OK...you've got a great idea...you planned it out...you purchased a domain...and you've built your website...and it looks good...
so why aren't you getting millions of viewers coming every day to see your great website? Why isn't it like those TV ADs where someone throws up their website and they look at the stats and the numbers start flying by...within minutes they have thousands of viewers?
Why?
Because that's TV and this is real...
the fact is, if you don't have media or other internet connections, or lots of dough to throw into advertising, getting your website known is going to take two things:
1. time
2. a lot of hard work
Sure, if you know someone at FOX who can plug your site, or can spend thousands of dollars on advertising, or know someone at a page rank 8 or better site who can link and help promote your site...it'll be a whole lot easier...
but, if those don't apply to you...
then get ready to bust your ass...because that's the only way you're going to get anywhere.
Then there's places like Digg...they can help...if...you have content that Diggers want...and know independent people who will submit that content...if you are only Digging your stuff it soon gets pegged as Spam and you'll never see the front page...and the front page is the only page on Digg that matters.
You could, of course, spend a year or so Digging other people's stuff...that would give you some credibility with the regulars...but then...that applies to all the social networking sites...if you are willing and able to spend the time networking yourself...
refer back to number 1 above...
1. time
So...you have a great website...but no money...and no contacts ( no ones that can help boost your site anyways )...and you work, or have kids, or both, so you don't have the time to spend hours every day networking on Digg or Facebook...
Well...eventually if you do nothing...the search engines will pick you up...eventually...
I have friends who have websites that have been around for years who are barely even listed...my brother has several websites that you'd only find by sheer accident...they're successful websites, but only because of personal non-internet contacts...the only people who ever go there are clients...
there are literally millions of websites/blogs on the net that no one has ever heard of and probably never will...
yes...the search engines DO pick them up...they DO eventually get listed...but...don't expect people to come rampaging through your door...it's not going to happen.
Then...you could get lucky! Right time, right place scenario...WhooooHooo! You got a winner! It DOES happen...people also win lotteries, and get hit by lightning without getting more than a scratch, and fall 4 stories and get away with just a headache and a sore back...
if you rely on luck...then good luck to ya!
Barring the intervention of the Gods of Luck...there is one...ONE...option for the penniless, workaholic, who lacks the social network required to boost his/her site...
good ole' fashioned elbow grease.
If you're lazy...stop right here...go no further...we wouldn't want to give you a heart attack...
yes...elbow grease...good ole' fashioned ' work ethic '...
1. Join as many popular forum communities as you can...and place your link in your signature...make a few posts...preferably, if time allows, a few posts a year at each site
2. Make sure you have a good description of your site in your meta description...a good quality title...and relevant META tag keywords ( even though most of the popular search engines ignore meta keyword tags, a lot of the lesser search engines still place a value on them )...
NEVER repeat a keyword more than 3 times on the page or in the meta keyword...any more than 3 and it will be considered keyword spamming...
3. treat each page as if it were it's own website...with it's own title, description, and keywords ( even though I haven't had time to do this myself )
4. submit your site by hand to as many website directories as you are able...DO NOT use those useless sites that submit automatically to several at once...most directories will view automatic submission as Spam...you have to hand submit to each one yourself...or don't bother at all...
5. if you can write up a Press Release...there are several press release sites that allow free submissions...and even though they won't create tons of traffic they will get your name out there...
eg. I recently put out a Press Release and on a search of crappy site awards it's number two and three of 161,000...just on that one search term alone...
the fact is...the more diverse/varied your search terms are the easier it'll be for people to find you...
ultimately...you want to have as many ways for people to come across your site as is humanly possible to create...
6. if you're a good writer...you can submit articles to article houses...there are several out there that you can freely submit your articles to...each article allows you a link back and a description
7. blog about your website...without spamming it...if you have time or can make time create a blog, post every day, ping it everyday...and talk about stuff relevant to your website...with links back to it...a blog will get noticed quicker than a website and will get page ranked before a website...and will traditionally get page ranked higher than a website because it has new relevant content every day...
8. go to relevant websites and submit your site to their links...most will link if you link back...reciprocal linking is discouraged by the search engines...they prefer one-way links...so reciprocal linking will not help your page rank or your position in searches...but...
it will help you to get your site more noticed...the more links out there the easier it is for people to find you...
NEVER use link farms...EVER! Link and banner exchange programs are a good way for you to get tagged as spam...even blocked by search engines.
9. only place relevant links to other similar sites on your pages...( even though I don't follow this myself ) the more relevant links you have the better...but do not exceed 100 total links on a page...you will not be penalized for having more than 100 but the search engines will not generally look beyond the first 100...
search engines are very ' topic ' or ' theme ' oriented...they like websites that have a very particular topic or theme...and they penalize sites ( like TheTAZZone.com ) who don't follow a particular theme...
10. never exceed 100kb per page...it's believed by most top SEO companies that search engines only index the first 100kb of a page...so anything beyond that is wasted
11. remember...you do not have the luxury that people did years ago...the Internet is huge now...more competition...you're not competing against a few sites that are similar to yours...you are now competing against 1000's of sites just like yours who have been around longer than you have.
This is where some originality comes into play...do something to make your site different than everything else out there...something that makes your site unique...if you create a site just like Cnet, that's a great site...but if it's the same as Cnet then why would anyone bother to go to a copy of Cnet when they have the original?
12. interactivity...make your site interactive...you have to give your visitors something to do...if there's nothing to do they will leave. They will come, look, and leave.
And...it has to be something that they want.
13. what is your demographic? What audience are you trying to get/reach? Over 50, under 20, between 20 and 40? Male or Female? Shoppers or Window watchers? Black or white? English or Asian?
Who are you trying to cater to? You have to think about what traffic you're interested in...and then cater to that demographic...a targeted promotional campaign will be more successful than a general one.
14. The Internet, search engines, like ' niches ' ...they want you to pin-hole yourself into a specific category, theme, concept, demographic...the more specific your site is the more likely it will be to gain a targeted audience...but...you can be too specific as well...which is bad...
because the more specific you are the more limited your target audience will be.
For this reason TheTAZZone.com will never be a highly page ranked website or have the blessing of the search engines...because it flies in the face of themed based websites. But...it was never created for the search engines it was created for our community...so...if you need an example of what not to do...go to http://www.thetazzone.com
by contrast... http://www.thegameszone.org is an example of what to do...it is very theme oriented...and will likely do very well if I can find the time to follow my own advice
...but even in the case of thegameszone it breaks the rules...I should not have links to the forum or knowledgebase there as they are not game related.to be continued another time...maybe...
