It's not easy for a site to be visible on the internet. It doesn't matter if you're small, medium or large; there are sites out there that are competing with yours. To combat this, it's important to look at your site like a spider and try to understand how it thinks. Here are some simple ideas that will help you get ahead of the game.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a set of techniques that help you rank higher in search engines. A significant percentage of the population only use the Internet to search for information, and this means that you can't afford to be absent from the search engine rankings. Rather than fighting against Google with negative SEO techniques, embrace Google's algorithm. Spider-thinking is what you need.
Finding yourself, or your company, on the Internet is like finding a needle in a haystack. Search engines work tirelessly to find and list as many websites as possible, but it's up to you to make sure that they can find your site, too.
A disproportionate number of small companies consider their website to be the beginning and end of their digital presence. They are aware of the importance of Search Engine Optimization and may even engage a professional to improve their web pages. The problem is that, no matter what business you are in, the top Google rankings are almost certainly already crowded with search-optimized websites. So, how do you divert traffic away from their sites and onto yours?
The solution is to think like a spider.
I use this metaphor in two different ways:
Consider yourself as a search-engine spider – the software that search engines employ to crawl the web, discovering and indexing sites; and consider yourself as a web developer.
To visualize this, think of your website as the web's body, with the web's arms (content) reaching out to readers via blogs, article submission sites, and industry-specific websites that accept contributed material.
The first point to make is this: Consider yourself a search-engine spider.
Links are required by search spiders.
There is a great lot of disagreement over how the main search engines crawl webpages, but there is one thing that everyone agrees on: search spiders need links to function properly.
Spiders are unable to move if there are no linkages from one page to another. The spiders will not be able to discover you if your pages do not have connections to them. In contrast, when there are a large number of links pointing to your site, the spiders will locate you more often. (Alright, I realize there will be some people who are reading this who are afraid of spiders. Most likely, you're thinking to yourself, “I don't want the spiders to locate me!” You may now come out from beneath your desk, since these spiders are rather attractive).
In time, the spiders will come to recognize your pages as essential, since they will have discovered them several times via all the links that go to them. Your search engine ranking will reflect their perception of your website as vital.
Search spiders, on the other hand, are not dumb. In order to enhance the number of links to their websites, they are aware that individuals use a variety of techniques such as link farms, reciprocal link agreements, and so on. These connections are seen as less valuable by spiders.
They may even give them a bad rating on occasion.
So, what is the best way to get “excellent” connections that will impress the spiders? To answer that question, I'll go on to my second point:
Consider thinking in the form of a spider.
Make contact with people all across the world. Expand the reach of your content outside your website and attract new clients to your business. There are various options for doing this. Here are a few examples:
For starters, there are a large number of websites that spiders already consider to be essential. In many instances, these sites have gained prominence as a result of the large amount of high-quality information they provide, which attracts referrals from other websites. A large number of these websites welcome user-generated material. Their policy prohibits them from publishing sales pitches, but they will publish articles that are both interesting and helpful to their readers. They will also let you attach a link back to your website to each piece, and they will keep a profile page that includes a link to your website. Spend some time looking for article submission platforms, as well as websites that are directly linked to your sector and that may accept your work, before submitting your content.
Second, get to know the bloggers that write about your industry and get to know them. Fill in the blanks with relevant comments on their blogs, along with links back to your site (always limit yourself to one link in any comment; otherwise you may be seen as an undesirable “link-spammer”). The majority of bloggers are interested in who is commenting and will take a brief glance at your website. It's possible that they'll include you (with a link, of course) in a blog post if they like what they see.
Third, you may want to try beginning your own blog. Blogs usually rank higher in search results than static websites, and they provide a place for you to communicate with your audience on an ongoing basis. A word of caution, however: maintaining a blog is a significant time commitment. Never start a blog unless you are certain that you will be able to provide fresh content at least once or twice a week.
Don't forget about your physical health.
Of course, attracting visitors to your website is pointless if the site isn't designed to convert them into customers, subscribers, or whatever it is that you're trying to accomplish on the internet. To back to the spider analogy, consider your website to be the spider's physical body. The hub of all the major action is located here. Your website must be built and developed in such a way that it helps you reach your company objectives.
When it comes to internet marketing, your own website should continue to be the focal point of your efforts and investments; nevertheless, the purpose of this essay is that your ideas and your efforts need not stop there. Business on the internet is no different than business everywhere else. You most likely don't merely sit in your office and wait for customers to walk through the door, as many others do. You place an advertisement in the Yellow Pages. You are the one who advertises. You dispatch sales representatives. You have to go out there. On the internet, the situation is the same.
We'll see you on the road.
