If you missed Tuesday’s teleseminar with Tom Antion, my mentor, who explained his (and my) three-pronged strategy for business success—Internet marketing, public speaking and success principles—you can download it.
You’ll hear Tom talk about dozens of topics, including the three big mistakes many website owners make. I made the first one when I hired a company to create my website.
See how many of these you made:
Mistake Number 1:
You write a list of keywords and keyword phrases that you assume people will be typing into the search engines to find the kind of information at your site. You hire somebody to build the site, using those keywords. And then you wait for traffic.
Rather than trying to pull traffic, do your keyword research BEFORE you build the site. Learn the exact keywords people are using when they search. And then place those keywords in the right places on the appropriate pages at your site. Tom calls that “Going where the traffic is, and then standing in front of it.”
Here’s a great example. When I hired a company to build my site, I told them people would be searching on the phrase “news releases.” (That’s what my newspaper co-workers and I called them.) A few years after my site was built, my good friend Don Crowther asked if I realized that far more people were searching on the phrase “press releases.” Of course I didn’t because I hadn’t done my keyword research. But he had.
Mistake Number 2:
Fancy flash openings in which things on the screen blink on and off, scroll across the screen, and jump from side to side. Flash requires such complicated HTML coding that it makes it almost impossible for the search engines spiders to find relevant keywords at your site.
Mistake Number 3:
Beautiful websites with navigation structures that confuse visitors, proving that pretty doesn’t make the cash register ring.
The teleseminar was a preview of the kind of content Tom will share at Fusion, the seminar he’s hosting Oct. 17-19 in Los Angeles to teach his (and my) three-pronged secret to business success: Internet marketing, public speaking and success principles.
Tom invited me to speak at Fusion, but I declined. I’ve been able to build the Internet marketing part of my business to the point where, after traveling for 10 years to speaking engagements and enduring dozens of travel hassles, I can enjoy the luxury of only speaking locally. If you love to travel to speaking engagements, good for you. Fusion will help keep you on the road when you want to be, and stay at home when you’d rather make money sitting in front of your computer.
Can’t attend Fusion? LIsten to the teleseminar and read about the other 5 Valuable Lessons Tom Antion Taught Me.
On #2:
Flash special effects should never overpower the content of the site. Someone selling a book had at least twenty moving graphics on the page promoting the book. All everyone saw was the moving graphcs, not the book.
On #3:
I ran into a site just like this. The business was trying to sell customized poetry, like for birthdays or anniversaries. Beautifully designed site; terrible navigation. There was a link from the context that obviously led to where you could find information on cost and how to purchase. Only that’s not what was on the page, and the information was located only after extensive searching.
Another site–probably someone thought they were being clever–got itself on the Web Sites that Suck list. It was an online magazine site, and I opened the link up to see a green screen. Nothing else on it. I finally started moving my mouse around, and lo and behold, there was a java applet that appeared on mouseover–that was how you got into the page. How many people would have even bothered to try that? I emailed the Web master, who pretty much blew me off. Guess someone like the artsy feel of it, but it makes me wonder how much business they lost because people left a blank screen …
Great advice on all counts, Joan.
#1)
Google has upgraded their keyword research tool into a fantastic resource.
They show actual numerics on average searches per month, plus numbers for last month to give you an idea of rising/falling/seasonal popularity.
They also offer related keyword terms for consideration. This is a good way to really test your ideas and see what’s popular. Also, read forums/blogs and talk to customers to see how people actually talk about your topics.
Along the same lines… run some actual search queries and see what sites are coming up for your favorite terms. You may be up against more competition than you can handle.
#3)
For those looking for great advice on usability, pick up the book “Don’t Make Me Think.”
Brilliant, no-nonsense advice on how to make your website idiot-proof.
Thanks for the timely reminder on the extreme importance of keyword research. And as for point #2, I created a really cool flash presentation for the first website I ever designed, but took it down the first time I read something that said a flash presentation was NOT cool for the search engine spiders. I was sad, but when it comes to SEO, I guess people aren’t who counts!
RE #1 — One tip I wrote about a few years ago is about getting your visitors to tell you your keywords. http://www.coachmaria.com/articles/findfree.html Also, if you look at your statistics, often you can see what words people searched on to find your site.
An old saying, tried, tired, but true: ‘We learn by our mistakes.’ This insightful tip sheet captures the very essence of this quote.
More often than not, it’s what we omit – not what we submit – that hurts us in regards to keywords.
Sincerely,
Fran Briggs
Rather than trying to pull traffic, does your keyword research before you build the site? Learn the exact keywords people are using when they search. And then place those keywords in the right places on the appropriate pages at your site.