Edward Lear must have had some precognition about what was in store for us all with the development of the internet when he wrote this nonsensical poem.

Many people do feel at sea after they launch their website and attempt to navigate the sometimes confusing channels of the internet. They wonder why their site does not get traffic and why their inbox is not filling up with emails from people clamoring to buy their products or services.

It seems that the rules change as often as Oprah changes her clothes….and who could ever hope to keep up with that!

Price quotes for search engine optimization are all over the map, the process seems never-ending and it appears you do need plenty of money.

How is it that some people seem to have great success on the web without spending a huge amount of money? Is it unrealistic to think that you can make a living working on the web?

When faced with a seemingly overwhelming challenge it helps to break things down into bite sized pieces.

Effective Websites include the following:

1. Your website still needs to focus on a specific niche.

2. You still need to do keyword research and although Google does not give any weight to Meta keywords some of the other search engines still do.

3. Your site should have the main keyword used throughout and each page should be written around 5 - 10 keywords that are tightly focused on that page's topic.

4. Content is still King so well written, focused, content is necessary.

5. Meta titles need to include keywords.

6. Organization of content should include H1, H2 etc. and subtitles to make it easy to scan the pages. Include keywords in these Headings as well.

7. Most people on the web are looking for information so if you do not give them anything valuable or entertain them, they will be gone…probably for good.

8. Link using keywords.

9. Include a call to action and if possible a Free trial. You have to build trust before you can make a sale.

10. Check your site in various browsers (Firefox, Internet Explorer) to make sure it displays equally well in each.

11. Your personality is what attracts people to you so why would you create a generic website with all of the excitement of a flat glass of pop. Keep the content fresh so it has Fizz!

12. Most importantly have realistic expectations of what you want to achieve with your website. With all the hype on the internet about overnight success it is difficult to put your results into perspective. If you expect instant success and do not get it it's easy to become demoralized and quit before you reach your goal.

Some other important web marketing tips

Google page rank counts! The higher your page rank number the higher you rank in search. How do you find out your page rank? Download the Google toolbar here for Internet Explorer. http://toolbar.google.com/T4/ or here for FireFox http://tools.google.com/firefox/toolbar/install.html

Improve your page rank by encouraging other highly ranked sites in complementary businesses to link to yours and by developing content with a niche focus. Page rank is also affected by traffic numbers. A couple of ways you can boost traffic are pay-per-click advertising and posting articles on the web.

Your web image is at least as important as your personal image. You would not go out to meet a prospective client wearing a mishmash of styles and colours but many businesses have websites with tools that don't work, tables and text that are out of alignment and old information, dated colours and confusing navigation. Those things are bad enough but when an experienced web developer looks at the code on a site they often find even if the site looks good, it's not built to encourage search traffic.

Be prepared like the wise owl and make the job of marketing your business as easy as possible with a website that enhances your brand image, is technically sound and purrrr your way to success.

© Copyright 2006 Nancy Fraser, Nota Bene Consulting