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Front Page NewsGroup
"Client Needs Results"
21 Jul 2000
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Subject: Client Needs Results
I have a client who I have designed a nice website for. It's on all the major search engines, etc., but she's not getting the results/hits she wants. What are some options? Pay to have a higher listing or more search engine submittals? Email distribution of promotions? Any and all ideas will be greatly appreciated!!
For what it is worth...
When quoting design and Internet marketing projects for clients we are clear to separate out the two distinct components: - design - traffic building
To clarify how difficult it is to get a ranking I will make the client submit to me 10-20 words they want to be found on. Then i will take those words and do a report, using
http://www.altavista.com/
Example: if a home loan company comes to me and wants the following words, I show the 'body counts' after the words to help provide 'perspective.'
loans 1,476,000 web pages
http://www.altavista.com/cgi-bin/query?pg=q&sc=on&hl=on&act= 2006&par=0&q=loans&kl=XX&stype=stex
home loans 113,000 web pages
http://www.altavista.com/cgi-bin/query?sc=on&hl=on&q=home+loans&k
l=XX&pg=q
This helps to soften the expectation, usually. It also helps us to focus a bit, to something like "San Diego home loans" or "bad credit second trust deeds" so we can pinpoint our targeted audience.
Regardless, I have never had a client who didn't think he belonged in anything but the top ten...
Often, we won't take a client without a re-design of an existing site as rarely is a nice looking web site optimized for search engines or search directories.
Additionally, we end up rewriting the content to facilitate 'being found.'
A common example is something like...
Our company strives to provide the highest quality service and promote customer satisfaction. If you look at the line, it is nice for humans, but find one searchable word -- search engines will gag on that garbage...
A more appropriate line might be... (with an asterisk after searchable words)
Our online* home* loan* company provides the lowest* interest* rates* found on the net*, helping our satisfied customer obtain a new mortgage* for the home* of their dreams.
Then with just a bit of imagination that can become (with an asterisk after searchable words)
Our online* home* loan* company provides the lowest* interest* rates* for San* Diego* county*, including, Encinitas*, Leucadia*, Del Mar*, Carlsbad* and Cardiff*. Our competent loan* brokers* help North* County* and coastal* homeowners* obtain a new mortgage* for the beach* front* house* of their dreams.
Again, compare that to Our company strives to provide the highest quality service and promote customer satisfaction.
(Of course, one word too many can push you into the spam category, effectively delisting your site )
To read one person's opinion (more propaganda) on the importance of words in design...
http://www.howtointernet.com/net_copy_writing.html
As an aside, I have been reading all this looksmart crud, and while every engine is valuable, if you are going to spend time on a portal, spend the time on Yahoo. Several studies show that it accounts for 56% of all search engine traffic on the net. AND pay the $199 for Yahoo. Your client should make that back in hours with a favorable Yahoo listing, rather than waiting weeks or months to get in. Also only a very small percentage of applications (non $199) get into Yahoo.
I also read where someone said DMOZ has been supplying AOL for two years... it is closer to two months than two years... Plus with Google stepping into the Yahoo picture it pays to work on link popularity (linkpopularity.com). A designer, with a quiver of clients, can help that a bit by creating a non-linked page (with each owners permission) on each site, linking to ALL the web sites the designer as done. An extra link or two, can mean the difference between #359 and #14.
We have clients with not tens, BUT HUNDREDS, of top 20 rankings, across all the permutations of their most viable 10-20 words:
home loans San Diego
San Diego home loans
California home loans
home mortgages San Diego
San Diego home mortgages
California home mortgages
blah blah blah
AND, they get business, a lot of highly targeted visitors :)
I mention this for several reasons:
What good is a #1 ranking for home loans, if you can only do California.
A highly targeted phrase, specific to revenue generation for your client, will attract the exact customer they seek. Spend the time to plot and plan the keywords and how they fit into your design. And remember, you need to soften up your clients with 'body counts.'
You need to inform the client that you are the web designer, not the accountant
I also tell the client that if their product doesn't sell in the real world, it ain't gonna sell on the net.
enough said...
At your service,
Rod Aries
How To Internet Your Business
http://www.howtointernet.com/
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