The More 'Hits', the Better?

Conventional wisdom has it that the more hits on your web site, the better. For those who have a web site for their business, you probably strive for more hits. So, let's analyse this.

Firstly, a 'hit' does not necessarily equate with a web page viewed. A web page consists of the basic page (the HTML), plus each graphic image included in the page: each is a separate file. A 'hit' refers to each file served, so a page with five images equals six hits. Thus the relevant statistic from your server report from a marketing perspective is page views.

The second issue is: who is viewing your pages. This is the critical issue. As a comparison, think of the distribution of a paper brochure or catalogue. Would you be satisfied if a brochure on air compressors was distributed to mainly school children or pensioners ? Of course not, these brochures would have been wasted - these people are hardly the target market for air compressors!

So, how do you attempt to draw your target market to your web site. There are a number of actions you can take - here I will deal with two of the essential ones - they relate to Directories and Search Engines. These, of course, are in addition to including your web site address (URL) on all your printed material: letterheads, business cards, brochures, advertisements, etc. plus other Internet related actions.

As you read the next few paragraphs, put yourself in the place of someone searching on the Internet for a product/service like yours. Think of how you respond to search results and directory listings when you are looking for information on the Internet. You make your decision on whether to look at a site based on these Search Engine and Directory entries - and others will be making the same decision on whether to look at your site.

Search Engines.
Search Engines make use of some header information in web pages that is not visible to those viewing the page (and in some instances, part of the page text). This header information is known as META tags by web site developers and there are two main META tags that concern you. They are the Description and Keyword META tags. As well the Title tag is important.

The Title tag becomes the wording for the link to your site on a Search Engine's Search Results page. Hence, it's like a headline and needs to be compelling.

The Description META tag allows you to define the text that will appear under this link. It needs to be succinct description and should be limited to about 20 words.

The Keyword META tag allows you to nominate keywords such that your page will be included in the Search Results when a search is done on that keyword. Keywords can be single words or phrases and their are some tricks-of-the-trade in their optimal use.

All of this needs to be done for every page on your site.

Directories.
Directories are different to Search Engines - their information is organised in categories and sub-categories. As a web site owner, it is up to you to submit your site to a Directory. In most instances, you need to locate the most appropriate sub-category yourself and once in that sub-category use the Submit link and add your details.

Some Tips on Submission for both Search Engines and Directories.

Don't bother with so-called Submission software, I've heard of very mediocre results from these packages. Manually submit to each Search Engine and Directory yourself.

Concentrate on the main well known Search Engines and Directories. There are nearly 1000 out there and most are would-bees-if-they-could-bees. There's probably only a half-dozen or so (now, after the Internet shakeout) that are really worth the trouble. However, in some industries (eg music) niche Directories are also important.

Create a text file of your descriptions, keywords, URL's, etc. Never write a description on 'the fly'. When submitting, do so by copy/paste rather that actual typing to avoid tipos. ;-) Your URL with a typo in Yahoo would be a calamity (just try getting an entry in a Directory changed).

Following these approaches will generate a greater percentage of 'hits' (to use the wrong, but popular, word) from your target market.

David Berghouse
microbiz: Helping Small Business use the Internet since 1995.
http://www.microbiz.com.au