Firstly, let’s dispel the myths:
The above approaches are not recommended. They may hinder your chances of a good position. Submit the your site once to Google, MSN and Yahoo, then leave it for six months.
Most search engines will automatically spider your website without the need for submission anyway. They will visit several times and will not necessarily index all of your content on the first visit. Be patient - you cannot force this process to happen quicker. It can even take new sites up to six months to appear anywhere.
Once you have an optimised, Accessible website, with good content and plenty of links, don’t just leave it. Search engine optimisation is an ongoing process of assessment and adjustment.
Search engines like websites that grow. If you can, try to add one quality page of content every day. Optimise the content of new pages to target different, but related key phrases. Aim to get one new inbound link every day. Check the statistics for your site and adjust your content to match. Keep going. Be relentless. Never stop.
Check the stats for your pages regularly. Where have your visitors come from? Somewhere you never realised you were listed? Should you optimise your listing on that site? What were visitors searching for? Phrases that you may not have thought of? Should you optimise for those phrases? Did they find what they were looking for? Did they explore your site? Did they convert?
These questions provide insight into the success of your optimisation. Use them to improve your pages and inform your choice of new content. Give the people what they want!
Search engines continually update their methods. You must continually update your site to stay on top.
This article was written by James Guest - Managing Director of Featurecreep.
Thanks also to Dan Boroughton of 4W web design for providing advice and many sources of research.
Any comments or feedback will be gratefully accepted.
Featurecreep provide a full range of search engine optimisation and marketing services.
Please contact us to discuss your requirements.