As the resident Deluxe Web Site expert here at BetterPhoto, I get this question a lot: "Now that I have a Deluxe Web Site, how do I get people to visit and will people find me through the search engines?"
The best way to get traffic to your site is to be found on search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN. In order for your site to be found, you need to go to each search engine's home page and look for a "Submit Your Site" or "Add Your URL" link. You need to let them know that you are now available online.
This process can take some time - many search engines do not get to indexing your site (making it so that it is found when people search) for up to 4 to 6 weeks. And even then, there may be a lot of other sites competing for the same search results. There are so many Web sites out there that the search engines have a hard time showing the best ones.
It is an art learning how to maximize search engine results and many companies have sprung up that offer what is called "search engine optimization" services. One is "Submit It". Another viable option is to use a software program called Web Position Gold to help automate the process. But these options can cost a fair amount of money and you can do it yourself, just by visiting the major search engines and submitting your site.
This search engine optimization can be a fun game - it is exciting when you get better placement on the search engines. But it can be frustrating too. If you want to learn more about how it all works, go to: www.searchenginewatch.com. You'll find that entering keywords into your database is very helpful in directing traffic to your site as well.
You want your keywords to be as specific as possible. Here are a couple of examples, based on www.BetterBicycling.com:
KEYWORDS:
pictures of bicyclists, bicycling photos, biking photography, photo tips for cyclists, bicycling images
TITLE
BetterBicycling.com - Where Bicycling and Photography meet
DESCRIPTION:
Come see some of the best images of bicycles, bicyclists, and bicycle enthusiasts. This photo gallery is a Deluxe Web Site offered by BetterPhoto.com - visit BetterPhoto.com to get your own Web site like this.
If the keywords were vague like "photos", "photography", etc. then too many other competing sites will come up when people search those terms. The site would never make it to page 1. So being as specific as possible is the name of the game.
I hope all of this information helps and, as always, contact me with more of your questions. If you are interested in our Deluxe Web Site offerings, click here to find more information: BetterPhoto Web Sites.
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