Content, Popularity, Saturation…
Before we continue…
The OLDER a domain (website) is the more “trusted” it becomes with search engines. If your domain is new, you just have to work, wait, and gain trust. The rest will follow.
Now I will briefly discuss the more difficult and time consuming aspects of web site optimization.
Assuming the information from the first 3 pages have been utilized, it is time to make sure your site has plenty of quality content. Good web site content does several things. It gives your web site visitors a reason to return, it gives site owners a reason to link to your site (link popularity), and it adds pages for the search engines to index and display in their search results (search saturation).
Content, content and more good content.
Any “relevant” content will due, as long as it is useful to the visitor. Original content is best (but more difficult). This will not only add quality pages to your site, but attract visitors. The more often new content is added, the more of an increase in repeat visitors. Make sure it is useful and relevant to your site, or you will only “water it down” which can have an opposite effect. Good content will then encourage others to link to your site. The infamous “backlinks”. Link popularity is very important for both ranking high in the SERP’s (search engine results pages) as well as sending traffic to your site through these links.
HINT: We are a webmaster related site. What we provide for free to our visitors is webmaster related. Intern, we get repeat visitors. But we must continue to add and improve our content or they may no longer feel the need to return.
Link popularity or back links.
If your content is valuable to your visitors and they own sites with similar subject matter, they may link to your site. Google uses incoming links to your site (one of many) in the calculation of your web site’s Google PR or Google PageRank. PageRank is part of what determines the “importance” of your web pages (according to Google). The more sites (with SIMILAR SUBJECT MATTER), that link to yours, the better your Google ranking becomes. For example, a hundred related sites linking to yours is more valuable then a thousand unrelated sites. You can find targeted back links using our back links finder. Some sites require a reciprocal link back to theirs and other sites do not, but both are worth exploring.
Keep in mind, many seo companies will offer services at a fee and claim to “increase PR”, “Get you listed on page 1”, etc. Make sure they are legitimate if you decide to try one out. They should have no problem sending you actual references from clients. NEVER trust an SEO company that sends you unsolicited emails or spam.
Adding an invitation on your web pages like “Feel free to link to this page” or a “Link to Us” page containing links and banner suggestions is a good idea. It’s not the fasted way to increase your link popularity, but it won’t hurt. You can also offer other sites content that “plugs” into something valuable on your site, like news feeds for example, that link to your site. Trading links with similar sites is good, but avoid “link farms”. Link farms are pages that contain “directories” of unrelated content. They are often built with programs so they can be “loaded to the gills” with links.
HINT: We offer services and tools for others to add to their own site, that utilize our resources. The free content contains a link back to us. The purchased content does not.
Search engine saturation.
The more content your site has, the more pages the search engines will index. This increases your chances of being found in their search results. Plus, a larger site is often taken more seriously by the SE’s, which will help increase your web site ranking. Make sure the pages are individually optimized as discussed on pages 1-3.
Branding
This is also important. It’s an old but very effective method. Even four year olds today know what “Google” is, and “Pepsi”, “Coca Cola”, “Xerox”, etc. How many times have you said “grab me a Coke” instead of “soda” or “pop”. Or “Where can I Xerox this page” instead of “copy”. We all do it without even realizing it. Now “branding” or creating an “Icon” is very, very difficult and may never “take off”, but starting now certainly won’t hurt. How, well create a physical image or icon that says your business (without having to say it). How many times have people seen the Nike symbol with the words “Nike” before the symbol alone said it? A lot is an understatement, but images do stick. At SearchBliss, I use a dragonfly icon. I’m sure there are at least a few out there who would say “SearchBliss” when looking at it (even if they can’t tell what it is). Another example is the “Olympic rings”. Well, you get the point.
