With all the “How To” articles, and great advice available online today, great website promotion and running a successful online business still comes down to the simple act of providing great service and helping people with their concerns and/or problems. This article will give 4 key points in providing great website promotion.

1. Fantastic Customer Service

2. Upfront and Visible Contact Information and Support Services

3. Useful and Informative Content

4. Keep it Simple

Incredibly, myself included, we always seem to get carried away with following the latest promotion tips and trends that seem to be the current craze at the time. Granted, it is imperative as entrepreneurs to always have an open mind to new technologies, and marketing techniques. However, we must not forget the simple and proven tasks of being available to help others out. Successful website promotion at its core is all about the customer, or the person browsing your website. In this age of virtually instant communication, positive “word of mouth” recommendations and feedback of other’s about your site/product is absolutely invaluable to the long term health, growth, and sustainability of your endeavors.

You might be saying “We all already know that fantastic customer service is important” However, do you realize how important? Large corporations spend literally hundreds of millions a year just on customer surveys which evaluate their companies effectiveness to their consumer. If you have not yet sent out a simple survey asking your customers/clients, etc of how you can serve them better, this should become your next project this coming week. Overall however there are a couple key things to remember in providing “Fantastic Customer Service”.

1. Prompt and quick response to any questions/comments received.

2. Provide prompt solutions and/or advice as soon as possible

3. Always keep customers/clients advised of the steps you are taking to help them.

(IE If you cannot find an immediate solution, advise them, of the additional steps you are attempting to take on their behalf)

5. Send out a quarterly survey to a random group asking them what you could improve on.

6. Finally, take steps to initiate at least one new tool every quarter to help improve the Fantastic Customer Service you already provide. (This is what wills et you apart)

Providing Visible customer contact information, and help resources is another important step in providing Fantastic customer service. In today’s world most customers like to be able to have resources available in order for them to resolve their own concerns/questions. By the time a customer calls or emails you it is often too late, and your customer is probably already agitated. Here are a few suggestions to help your consumer solve some of their own concerns, should they choose to do so. Remember, the faster a concern is addressed and solved, the more, and better recognition you will receive as that customers shares their experience about you, your product, and/or website.

1. Keep an updated and thorough FAQ section. (Make sure it is easy to find)

2. If possible integrate a trouble ticket support system (This way the customer can always access, and see the status of their question/concern)

3. Consider integrating a live help system(Again, offering an immediate solution vs. making customers wait for a response.) I would recommend http://www.phplivesupport.com/

5. Consider creating a support forum for all users to ask questions and be able to search through answers to past questions.

In this section I will combine the “Useful and Informative Content” with “Keeping it Simple”. There have been many articles written on the importance of having useful and informative content on your website. Not only does this help you in your quest to achieve a high search engine ranking, especially with Google, but perhaps even more importantly you are once again providing a useful service to your customers and/or clients. I realize much should not have to be said about this topic, however I will finish this article stressing the importance of “Keeping it Simple” I have seen many websites that do have large volumes of great and useful information.

Many times this is done in hopes of achieving a greater ranking in the search engines. However, what these websites have gained in content, they have lost in simple website navigation. Keep in mind, that studies have shown, that that average website visitor is looking to find a solution in under one minute. Combining great content with a simple and easy user interface will not only improve your website’s functionality, but produce even more satisfied and repeat customers.

With only a few simple adjustments to your customer service policies, can result in the best promotional campaign you have ever implemented. This will start you well on your way in achieving exponential growth in website traffic, revenue, and customer satisfaction.

Darren currently owns and is involved with various online marketing and management companies. He is the author of “How to get Listed in Google within 72 Hours” and prides himself on offering support and helping many individuals and business customers achieve top 10 rankings within Google in an extremely short time frame. http://www.marketingoutlet.com/google_article.htm

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Darren_Herbold

As webmasters are well aware, getting traffic is one thing; retaining that traffic can often be the tricky part. Surely we’ve all run across sites from time to time that were easy to stumble upon, but then made us scratch our head wondering how in the holy heck it got there, and what in the world did it do to deserve such choice rankings or links from other worthy sites. Unfortunately for webmasters, there isn’t any one formula for a tacky site people won’t ever want to step foot in again. There are however, several things that can be done to prevent that dreaded situation.

Boost Your Content It goes without saying that you cannot just have a website with the basic “Home”, “FAQ”, “About Us”, and “Contact” pages. Those represent grease on the wheel, so to speak. Having just those pages will make for one terribly boring site, while omitting them will make for a choppy site where people are bound to get stuck without these important navigation tools. Always include these whenever possible!

In addition though, you absolutely must, have a healthy amount of quality content. If you are selling something, this is especially important. Your visitors want to see you as an authority on your subject if they are going to buy your product or service. For example, if you are selling pet food – write some articles on pet nutrition, and heck – throw in some articles on pet care in general! Going this extra mile will not only make better use of your keywords, but also show you want to provide your valued browsers with relevant information instead of just selling to them. This also does wonders toward the end goal, which is to keep these guests interested enough to stick around and even bookmark you for later visits. Another great tool is to have something interactive for your visitors, like polls or even forums. Include them for input, and you’ll automatically make them feel as though they’re participating instead of just reading.

Use Appropriate Syntax Always, always ALWAYS keep your audience in mind, and write your content accordingly. You don’t want your articles to sound like a college thesis if you’re trying to do a gaming site any more than you want to sound like you’re goofing around in a chat room if your site is trying to sell floor laminate. Think about who will be reading the site, and match the tone so as to not alienate your readers. Nobody wants to read what may be really good content, in a format that is distracting or abnormal to them. Ask for feedback if you must, but remember who your target audience is, and be sure to write for them above all else.

Make It Nice To Navigate One of the most annoying things you can do to your visitor, is to make them have to hunt down what they’re looking for. Make your sidebar clear, concise and easy to use. If you stop and think of what kind of information you would want as a new visitor, you can usually pull this off. For example, if you’re selling a service, do not neglect to to list rates and hours of service; if it’s a product, don’t forget size specifications and shipping guidelines; if it’s a store then think about including a map and even a picture of the storefront for added recognition. Make all of these things easy to find!

In short, put yourself in the shoes of someone visiting for the first time, and be sure to include the information they will expect when deciding whether or not to pursue your products and/or services. Again, have someone unfamiliar with your business or hobby give you feedback on what you may be missing. All too often, people are so used to knowing everything about their subject, they forget others aren’t as familiar and need help. This again, can and will alienate visitors. Having an outsider’s perspective will greatly reduce the chances of omitting something obvious to you, but all too necessary for your visitors.

Add The Attraction Factor Yes, this is the frosting folks. Only very select audiences actually want just the cake, so make it palatable and nice looking. Don’t flood your navigation links with ad’s, and remember to use colors with universal appeal whenever possible. Good color and pattern schemes will give it the wow factor it needs for users to experience that moment where they realize they’ve come across a truly well made website. Pay attention to your images, spacing, font selection and link placement. As with all other steps, don’t hesitate to get feedback – from multiple people, preferably!

These are just a few tips for now, on how to retain that traffic once you do manage to get it coming in. Remember, your visitors don’t just want good looks or loads of content. And with careful, intuitive foresight, you shouldn’t ever have to sacrifice one for the other. So find the balance, and see where it leads.

Kimberly Bodane – www.helpmyhits.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kimberly_Bodane

Maybe you’ve heard that an article directory can make a killing in affiliate or Google Adsense income, but there are some more things you need to know when you start yours.

Here are the first basic steps involved in starting your own article directory:

1) Get an article directory script.
2) Buy a good domain name that gives some indication of what your site is about.
3) Buy web hosting for it.
4) Set the script up or get someone else to set it up if you don’t know how to set up scripts.

Obviously an article directory script won’t do you any good if you don’t do anything with it. The number one internet business killer is lack of action. You would be amazed at how many people buy everything they need to start an online business and then do absolutely nothing with it.

Once the site is all set up, your next step is to get traffic to the site. Here are some more things you need to do to draw traffic:

1. An empty directory never did anybody any good. The first thing you need to do to get some traffic to your new directory is put some articles in it. No one wants to submit to an empty directory. There are plenty of article directories out there with free reprint articles. With all the other article directories out there that you can use as a source of articles, there’s no excuse for your directory to be empty.

I don’t recommend buying an article directory script that has articles already in it. You do not want your directory to look like everyone else’s with the same articles.

Consider starting an article directory geared towards a niche. That way you won’t be competing with other article directories for traffic. Everyone knows that niche marketing can be more profitable than catering to an untargeted market, and this applies to article directories, as well.

2. Don’t be the only author on your site. Start your directory out with articles from other authors. Then you can add your own articles to your heart’s content. The exception to the rule would be if this is a site where you’ve specifically stated up front that the purpose is to showcase your own work, but you welcome other authors to submit their work as well.

3. Keep your directory backed up. Web servers are more stable than personal computers, but they’re not perfect. Data corruption and hard drive failures on web servers happen very rarely, but they do happen. Many web hosting companies do backups but some charge you to restore from the backup. When choosing a article directory script, choose one with built-in back-up capabilities or choose a web host that makes backing up your site very easy, such as Cpanel hosting.

4. Submit your own articles to other article sites with a link to your own article directory in the resource box. Keep in mind that if you are submitting ghostwritten or private label articles to your own directory, you cannot submit these articles to other sites unless they are significantly modified–I’m talking 75% or more. Yes, that’s right! You may need to write a few articles of your own. This is not a big deal. If you have private label articles, you can use these to get plenty of ideas to write your own articles.

Submit your article directory to the major search engines, including Google, Yahoo, and other high traffic search engines. Don’t pay anyone to submit your site (unless you’ve got money to throw away). You can do this yourself for free.

5. Syndicate it – Be sure to buy an article directory script with RSS capabilities built in so that web content publishers can link to your site for fresh content for their own websites. One key to continuous traffic is to update your content regularly. Syndication is a great way for your updated content to get re-published over and over again. Search engines love syndicated content.

6. Don’t stop! To keep your site alive you need to either constantly add new articles or constantly promote your site or preferably both.

One mistake I see lots of article directory sites making is that their target market consists of article authors and content seekers. Of course you need authors, but think about it. Are authors really going to click on ads on your site? The people who are most likely to click on ads are people seeking information. Authors come to your site to get visibility for their work, not to buy something. Information seekers are frequently potential buyers doing research before they choose to take out their wallet. Market your directory to information seekers as well as authors and webmasters.

Give visitors to your new site something useful to start with and your traffic will grow from there, along with your profits.

Donna Knight is a Computer Trainer and Website Promotion Specialist. She has built over 270 websites and helps new site owners promote their site cheaply. For tips that will help you save money and save time when marketing online, visit Internet Marketing Tools and Reviews blog at www.DonnaKnight.com . Copyright (c) 2006 Donna Knight.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Donna_Knight

So you have made a great article and certainly it needs to be distributed across the web helping lot of readers and generating traffic to your website. A quality article with good information goes a long place over the Internet ensuring loads of one way incoming links, high position in SERPS and permanent traffic propelling your website to new heights.

The first step will be to submit your articles to the article directories. There are hundreds of general and niche article directories which are ready to publish your quality articles with back links to your website(s). The question is how you are going to do the submissions and which directories are you going to submit in? Certainly you don’t want to see your article on “robotics” on a porn article directory or a sports article wrongly placed in the business category on an article directory.

You may have come across

“Completely automated article submission service that submits your article to thousands of publishers around the globe… IN SECONDS!”

and lot of other software’s which claim to automatically submit articles in thousands of article directories. The charges come very cheap and so is the result. Consider the facts before you utilize a software or service to do automatic submission.

Every article directory is unique and they differ in

Allowing html code in the articles
Having links in the main content
Number of links per article which varies from 2-7
Different categories and sections. (Some may have as less as 12 categories while others have more than 100 categories and the category names are not consistent across the directories) Different types of form input.
Registration and confirmation methods.
CAPTCHA (IMAGE Confirmation) – A picture with numbers which have to be manually entered.
Approval of articles
Maximum number of articles per user (some of them restrict to 10 articles/user)
Length of articles.

The best article directories are opposed to Automated Submissions and it is considered to be a SPAM. No automated software or service can take into account the above differences of article directories and submit to the article directories. The fact is most of the article directories do a manual review on articles and submissions and will find out the automated submissions sooner or later.

What is Manual article submission and how it is better than automated article submission?

Manual article submission is the process of analyzing where and what to submit in the directories by humans and doing each and every article submission by hand ensuring a good acceptance rate of articles.

Manual article submission involves

Finding the right article directory, creating an unique account and submitting the articles in the right category. Modify the articles as per the need of various directories. This involves Adding and removing html code inside the article as per requirement. Various article directories have different forms to input the articles and the input fields differ from one article directory to other.

Add, Remove, Format and position the links as per specifications. (Some article directories accept only 3 links, some others accept unlimited numbers. Some of the directories accept html codes for links while others have an option in their system for hyper links. Also some directories accept links only in the certain text areas they have provided ) Confirming the article submissions (Image confirmation, email confirmations) wherever needed and co coordinating with the editors of article directories whenever required. The advantage over automated article submission is,

First and foremost, manual article submission is the only method an article directory approves off and automated article submission is considered as SPAM. An article directory is organized into categories and subcategories. Editors review each article submission manually and evaluate the article’s relevance with adequate data. In manual article submission the articles are submitted in the related directory under the right category which is not possible in the case of automated article submission. Automated software can’t adequately submit to any article directory because it cannot study the directory’s structure and decide which category is best suited.

Articles are submitted according to the different input systems of various directories by manual article submission. Whereas automated submission just posts a set of predefined data irrespective of the input fields which results in an incomplete submission followed by rejection. No article directory is skipped in manual article submission. Any Image Confirmation and email confirmation is done immediately which is not possible with automated software. Incase for any reason the article directory is down or the article submission is not through, then it will be done another time.

More emphasis on niche article directories related to your website theme. Good acceptance rate and thus more links compared to an automated submission.

Jeslin Stalin works as Internet researcher and promoter for submitinme.com. You can visit the following links to know more about manual submission services from submitinme.com

http://www.submitinme.com/article-submission-service.asp

http://www.submitinme.com/why-submitinme.asp

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jeslin_Stalin

This article will deal about a very simple but yet effective technique that is easy to implement and that can drive a great number of new visitors to your site.

An increasingly number of webmasters has the returning problem on how to enlarge the flow of visitors to their websites. For the period of the past few years many methods that been developed to solve this dilemma. While most of them would work there are those that would not make even a tiny bang.

One of the things that have spawned many success stories in driving traffic into websites is viral marketing. Viral promotion makes use of the tendency of a human being to share something she finds informative, enjoyable or amazing.

Many websites bank on this behavior to spread their goods and to increase the status of their company or their website. And viral promotion makes use of many mediums in this tempting behavior. It might be in the form of a motivating tale, an addicting flash game, an amusing video and many other ways that may catch a person’s fancy.

This clever form of marketing is characteristically low cost and it is a wonderful tool for any company to utilize. The advantage greatly overshadows the cost or efforts to initialize this marketing plan. Any website would greatly benefit from viral marketing and you can do just that by adding a tell a friend script on your own website.

One of the easiest method in viral advertising niche is a tell a pal script. This is an easy programming script that you can attach to the programming of your website. Usually, tell a friend script is installed in pages where content is placed so that a person can easily send the media to any of his friend.

The essential concept of a tell a friend script is a script in which a person may input his name, e-mail address, the recipient’s e-mail address and send it to the intended recipient much like an e-mail with an attachment. As the receiver receives the e-mail he wouldn’t assume of the mail a spam mail since he would see the sender’s name as someone he or she knows and trust.

Tell a friend script eliminates very much the chances of being blocked because they use the information written by the sender. This allows for wider distribution of this promotion method. I guess you understand that it can be quite sneaky but it is very successful.

With the email sent and opened the sent media will either be read or played. Also along with the mail would be a brief report of the business or site that sponsors the media sent. This allows for the preamble of either the site, company logo or its products. Then along with it is one more tell a friend script.

And the procedure begins again. As more citizens use the tell a friend script, more and more of the populace will know of the existence of the sponsor corporation or site. People who understand the ad inside the mail and who liked what they see would go and click on the link and stopover the site. This drives traffic into the site resulting in a great figure of possible customers.

These kind of scripts are very easy and does not require a complex method of programming. In fact, you can be able to copy paste a script and just put it on an intended page. Finding one is yet simpler.

In the SERP’s page you will see a lot of links that will direct you to a site where you can get a tell a buddy script. It would just be a simple matter of looking and search for the script and copying it to your planned web page.

With a friend script viral marketing plan you can drive traffic into your site which could potentially mean proceeds. This is a simple safe script that offers great reimbursement for low cost paired with great originality and foresight.

It is very important that you have tolerance in using a script. If your chosen page doesn’t get the mileage that is probable of it, it may take some time before it gets spread or public. But for sure many people will see your ad and there is great likelihood that they will visit your site rising your traffic flow.

The author loves Wisonsin and on his site you can learn more about Wisconsin search engine marketing.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Johnny_McKenzie

Ok, you’ve purchased one of those money-maker products and it’s giving you all sorts of ideas for making money online. Now what?

Although it’s possible to generate Internet income without a website, you’ll eventually want one or even several so you can get listed in search results. But don’t forget, search engines love to send visitors to content-rich websites, so you’ll want to cram your sites with useful information. Here’s how it works… Good content impresses your visitors, who are then coaxed into buying.

What can you do to boost your fledgling online business? Study and learn, and then keep studying and learning! I know it sounds like work, but competition on the Internet is fierce and soon only the very knowledgeable will succeed. You can make yourself one of the success stories.

Here’s how to build a website business that will put more online cash in your pocket.

Step 1: Buy a product that includes a free, starter website.

Some money-making products offer a free website after you purchase the package. It’s a great start for your Internet empire, so take advantage of the offer.

Recommended: “Adwords Miracle”, “The Ultimate Wealth Package”, “The Rich Jerk”.

Step 2: Use Adwords ads to get traffic to your website in a hurry.

Check out books from the library or book stores to get familiar with Google Adwords (that’s the name of Google’s pay-per-click (PPC) ad program). These ads appear in the “Sponsored Links” area, to the right of web search results.

How does Adwords work? You pick targeted keywords and write a brief ad to entice your visitors to click. It’s the quickest way to get traffic to your website, but it will cost you. You bid on the keywords you want your ad to be listed for and pay the bid price each time a visitor clicks on your ad.

Recommended: If you have the money, buy at least one information product that teaches the basics of PPC advertising and gives you some insight into the techniques professional marketers use. Two excellent products are “Adwords Miracle” and “Beating Adwords”.

Step 3: Learn some HTML and put Adsense ads on your websites.

You will want to adjust and adapt your websites to add more income-producing content. For example, Google has a free program called Adsense where you place Google Adwords ads on your web pages. Google gives you the instructions making it easy to place Adsense ads on your web pages, as long as you know basic HTML.

Adsense ads are matched to the content on your pages so they’re relevant to your website and of interest to your visitors. If someone clicks on an Adsense ad from your website you get credit for the click at approximately 50% of the per-click cost the ad owner pays Google.

Here’s the benefit of Adsense: if your visitors aren’t ready to buy the products on your website, they may want to click on a relevant Adsense ad instead. If they do, you get some income to offset the cost of any Adwords ad they clicked to get to your site in the first place. In fact, some people actually make a living from Adsense revenue. You could be one of them!

Recommended: Your public library has books and CD-ROMs that can train you in basic HTML. If you prefer online instruction, try the free courses at W3Schools: (http://www.w3schools.com/html/html_intro.asp). For Adsense information: (https://www.google.com/adsense/).

Step 4: Become fluent in SEO (Search Engine Optimization.)

This is a fancy phrase that simply means adjusting the content and some of the HTML to make your websites more appealing to search engines, like Google, Yahoo and MSN. Search engines look for keyword-rich content and certain HTML tags to determine the topic of your site. The more “search engine friendly” you make your website, the higher you will appear in the search results. But why bother, if you’re forking-out cash to have Adwords ads send traffic to your site?

Consider this… Statistics show that searchers trust and click normal search engine results more than Adwords ads. So, if you tweak your site a little bit you will eventually get FREE search placement. Instead of clicking on one of your expensive Adwords ads, a prospective customer will see your website listed in the general search results and click there instead. That, my friend, is a NO COST click! Well worth a little study and some massaging of your website content and HTML.

Recommended: SitePro News. Sign up for their free newsletter about site promotion and search engine optimization at http://www.sitepronews.com. This is a quality site that won’t spam you.

Step 5: Repeat, then repeat again.

Once you’ve mastered the above strategies, you simply create more websites using what you’ve learned. Check the money-making product you originally bought for ideas for website topics and products to sell.

Your Strategy Summary.

Ok, let’s review how the whole process works. Here’s what you do:

(1) Buy a money-making product with a free website that jump-starts your online business.

(2) Use Adwords to generate quick traffic to your website.

(3) Put Adsense ads on your site to offset your Adwords costs.

(4) Tweak your HTML and website content to improve your search engine placement and visitor interest.

(5) Create more websites using the free site as a template and duplicate your success, over and over again.

That’s how money is made on the Internet. There’s no real trick to it, you simply go from one successful website to another, earning a little money from each one. With some study and a certain amount of work, you’ll eventually own a website empire that generates enough cash for you to make a comfortable online living.

Tom Thomas is an Internet marketer who reviews the best money-making products, domain name registrars, website hosting companies and online marketing tools. See his reviews at http://BestMoneyMakersGuide.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tom_Thomas

The vast majority of website traffic is driven by the major commercial search engines, Yahoo, MSN and Google (although AOL gets nearly 10% of searches, their engine is powered by Google’s results). If your site cannot be found by these search engines or your content cannot be put into their databases, you will miss out on the incredible opportunities available to websites provided via search – you get people who want what you have visiting your site – for free. Whether your site provides content, services, products, or information, search engines are the gateway to the web for most internet users. With the amount of free traffic available it is obvious that the top places on any of the major search engines are very lucrative pieces of internet real-estate.

So what do I need to get started?

The days of throwing a few pages onto a website and immediately driving traffic to it by doubtful means are over, the search engines are now much cleverer than they used to be, and their techniques for finding bogus sites are improving all the time. In this article I assume you are not looking for a “quick buck” return on your website, but are looking to build a business that will provide a regular income for years to come. First let’s look at some internet history.

A brief history of website promotion

In the early years – pre 1999 what was on the pages of your website pretty much determined where you ranked on the then dominant search engines Yahoo , AltaVista, Lycos and MSN. By placing your keywords – those words for which you wished to be found – in certain places within your web page you could persuade the search engines to place you at the top of their listings. As the content of your own web page is totally under your control, this was obviously open to widespread abuse, and abused it was. At one time just by repeating your keywords multiple times on a single page you could get to the top of the listings by giving the search engines what they were looking for – a high keyword density.

Then in 1998 Google was formed by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, two PhD students from Stanford University in California. The nature of the internet is links, and Google’s new idea was to use what other websites said about your website in their text links, to decide what your site was about. In addition, in Google’s view, the more websites that had links pointing to you, the more important you must be, and therefore the more worthy you were of a top place in their listing. You gained your top place by the number of “votes” you were given from other websites.

So the introduction of Google began a new direction for the way search engines awarded their top places, and – with a few variations, all of the major search engines now use a similar method to determine their order of merit for listed sites.

Incidentally this is probably a good time to make a statement: There is no “natural” measure of the merit of a website. Each search engine marks a website up or down by it’s own set of rules, but those rules are an artificial creation of the search engine’s algorithm. Evidence for the preceding statement has come from research by Netrazer.com, where we found that 6 out of 10 results produced by each of the major search engines do not overlap with any other search engine. To put it another way 6 out of 10 answers to any question are different depending on which search engine you ask! What do the other 4 out of 10 have in common that makes them rank so well in more than one engine? More of that later.

The history of ink building

So the stage is set for the great link building race from about spring 2000. As with keyword “stuffing” before, website promoters soon found that the more links they had, the better they did in the search engine results. More was better and much more was even better. Websites were created with the sole intention of using them as sources for links, and until about 2004 this was a strategy that worked well.

However Google is not loaded with PhD’s in information theory for nothing, and from the spring of that year several changes to Google’s algorithm took place to weed out the more obvious “link farms”, as they are called, that had led , in Google’s view, to a degradation of its search results. Increasingly the only links that counted were those that looked “natural” and “organic”. That is to say a link between websites whose main purpose is to inform or educate rather than one which had been placed solely with the purpose of increasing the link count to boost search engine rankings. Life was getting more difficult for those wanting to make a living from the ‘net. One thing is certain though, good quality incoming links to your website will be important for the foreseeable future in getting and maintaining top search engine rankings.

So how do I promote my website now?

From our research we have found a few things that will promote your website in the search engines for the longer term. Theses are not fads, but basic rules that should keep the free search engine traffic coming to your site for years to come.

Create good content. You will need at least five or six good pages of original content to start with. Add pages over time, but always ask yourself “would an ordinary person interested in the subject of my website be genuinely interested in what I’ve written?” If the answer is no then the search engines either now or in the future will also be similarly disinterested. Apart from that put your keywords in the title and once or twice near the top of the page, but no more!

Create good “organic links” from a large number of external sites by offering link swaps to other webmasters.

Offer a three or four way swap between two or three websites rather than just a reciprocal link as search engines apply a discount to those now. Use a semi-automated system like Netrazer to take out most of the hard work, but avoid “one size fits all” e-mails.

Vary the landing page of your links. Point some of the links you swap to pages in your site other than your index page. Sites with links only to their index page look very artificial.

Don’t use artificial tricks such as “cloaking” or “re-direction”. If you are asking yourself if you should use a technique or not, pretend that Google has phoned you up asking for an explanation. Could you give them a straight answer? If not don’t do it.

In the next article we will cover link building and how to get the most for your money and effort.

Ben James
Senior Analyst
Netrazer.com

Ben James is a senior analyst with Netrazer.com
ben.james@netrazer.com
http://www.netrazer.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ben_Z_James