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In an effort to inform you of alternative means to sending spam as described in my earlier
article, I have decided to give you some hints about gaining traffic to your site legitimately.
What your visitors do once they get there is up to you.
Search Engines
By far the most common way for visitors to find a site is by searching at a search engine or
site directory. Although this is a very complex subject, there are several general tips I can
give you.
Before you even consider adding your site, make sure your site is ready and has a decent number
of pages. The search robots cannot index pages that aren't built yet, and they don't return
as quickly as they initially visit.
Preparing To Be Indexed
Before asking for your site to be indexed, check the following:-
- You have used a meaningful, descriptive and appropriate title for
every page
- You have used meaningful, descriptive and accurate meta tags for
every page
- Your text of home page accurately describes the site content
- You have avoided using frames where possible
- Your site is ready to receive visitors
The first and last of those points are the most important.
Many search engines use the title as a major deciding factor in positioning a site in the search
results - especially those that do not use meta tags.
There is also little point in receiving visitors if you have little to interest them.
People are less likely to return to a site that was under construction when they last visited.
Site Directories
The differences between search engines and site directories can be subtle, but they do work
slightly differently. A site directory will generally only list a single page of your site,
and the information is usually checked and edited by humans.
Meta tags therefore have little or no effect on how or where your site is listed. You
should still check the points I mentioned for indexing though.
A slightly higher standard is usually required to be listed in the bigger site directories,
though there are many smaller ones that may not be quite so fussy. The question is, do you
want your site to be listed amongst poorer quality sites?
Free For All Links
These are basically a site directory with little or no restrictions on the sites they list.
The advantage of these is that it is usually very easy to get listed. The disadvantages
are that the lack of control means that your site may be in some very dodgy company and they are
often run by amateurs who may not update the directory very often.
My advice, for what it's worth, is to take a good look around the directory before applying for
a listing at this type of directory. Check to see the types of sites listed, the overall
quality of them and how recently the directory was last updated.
If everything is in order, then ensure that you submit your site to the correct category to get
the best results.
Site Rings
Also known as Web Rings, these are a specialised type of linking system that can be useful to
both site owners and visitors.
The idea is, that sites with related content link to the previous and next sites arranged in a
"ring". The first site in the ring links to the second and last, the second site links to the
first and third site etc.
Many of these rings also allow a visitor to view a list of all the sites in the ring.
Points to consider are:-
- Some people consider site rings to be "amateurish"
- Specialised site rings are more useful than those on general topics
- The number of sites in a ring decides its usefullness
The first two points are fairly self-explanatory, but the third may seem a little vague to you,
so I'll explain.
A site ring needs at least three sites to form a ring, or the previous and next site links will
lead to the same place! People, right or wrong, usually make judgements about the quality of
a site ring based on how few sites are part of it.
Too many sites in a ring can also be a disadvantage, as many visitors will use the list of sites
to choose the next to visit. More sites means more competition and a large list can also be
confusing.
It could also mean that the ring owner is not very choosy about which sites he or she
allows to join the ring.
Signatures
Most email programs, newsgroups and forums allow you to create a "signature" that is
automatically added to the end of all the messages you send or post.
This signature can contain a link to your site.
First, a few words of warning. Some newsgroups and forums have strict rules about this, so
please check for their specific ruling before using this method of what is basically
advertising.
I'm afraid that I can't tell you how to set up individual email programs or forums to do this,
as there are just too many of them. Here are some points to consider though:-
- Keep it short and simple
- Make it obvious what the site is about
- Do not send emails or posts just to show off your sig
- Be considerate of others
Keeping a signature short and simple, yet still managing to describe what the link leads to can
be tricky. If in doubt, err on the side of caution. Four lines of text is usually
more than enough.
Sending emails or posting messages with little or no relevant content is considered to be
spamming. If your message does not make a valid contribution to the conversation, don't send
it!
If your signature is longer than the message, then either add more relevant information
or remove the sig. You don't have to include it in every message - if I'm
paying attention to what I'm doing, I remove my sig from any replies I make to conversations or
threads (yes, I do forget sometimes).
Forums and Newsgroups
Other than using a signature, you can also get traffic to your site from relevant posts
at forums and newsgroups. Be sure that your posts are on topic though!
Here's a hypothetical situation...
Suppose you have a site about games. You are already likely to visit forums and newsgroups
on that topic.
If you pay more attention than usual, and are a little more helpful, you can use this to help
both you and other users.
Suppose you see a question that you know the answer to, as you've recently written a page about
it on your site. Perhaps the question was "How do I kill Diablo if I'm a
Sorcerer?" If you gave a short answer to the question, and created a link to that page
in your message, something like this:-
Diablo can be hurt with the Holy Bolt spell, so make sure you have that at a high level.
You'll also need high magical resistances - especially against fire. As he rarely attacks
you physically, even leather armor with a high resistance is useful.
Be careful though, as his attacks affect your armor's durability!
For more information, see my page here.
---------------
Notareal Game Site: www.notarealgame.com
We aren't just playing!
You would then be helping yourself as well as the person who asked the question, and possibly
others who had the same problem.
Okay, so it is unlikely to send enough visitors to break your counter (if you have one), but you
were there anyway, right? Besides, helping others is a big part of what the Internet is all
about.
Summary
Whatever methods you use to promote your site, the following rules apply:-
- Be subtle
- Be honest, accurate and truthful
- Avoid hype
- Don't overdo it
- Don't expect miracles
Remember, rome.com wasn't built in a day! (I don't know what's there, but there
must be one by now.)
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