To engage in basic web promotion is to employ rudimentary methodologies designed to improve a web site’s visibility within a search engine’s organic results...at least that’s one of the definitions I found for it online.
But while the experts may blather on about rudimentary methodologies, spouting such Jargonese expressions as Anchor Text, Bounce Rates, CSS, Deprecation, and everything else right through to Z-Index, these terms don’t actually mean a whole lot to the average webmaster on the street, who just wants to know some elementary things to focus on so his or her site gets found a little more often in Google’s search results.
Basic Web Promotion isn't about Buzzwords; it's about your Visitors
Now before I start speaking in tongues, and gush forth a stream of Jargonese of my own, a couple of things need to be explained:No matter what any self-proclaimed expert may tell you, Basic Web Promotion is not a cure-all designed to provide your website with a top search engine position after five minutes; it is a long-term undertaking, and secondly, although it is usually referred to as either an art or a science (depending on which expert is talking), it can safely be termed a combination of both due to the many variables which determine its success or failure.
And with this firmly in mind, let’s get on with the show.
The first step to success is taken long before your website ever gets near a search engine ranking, because prior to launch you need to ensure that your site’s code conforms to the accepted rules set down by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Full W3C compliance ensures that your HTML is free of errors, and does not contain any improperly embedded JavaScript or Flash content. It also increases the chances that things generally display properly on your visitor’s screen, regardless of whether they’re browsing the Web with Internet Explorer, FireFox, Google Chrome, or Gangbang & Yohluffson’s Strange Browser.
Random Fact:Contrary to popular myth, W3C Standards Compliance does not actually influence your website’s search rankings in any way, unless its code is so broken that even Internet Explorer gives up on it.
Nevertheless, compliant HTML code is important, because without it you potentially run the risk of alienating up to 50% of your visitors, which would be a bad thing. You should also ensure that your site is designed in the most user-friendly manner possible, not only to prevent a poor visitor experience but also to make it more search engine friendly. It’s a fact that search engine spiders will have an easier job indexing your website coherently if it is structured in a human-friendly, easy-to-follow way. Design your website with your visitor/client in mind, and chances are Google will love you for it; make getting around hell for your user, and Google starts to frown.
The last thing you want is Google frowning at your website.
Step two is to concentrate on your site’s content. If you’ve done any kind of reading up on basic web promotion, you’ll undoubtedly have heard the phrase “Content is King” a number of times already. What this effectively means is that search engines value well-written, authoritative, unique content about your site’s chosen topic. Either say something nobody has ever said before (tricky in most market niches) or say it in a way it hasn’t been said before.
Furthermore, write about what you know, because if you don’t know what you’re talking about, chances are you’re not only wasting your time, but you’ll only make yourself look bad in the long-run. And it doesn’t end there; your content will also need to be written naturally, and in such a way as to emphasise your desired keywords/phrases without being considered a keyword-stuffing spam-merchant by Google. When writing web content, I’ve found that it’s best to focus on a single key-phrase per page, otherwise you’ll dilute your focus (I just love buzzwords, don’t you?).
Take this page for instance. As I’ve written the piece, I’ve concentrated on one key-phrase. Despite the fact that the article actually contains any number of industry terms, there’s just one phrase which keeps repeating. Have you spotted it yet?
The $64,000 term for this particular web page is “Basic Web Promotion”.
Ok, so now I’m cheating, and I’m actually promoting that phrase by telling my readers that I’m promoting that phrase. But that’s how can work; and if I've done my job properly, you’re still reading because I’m writing in a natural, conversational, flowing style, while all the time informing you, and focusing my text on my target search-term.
Always remember your visitors...
All you have to do is focus on giving your visitors what they’re after, and be a little creative about it. And always remember: If you have something to say, say it. If you don’t have anything to say, get a blog*.
When you get right down to it, basic web promotion (There’s that term again), SEO, On-Page Ranking Optimization, or whatever you want to call it, is about employing your common sense, figuring out what your visitor is actually after, and giving it to them. Use the ingredients in the right proportion, and you’ll hit the mark.
Even the Folks at Google themselves say: “Make pages primarily for users, not for search engines.”
And they mean it. It’s time to stop thinking like your visitor, not like your web designer, if you want your long-term promotion to be successful.
But of course there's more to basic web promotion than just building a website and launching it. Once your site is live, you'll need to get some inbound links pointing at it too. Read our article about Link Building for more information about what to do once your site has been launched.
