HANDY TO KNOW
where to start with a website?
how to get listed with google?
what about updating my website?
What is a domain name?
WHAT
IS A DOMAIN NAME?
HOSTING
OF YOUR DOMAIN NAME
You
need to register your own domain name.
I encourage clients to register their own domain as it then belongs to them 100%.
See deals at www.bisnet.co.za, or google for reputable host.
I can assist in your application to this host.
Ask me if you are uncertain on how to proceed.
I need the log in or FTP (file transfer) codes to upload your website.
REGISTRATION OF YOUR DOMAIN NAME
WHAT
IS A DOMAIN NAME?
www.domain.co.za
Your domain name is a name selected by yourself and registered by you.
It refers to an address, similar to your street address.
The address
then shows browsers where to VISIT you online.
It is preceded by www and ends with co.za - the extension for RSA
Organizations and companies can also have extensions
such as .org or .com
and .gov for government departments.
Where .com and .net has been reserved in the past for international companies
THIS IS NO LONGER THE CASE.
Anyone can register any type of domain (except government domains)
and it is the Search Engine Optimization that determines where you get ranked.
HOSTING
OF YOUR DOMAIN NAME
Hosting refers to renting a bi of space on a server (computer) that everyone
has access to -
called a host.
The price depends on the size of the
space you rent and on the perks offered.
Select the best
size for your web - average website is 200MB space - that is HARD DRIVE
SPACE.
It depends on how big a website you need - 200MB is fine for relative simple website 10 pages.
Do you need a shopping cart
or gallery - then you might need more space?
Remember you can always upgrade to a bigger size later as your website grows.
PLEASE
NOTE - the site is registered IN YOUR NAME -
the account is set up with
YOUR HOST IN YOUR NAME -
No fees from me - the contract is between you and the host -
you deal directly
with them.
WHERE to start with a website?
DESIGN COSTS
INFO THAT I NEED FROM YOU
HOW I WORK
DESIGN COSTS
The Design Fee is a ONCE OFF and
is payable, to me.
A DEPOSIT is expected UPFRONT.
My fee does not include domain registration or hosting.
There is no contract or other fees payable.
Once designed the web is yours - you own full copyright.
Please talk to me if you would like to make arrangements for payment.
maximum 30 DESIGN DAYS
All websites are up and running in 10 days
I stick to finalizing a website in 30 days.
THE 30 DESIGN DAYS count start on date of receiving payment and FTP login.
Work done AFTER 30 days will be charged per hour.
Please ensure there are no delays in feedback, lack of cooperation or late submission of material.
INFO THAT I NEED FROM YOU
VERY NB |
HOW I WORK
I design with your help and guidance
You can chop and change pics for the whole 30 days of design
You check the progress online and through commenting, approval and elimination
we finalize a website look.
7 STEPS
KEYWORDS AND CONTACT FIRST
I load keywords and a contact page first
>>to allow any would be browsers who do access your web to be able to contact you
>>to allow the search engines to start the task of indexing your website
I SEND YOU VISUAL SAMPLES
I send you first few images via email or on your webspace.
TEMPLATES SET UP
Once the image is finalized I break it into a template with areas for copy and pictures
TEST FUNCTIONALITY
I then load basically 'empty' pages to test the buttons and links
FILL PAGES
The pages are finalized one by one and self editing started if you selected that option
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
The website is submitted to all the major search engines such as google, yahoo and bing
with a sitemap to allow proper indexing
START LINKING
I guide you in your initial link exchanges but it is a growing process that you should be doing on a continuous basis
HOW SEARCH ENGINES WORK
SEARCH ENGINES pick up keywords and links from websites and index them.
When a browser searches for those keywords the results are provided
on a search list,
ranking the order from most probable at the top and least at the bottom.
Your ranking or order – top or bottom on the
list is important as browsers tend to look at only the top 10.
So
how does this ranking work?
Search Engines such as Google or Yahoo pick up keywords from your websites
using small programs that 'crawl' through your site, called 'spiders'.
Such a web crawler (also known as a Web spider or Web robot) is a program
or automated script
which browses the World Wide Web in a methodical,
automated manner.
It picks up your keywords, visitors count, most visited pages and any
links on each page.
It also makes notes of the date of last changes
– the names of your photos for their image searches
and your type
of business and makes an index of all.
HOW DO I GET THE SPIDERS TO VISIT MY WEBSITE?
All domains get visited by the spiders of search engines. As soon as
your website is registered a spider will have marked your site to be
visited.
There is no way to force a spider to visit your web –
you can merely feed the search engine with a new site or new info –
it logs your request and the spider visits on a scheduled time.
The only way to force it, is to list with a search engine on one of
its advertising campaigns for an agreed fee each month – see Google
Adsense.
HOW
CAN I INFLUENCE MY RANKING?
There is NO GUARANTEE that your website
will appear at the top of the list, and not every time.
The only way you can guarantee this is by subscribing to a
search engine's SPECIFIC LISTING such as Google Adsense at a monthly
cost.
From the designers
point there are a few basic principals ensuring they maximize the search
engine’s indexing:
Design elements such as keywords, page naming, picture naming and easy
navigation are strictly followed to ensure we give each client maximum
exposure in their specific field. We are also very conscious not to
abuse it – (Google are continuously updating their spiders/programs
to blacklist websites trying to jump the search queue or shortcut spider
visits).
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO) has developed
into a science on its own, and new and better
methods are devised all the time.
Also see google listing and how to push visitors to your site to see how you can actively get involved in pushing your own websites ranking!
HOW TO MONITOR MY RANKING
Your website statistics are an important tool to enable you to see the effects your efforts had on improving the ranking and visits
of your website and direct any future strategies at search engine optimization.
Most hosts will have some type of monitoring method in use and be able
to give you access to your web traffic statistics.
There are also many free and paid web monitor software available
that you can use by simply giving them your URL.
Your web results will give you exact statistics how browsers found your
website -
From a printed advert,
from search through google,
from
a link
from one of the directories
or from a friends website.
This is valuable information to show you exactly where you should concentrate on adding your website links!
YOUR MINDSET
You have to think of your website as a live salesperson out there selling
your business, it is not a tax form once completed and posted you can
tick it off as 'completed'.
How to market
your website
Your website is an advertising tool, BUT UNLIKE an advert placed in a magazine-
it is not done once
off, and left on the www for other browsers to eventually find.
You should view it as a salesman out there selling your web
and should be equipped regularly with new info, new sales pitches and new strategies!!
FIVE WAYS TO BOOST TRAFFIC TO YOUR WEB
1. SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
4. Direct marketing such as an email newsletter
5. Print or multimedia advertising
Are you
at the top of the list or at the bottom?
(This is how easy browsers
find your website through google or yahoo?)
Although the initial listing with a search engine
is in the hands of the website designer the crawl up or down on ranking
ladder of the search engine can be greatly influenced by the website
owner themselves and their involvement with their website.
How can you as a website owner contribute?
To understand SEO you have to know
>>how search engines work
>>you have to know your market
SEO
is now a science and there are companies doing this exclusively.
2. DESIGN
Fancy design, graphics or animation is not the answer to pulling visitors!!
Something taking too long to download? -
Browsers will leave your site with the click of a button!
The following factors influence the likelyhood of browsers selecting your site above others
SPEED of your site
>> EASE of functionality - moving from one page to another
>> KISS - keep it short and simple - don't have long pages of copy. Remeber - VISUAL WEBSITES RULE!!
>> UPFRONT and easy contact details
>> INTERACTIVITY - Wonderful for building client relationships
>> KEEP YOUR WEBSITE UPDATED - A browser will never stay in an 'old' site or revisit 'old' info!
What is of NB to me as a website designer (not necessarily reflected by all designers)
1. Exchange links with all friends, family and acquaintances.
2.
Search for listings and directories on your category of business
Some
offer free services, others request a yearly advertising fee.
Specifically
select those subscribing to Google adsense or with great page ranking!
Getting a good google rating alone is not going to ensure your business growth –
A website is ‘successful’ if you actively push people to your web site.
The most assured DIRECT way to achieve this is with an email newsletter.
It has been called the most effective little marketing tool of this century!!
To
achieve this you need to explore the following
>> determine target markets and how to get a growing database
of clients
>> composing of your email newsletter
(this is a very specific science: to create growth -
forward to a friend
/ subscription, not to offend / not simulate spam)
>> also set up your website + email newsletter to actively communicate
with your client –
INTERACTIVITY is the KEY to good customer
relationships.
I do not promote SPAM – you only approach people
specifically interested in your product !
Even though it would appear invalid after going
to the expense of setting up a website –
This is still VERY MUCH
a magazine/newspaper reading society.
Always add a teaser to the advert inviting them to your website
where more info or a competition will be revealed! Thereby pushing visitors to your website!
The trick is to use the advert as a pushing strategy to your website
-
a simple advert in one magazine
could generate 300 visitors
to a client's site 3 days in a row!!
Something that is hard for a search engine spider to ignore!!
The one factor that truly positively affects the response on a website Those clients that view their website as exciting, |
Ways To Get Listed In Google
| Search engine optimization Submit URL Direct To Get Linked From A Site That Google Crawls UPDATE YOUR WEBSITE REGULARLY PUSH VISITORS LINK EVERYWHERE Banner Exchanges Pay Per Click such as AddSense from Google |
THE WAY NOT TO DO IT
The basic way to get a site listed in Google is to go to the 'Google submit a site' page, enter your details and then leave the search engine to do its business. But this is inefficient. The pages themselves will tell you that it can take 6 weeks to get listed and once you do, there is very little power in getting listed this way. You might have seen these adverts for companies and products that will submit you to the major search engines every month, quarter or whatever. And they charge you quite a lot for it, money that you are wasting. If you are listed in the search engines then they do not need to be reminded that you exist. If you are not listed, then you need to get to the root cause of why you are not listed rather than constantly plaguing the search engines by reminding them that you exist. I show you ways to get listed in Google, some that I can do from my side and some that you need to do from your side!! |
WHAT I DO FOR YOUR WEBSITE WHEN DESIGNING
Search
engine optimization
I add metatags to your website with keywords that
browsers can use to find your web.
I add functional links and alternative
text to all images - to maximise these keywords.
I then direct google and yahoo to send their 'keyword search programs' to your web - called spiders
to list all these keywords and index your website correctly.
Submit Direct To
I feed your website's URL directly to the main search engines
namely google, yahoo,
bing etc.
with a list of all your pages.
Get Linked From A Site That Google Crawls
To get listed on Google quickly (and the other
search engines),
you need some links in from 'authority' websites.
This means websites that already have a ranking of 3 or higher (ranking out of 10).
As a website designer I do this by linking from my own website - ranking = 3,
- new
webs are listed upfront, older webs are in the portfolio section.
What YOU NEED TO DO
(although I kickstart this for you, by suggesting links and advertising opportunities)
UPDATE
YOUR WEBSITE REGULARLY
A search engine does not waste any time on stagnant websites,
(webs that served their goal, is not updated,
and now simply floats in the www
without the services offered any more.)
For
this reason search engine spiders are set to note updated content.
Every time you update content, it will be noted,
and this
way old websites are sieved out and websites with updated content,
especially daily, are moved up the rank.
| This makes sense - as very few browsers visit a website to read
the same, or old, content. Add a time banner or newsletter to your website - nothing clicks out of your web faster than a browser seeing a 2008 date on the front page!! |
PUSH
VISITORS
In the beginning of a webs life it is very difficult
to get high scores of visitors
and yet these scores of visitors
are exactly what is needed
to push your search engines ranking.
As top ranking is not an option in the beginning (being a new web)
you cannot rely on browsers to find your web at first.
You need
to utilise other options to create visitors, such as link exchange
and advertising.
LINK EVERYWHERE - WHY ARE LINKS SO VALUABLE?
Search engines determine the value that they give to a site based
on how many links there are pointing to that website.
The more links
that exist that are pointing to your website the more popular your
website is deemed to be.
And it is this popularity that makes your
site interesting to the search engines and what makes them want
to list you higher.
If your web is set up to self update you can add links yourself or ask me (your webmaster) to add links.
THE TREASURE HUNT FOR VALUABLE LINKS
VALUABLE links are links to companies that can ENHANCE your business
but is not in competition with you.
Start by having a look at the SIMILAR webs to yours, what links do they list?
Then Google search for Directories / Listings, SPECIFIC online directories for your services
What are their conditions of listing? ie link exchange - yearly fee - join their organization?
LINKS needs to be sensible - google picks up keywords on the link page as well as the linked page and ranks it higher if the content is similar or related to the same product!!
EXCHANGING LINKS
Link exchanges seem to be a very confusing matter to most new website owners.
The principle is very simple - you have something that's of value to all other website owners -
website space and the opportunity to link and boost their website!
You basically 'sell' space on your website by
exchanging your space ie exchanging links.
This is something that you have to research and set up yourself as owner of your web -
have a look at companies that can add value to your website
and approach them for a link exchange opportunity.
ALWAYS CHECK LINKS AFTER SET UP
Have a look on your web for a link - click to ensure it opens IN ITS OWN TAB.
Never direct pages away from your website.
