Getting Found on the Internet

The Problem

There are billions of pages on the internet, so finding one particular page is like finding a needle in a haystack - or, since all web pages are the same (in that your potential clients will view them with a web browser), the problem is more like finding one particular needle in a pile of needles the height of Tower Bridge!

If the client knows our address, there's no problem. But if we want potential clients to see our web site, we have to make it easy to find.

Search Engines

This is where the search engines come in. All the potential client has to do is type in a few keywords, hit Enter, and the search engine will find the pages on the internet with those keywords in.

Selecting Keywords

Of course, the number of pages that the search engine finds depends on the keyword used.

For example, if the client types "Will Smith", she will get over 60 million pages. However, if she types "Andrea Sheehy", she will get about 100 thousand pages. Not all keywords are equal; some are more popular than others.

The more selective we are with our keyword, the more chance we have of getting found.

Placing Keywords

Having picked the keyword, we then have to put the keyword in the right places; for example, search engines place more emphasis on headings than normal text.

Number One

So we have selected our keyword and put it in all the right places, but we are still not getting found amongst the thousands of results because we are not near the top of the pile!

When the search engine finds pages with a keyword, it lists the results in order of how 'important' they are.

The sorts of things that search engines think are important are:

• Relevant content
• The size of your web site
• Links from 'important' web sites
• The number of incoming links

User Experience

Once the prospective client has found our web site, they have to be:

• Pleasantly surprised at how good it looks
• Convinced that the service we offer is the answer to their prayers
• Impressed with our depth of knowledge
• Able to navigate from page to page

More Clients

So we now have a large and informative web site that is easy to use and we are number one in the listings for popular keywords. All that remains now is dealing with all the phone calls from prospective clients clamoring for our attention!