During the build, launch and maintenance of your website, you need to think about how you are going to help people find it.
There are many free ways to achieve this, as well as paid for options. Find a solution that fits within your budget and works for your business.
Here are some tips on how to ensure the right people find your site:
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Promote your web address
Make sure you include your web address in all other marketing that you do. Add the link to your email signature.
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Search Engine Optimisation
SEO is a way of making sure that key search engines, such as Google, give you a good ranking under the appropriate searches. It sounds scarily scientific, but there is a lot you can do yourself. Start by spending some time thinking about what your audience is searching for. This will give you your keywords. Make sure these keywords are used in the text of your website; think about how the headings on the page reflect your keywords and that you have high quality content on each page.
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Pay-per-click
This is advertising for your website. You only pay when somebody clicks on the adverts and visits your site. How much you pay for each click depends on how much competition there is for the search term you want to use, and how far up the search engine you want to be. But remember, you can set your budget. It is simple and easy to set up, and very easy to monitor. Google Adwords is a great tool to help with this.
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Keep your website up-to-date and fresh
This gives visitors a reason to return to your website and also helps it perform well in the search rankings. Content that is static and doesn't change is boring.
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Reciprocal Links
Work in partnership with other businesses in your area to create reciprocal links. Visitors are often interested in what is going on in the whole area, so will find this signposting useful and it will help people find you.
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Look for free listings
There are lots of free opportunities to list your business on relevant websites and online directories.
