The information contained on this website is timely. You may want to visit Sansietch’s website to see if there are updated information or new blogs on this topic.
So you now have a program in place to continuously drive traffic to your site without you doing anything further. Depending on your ads and any sales starting to trickle in, you should be starting to see how this will grow.
Let’s look at some more ways to drive traffic to your website.
Step Three:
A few basic points:
Below is a guide listing search engines, blog engines, various directories and indexes.
|
Name of Website |
Web Address |
Free Services? |
Pay Services? |
Low Monthly Cost |
Sansietch 1 to 10 Rating |
|
Google |
|
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
9 |
|
AngelFire |
|
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
7 |
|
Yahoo! |
|
No |
Yes |
N/A |
8 |
|
Technorati |
|
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
8 |
DMOZ |
|
Yes |
No |
N/A |
10 |
Music Library Association |
Yes |
N/A |
N/A |
7 | |
Tunesmith |
|
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
8 |
Search Engine & Directory Services
This is an area where it pays to spend. Many of these engines have hundreds of thousands if not millions of searchers on them. There are also ways to get listed free.
Keep in mind that this is like the yellow pages. It’s fine to have the free line in there, but when people look through, they more often call the large color ads. Paying for placement here can put your web address right under peoples noses!
Do a search for me right now. The listing you’ll find was free, but it came along with time and work. And while I dominate a google search page for Sansietch, more people are looking for music, or mp3, or free downloads, than are looking for a specific band name. To get your site listed there will take much more cunning, and time and work, or money.
Search Google for Sansietch
Besides paying for placement directly on a search engine site, there are also services available that for a small fee will place your website on many smaller search engines.
Blog engines like Technorati are another way search engine that looks for blogs, instead of websites. Do you have a blog that will allow you to be placed in these engines?
Many hosting services offer blogging with their webpages now. If not, there are dedicated services that will allow you to create a blog you can then embed on your webpage. Or, as Sansietch does, simply sign up and start doing a blog on a free blogging site, and put that link on your website too. (See Sansietch’s Feedburner link..the little silver box, that “scrolls” through his last 5 blogs live.)
You can write your blog about anything! Make it interesting to draw in fans. Learn to write using keywords and tags. Doing that correctly can help bring your blog placement higher.
Don’t forget! Blogs are a great way to keep fans regularly in touch with you as well.
Directories and indexes are very similar. They may take some finding, depending on the art you do and what your site is really about. There are directories on everything from free mp3 downloads to custom greeting cards.
1. Open your favorite search engine. Search using both the word that best describes your site or its content, and also the word “directory”.
2. Repeat the first step in a different search engine, or in a meta engine.
3. Try this using the word index in place of directory.
4. Visit each site you find and sign up to suggest a site and add a site to their directory or index.
The key to getting your site in front of more people for free is to slowly but surely continue to add links and mention of your site wherever you can. Keep in mind a pushy marketing campaign can turn a lot of people off.
Follow through and validate any email validation requests. Sign up for accounts wherever you need to. If you’re using the one username and two password scheme, it’ll be much easier to come back and get into these websites when you need to.
Keep the login page for these sites in your favorites. Even if you’re not using this method to return to websites (you’ll soon be forgetting if not!) you should start a Word file listing the name and web address of all. This will insure you can get back to them anytime (some submissions may need updating periodically too.)
Tips For Getting Your Website Placed in Search Engines, Directories and Indexes.
1. Tag your site and Meta-Tag if possible. Your web hosting provider should offer an editing capability to set these tags.
2. Make sure your tags are words used in your site title and thoughout the body text of your webpage. This increases the likelihood that search engines will find you and often helps in ranking your page.
3. Do multiple searches to discover new directories and engines.
4. Register your blog with blog only search engines. Even if you only do a blog once a month on your site, get it listed!
5. If you write your blog with tags and keywords in mind, it will get even better listings.
Visit My Old Homepage, As Well As The New Website!
Why visit both my pages?
· To see how I utilize search engine keywords and tags.
· To see how I blog.
This is the ultimate learning example. See for yourself how I set up the new site using the knowledge I gained.
www.angelfire.com/rock3/sansietch
www.associatedcontent.com/sansietch
By now you should have your site listed in several places. Hopefully you applied to many and continue to do so. Get the word out! Since you don’t have a major record label running ads for your CDs on MTV, you need to do your own advertising.
Don’t forget! You should be promoting your links locally. Live shows, gallery showings, wherever you go tell people your website address. Put it on your CDs! Get some Free business cards with it on there! Hand them out!
The next step will be to sell on your site. Get ready. I’ll show you how to give your clients and fans a secure way to pay with credit cards online, free.
Don’t stop here or your site will never make you much income.
Get Step 4!
Create a free website at Webs.com