Google Sitemaps
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7/27/2007
Aaaaah…Google. I could write a novel about Google and the woes of her algorithm. Briefly on sitemaps though…
Google sitemaps are a little beta project that Google started recently. Basically it is an XML file that lists all the URLs on your site (Geek Speak Translation: a text file that tells Google where all your pages are and how often you change them). I am not necessarily convinced that these sitemaps help your search engine ranking, but I do think that creating them is definitely worth the little amount of energy it takes. If for no other reason, it gives you reliable statistics and crawl information from the horse’s mouth, or, in Google’s case, maybe some other part of the quadruped.
There are several free sitemap generators that you can download, many of which are actually listed right on Google’s website for webmasters: https://www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps/login. There is also syntax for how to physically write out a sitemap, but this can quickly become a hassle if you add pages a lot. Contact your Webmaster for more information on Google sitemaps. If I am your Webmaster, I am happy to belt one of these babies out for you. Feel free to contact me for more information.
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Market your site like your business
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7/24/2007
Despite what some companies might promise, increasing website traffic is just old-fashioned hard work. Market your site like you market your business. Example: Make sure your website address is on all of your printed materials (i.e. business cards, brochures, tradeshow materials, etc.) Encourage your customers to visit your website and take advantage of the features that it offers them. Start spreading word of mouth.
As for those anonymous web users that you may not otherwise ever have contact with, focus on your site’s design to increase web traffic. If using meta tags, make sure that your keywords and descriptions are clear and concise (many search engines don’t even use these tags anymore, so filling them with junk keywords will only put you at risk for spamming). Ensure that the text on your site contains as many keywords as possible. Check to see if your images have alt text behind them that accurately describes what they are.
The best thing you can do to increase both website traffic and search engine ranking is to build a strong network of external links. In simple terms, get as many other websites to link to your site as possible. This gives those little robots something on which to crawl over to your site. Make sure that those external links are QUALITY links, though. There are about million link farms out there, but these could potentially do more harm than good. Check out some of the other news articles on this site for more information on search engine optimization and web marketing.
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