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Website Promotion - Site Structure
There are many aspects that can effect a websites ranking on the search engines, and most of them will also effect the usability and effectiveness of the website as a whole. One of these is the site structure. By this I mean the folders, sub-folders and pages of the site.
You may think that is isn't important, or is just some technical issue but your site's folder structure can be a very important asset both in standard site navigation and Search Marketing. Once you've identified your keywords (see Great Rankings #2) you can then use them to help develop your site's structure.
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Think of it as if you're deciding how to file your documents on your computer, where you'll choose your main folders, then each of those will have their own related sub-folders and so on. Well it should be the same for your website, however the key factor to defining your folders will be your selected keywords. Look at your keywords, products and services and then decide how they can be used to define a suitable folder structure that will build focus. As with your filing, you should look to start with the more generic keywords, then add the other keywords as sub-folders. So, let's look at an example to see what I mean. |
Let's use a sports clothing business who are looking to promote their sports shoe range as an example. We'll also assume that they have conducted comprehensive keyword research and have identified the following specific key phrases as one suitable for them to target:
Indoor Tennis Shoes, Blue Running Shoes, Long Distance Trainers, Cross-Training Shoes, Ladies Running Shoes, Cross Country Trainers
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It was also decided to use one page per key phrase (I'll be covering individual page optimisation next month's issue). In deciding who to re-structure certain aspects of their website there are some common words that can be picked out as logical groups/categories that could not just be used to these selected phrases, but could also sensibly organise the other products in the same range. Looking at the folder structure and web pages on the right it shows how you can logically group products but in a way that emphasizes your keywords. Using 'Ladies Running Shoes' as and example you can see that the page for this is called ladies-running-shoes.htm (note that Search Engines consider a hyphen '-', but not an underscore '_', as a space) and this page is placed in the Shoes/Running/Ladies folders. The folder structure adopted not only emphasizes the key phrases, but allows for other products to be included, (i.e. middle distance trainers) |
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So, when looking to promote your own site, you should consider the keywords you want to target and structure your website accordingly.
In next months issue...
Next month I'll look at how use your web page to target your selected key phrases and keywords.
SMA-UK Announces Launch in June 2005
You recall in the last issue I mentioned that there were plans for a new Search Marketing Trade Association called SMA-UK? Well its achieved its targets and is officially launching, here's the full announcement of this:
Report by Mike Grehan, Smart Interactive
London - 16th February 2005 - Chairman of the SMA-UK working group, Barry Lloyd, speaking after their meeting yesterday in Northern Ireland, was delighted that financial targets had been exceeded and it is now ready for lift-off.
The search marketing association (UK) is preparing to accept nominations for eight official committee members.
Two formal elections have been proposed. The first election will put the initial eight members into place by single transferable vote. The second election will be for the members to select from those eight a President and Vice President of the association.
This election will be held on a "first past the post" basis, with the member with the most votes being President, and the member with the second highest number of votes becoming Vice President.
Both elections will be run by the electoral reform society.
"We are getting the clear message that the industry wants and needs an association to bring together members. It is our responsibility to give those professionals the association they seek" said Barry Lloyd.
Following the initial groundswell of support the group attracted when it was formed towards the end of last year, those who have converted to voting members can nominate themselves, or choose to nominate another member for the eight committee seats.
Andy Atkins-Kruger, working group deputy chairman, was keen to comment on the quality of the membership: "The quality of the people who have committed to SMA-UK is astounding. It proves that those who participate in professional associations are predominantly the committed professionals."
March 31st is the closing date for nominations The timetable following the nominations has been posted at the SMA-UK web site and will be progressively updated during this second phase of the proposed association's formation. Anyone wishing to sign up as a member in time to be able to vote in the elections can do so here.
The meeting also saw founding working group member, Simon Collingridge, Managing Director of NETsposure elected as temporary treasurer.
SMA-UK is forerunner in the global movement to unite search engine marketers under one banner. Already SMA-EU (Europe) has been formed as well as SMA-NA (North America).
More announcements of independent, international SMA groups will be made in the coming weeks.
For more details and information go towww.sma-uk.org.
Your Questions Answered
Q: I've recently published a new website and I still can't find it on any Search Engines- what have I done wrong?
A: It can take some time for Search Engines to list new websites. This can be down to how long it takes them to find your new website, and then some SE's like Google like to see a new website for a while before it starts to list it.
The key to getting listed quickly is to get links to your site from other websites, preferably one's of similar content. Find these websites, contact the owners and ask them to place links back to your website.
New Name - Same Focused Services
To reflect our expertise at increasing our Customers’ Internet exposure, BizCom Services have renamed to NETSPOSURE. This new name reflects our specialist knowledge and focus on all aspects of promoting businesses on the Net.
Whether you need a compelling website that grabs and retains visitor interest, or you need to get your new or existing website ranking on the main Search Engines, NETsposure’s dedicated website promotion and development services will ensure you have a successful presence on the web.