who are hotlinking images, etc
  • Search terms
    • What terms were used on various search engines to find your site
  • Operating Systems, browser, screen size, etc

Facebook Insights

Google Analytics

  • Google Analytics is a free service from Google used to gain a wide array of information about the visitors to your website. This information should be used to tweak your website display, website wording, advertising, etc. * Some of the things that Google Analytics can track are:
    • Number of visitors
    • Geographic location of visitors
    • Referers - The website, webmail client, direct IP, etc of how the person got to your site
    • Search engine and search terms - Which search engine was used and exactly what terms led the person to your page
    • Which forms of advertising brought people to your website
    • Bounce rate - The rate at which people clicked on your page and then left without exploring further. This could indicate poor design, confusing menus, misleading advertising or more.
    • Conversions - If you run an ecommerce site you can track which people bought, where they came from and what advertising works best to gain completed transactions
  • http://www.google.com/analytics/


Find online venues to bring in traffic

Should be related to your topic

Google Ad Planner

Forums

  • Lurk Moar - Shadow for a while to get a feel for the culture. Study their nettiquette.
  • Don't want to "spam" these forums. Write something because it is relevant and interesting.

Links you create back to your website in your signature, etc should include your key search terms

Effectively promote your website without spamming/over-sharing


Using social media

Encourage people to share.

Use each venue specifically with as much unique content as possible.

Take the social media class for an in-depth exploration of this topic

Use namechk to search for a business username that is viable over various social media sites


Google-Fu

Google Keywords Tool - information above

Google Analytics - information above

Google Webmaster Tools

  • Google Webmaster Tools provides you with detailed reports about your pages' visibility on Google. It also allows you to view potential errors affecting visibility, search traffic, search queries and allows you to submit sitemaps to Google
  • http://www.google.com/webmasters/

Google Places

  • Google Places helps you submit your business information to the listing that will pop up on Google Maps and other places. You can submit hours, business description, correct address, contact information, services and brands provided as well as create coupons and discount codes. Customers can get directions, search nearby and add reviews.
  • http://www.google.com/places/

Google Alerts

  • Google Alerts email you the latest search results for queries you specify
  • Put in your company name, CEO/owner name(s), type of business + location (shoe store portland), competitor's names, brands, industry etc
  • http://www.google.com/alerts

Google DoubleClick Ad Planner - information above

Google Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide

A 3rd party listing of Google services


Offline/non-website methods

Put your website on ALL 'old media' advertising (billboards, TV, newspaper, etc)

Make sure at least your website URL and main email are on your business card

Put up flyers in related businesses/businesses of friends

Put all your information (name, phone, address, email, website and social media) on receipts, invoices, letterheads and posters.


Other resources

http://searchengineland.com/

http://www.seomoz.org/beginners-guide-to-seo

http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=35291

http://mashable.com/

http://seo.alltop.com/

http://browsershots.org

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