Increase Site Traffic

Q: How can I increase the number of visitors to my website?  Why isn't my site one of the first listed in the search engines like Yahoo & Google?

A:  Several factors contribute to how people find out about your website and make the decision to visit.  Some of this falls under something called Search Engine Optimization .  I  have no reason to not want all of my sites to receive maximum traffic; so, every Lazytea design is fully optimized from the very beginning of planning the design.  I do not charge extra for this service.  It includes domain selection, meta tags, description, alts, accurate page titles, links, and site mapping. Often I will discuss changes in content, text, or navigation with the client to enhance this process.  Before I even begin work on a site I will discuss the projected audience with the client and put it in writing for reference.

Upon completion, I submit every site to some of the top free search engines including Yahoo and Google.  It is up to the client to resubmit their site or request me to continue to submit their site to other engines (of course, this is an extra fee).  Submission of your site to a search engine is really a small part of being indexed and increasing traffic.

I also have reciprocal links for all client sites on my sites and blogs when appropriate.  I will gladly add any code for webrings, banner ads, or other reciprocal links as a part of your initial design fee or maintenance agreement.  Remember, I benefit from your increased site traffic as well.

Most of the work to publicize a website and increase traffic falls on on the site owner.  Nothing replaces your effort to publicize your own website. 

Things you can do to advertise your website site:

• Include your site's URL in your email signature, your blogs, guestbook entries, forum/bulletin board  signatures, and e-list signature
• Print your URL on business cards, flyers, promotional material, contracts, handouts, trophy sponsorships, premium lists, catalog ads: magazine, newlsetter,  and newspaper ads; the back of your event chair, tote bags , bumper stickers, donations, raffle items, etc. Ask me to help you with this.
• Ask your friends with websites for reciprocal links .  I am happy to add them for you free at any time.  Links on your home page are especially useful
• Consider some adsense word ads or similar paid advertising
• Consult this reference for other ideas

Any changes to your site will take 4-6 weeks to be reflected in site traffic and search engines.  Without massive site traffic, you most likely won't come up in the first pages of a general search.  Another important factor for top search engine ranking is how long the site has been stable on the internet.  AustralianCattleDog.com receives around 30,000 unique hits per month and has been on the internet about 10 years.  It is also a pertinent domain name.  In searching for AustralianCattleDog this site currently ranks #2 on Google #4 on Yahoo and #2 on MSN

Note:  Often those ranked in the top positions have paid to be listed there.  Many have told me they avoid clicking on the first search engine entry and opt for the second or third because they want the most pertinent site not the one that paid to be there.

For reference: having a unique domain name and doing all of the above, I have managed to rank on the first 10 pages on most search engines with my site and business Lazytea Creations

If you still have questions about increasing traffic and visitors to your site, contact me.

Another Interesting article on the topic with some new ideas - (link posted 1/26/07)