Summary

DON'T ever include a keyword or key phrase in your Meta tags that is not present on that page. Keywords should REINFORCE what is on the page, not define it. I've seen this, time and time again on sites I maintain, as search engines are defining this spam more and more of the time.

DON'T use a general (free) banner exchange service. You will see at most, a 1/50th increase in your site traffic from the banner exchange and at worst you will lose 1/10th of your traffic because they look cheap. Some people claim that a few search engines now decrease rankings if the standard banner programs are present (i.e.: link exchange/click trade, etc.). However, there are some good banner exchanges out there for just certain topics (kind of like Web rings) that can work good to target a particular demographic audience.
Search Engine Ranking Tips: Do's

Do use high value keyword "phrases" in addition to keywords. Look for something unusual, don't just copy the competition, but do target the competition. Look at your referrals and see what combinations of words are being used together and work them into a phrase near the beginning of your keywords.

Do use descriptive short alt tags for your images - many search engines will use them (which adds to your keywords). Each search engine has different criteria for indexing your site (as detailed elsewhere; but, all don't mind the alt tags and some use them - go for it, it's a free bonus)

Do check the competition. See what they are using for keywords and phrases. Check what sites are referencing them, and check what they are doing to get those referrals. Reverse searching for your competition can tell you a great deal about what your site is missing.

Do consider each page of your site as an entry point for a search engine, and watch the results for each page. Use this to your advantage as a method of steering traffic and visitors back to your main page.

Do put in a few small specific pages targeted directly at the keywords you wish to be listed under. Make one page of one paragraph that is highly descriptive including only your base keywords in the paragraph. Submit it to an engine and you'd be surprised and the results - smaller is better some times...

Do take steps to consider heavily your Strategic Web Site Submission policy before you build and submit links for the next page. Start by building the page around a new keyword list. You-guessed-it, use the page to reinforce the keywords and the keywords to reinforce the page. This is still one of the best hints to up, your site presence before you announce it to the world.

Do use at least one strange keyword as a means of testing bizarre and unrelated results. I used the word strange in this document. I assume I will get some unrelated hits based on the strange keyword, which can let me check what people are search for via referral data. If I get a few hundred hits a week based on the strange keyword, this might be an avenue to explore for a whole new page.

Do Log the visitor's web site and referring URL. This is critical information for adjusting your site keywords and phrases. Study and learn; do research on the Internet for a good log analysis tool or logger program. This can do more to help your web sight placement than anything. It's a classic tip for the techniques and promotions column that can honestly increase and generate site traffic before and after you announce your site to the world. I find I do far more keyword and Meta tag work after a page is two months old, than I did when I built the page. I usually leave 300-400 characters play room in my Meta keywords just for follow up work. There be gold in that referral data!

DO mix it up. Consider every page on your site as a potential point of entry for visitors. Use some small widget, solo topic, or narrow focus pages with keywords unto themselves - and also some large heavy content pages with broad topics. With search engines constantly changing their ranking systems, one month a large content rich page will score high, while the next month that little two paragraph "after thought" page will suddenly jump to the top of the rankings for seemingly unknown reasons. You should be careful with this technique not to give the search engines the appearance of spamming (don't just replicate a page and change a little here and there - keep topics divided).

Final Conclusion

Trading online has never been so easy. After years of development the Internet has become a very important part of any companies marketing mix. In my opinion if I were to use any company even if it is just to buy a new front door, I look online first. I bank online, buy my groceries online and even my Christmas Presents.

It may not be for every one to shop online, but it will only grow and grow as the nation connects to the Internet. The Internet generation will in 30 years represent the vast majority of the population. I am only 23 and when I left school seven years ago I had never heard of the Internet In fact I was 18 when I first heard of the way it was being used by companies.

In the last three years I have designed and managed three web sites, one of which has been trading for two and a half years and has taken over 1,000,000 pounds to date. With a turnover of 230,000 pounds in Q4 2003.

If after completely reading this book you are not convinced that your company can make a success of the Internet then why not allow me to do everything for you. I can market, design and manage the entire site leaving you free to fulfill the orders.

My company Viverdi would be more than happy to provide the web site marketing, design and maintenance on behalf of your business. Using our experience of the Internet and online marketing could prove to be the best decision you have ever made. For an agreeable percentage of the turnover the web site created by Viverdi would act as an extra sales force with no set up fees or charges.

Just think how you could benefit from the potential of the Internet without any of the confusing parts and all of the fun bits for you to enjoy. It is a no risk way for your company to trade online. With no start up costs or running costs to pay apart from the commission, you will have a commission only virtual salesperson.

The following article is an example of how this could work for your business.

Pants on Fire! (Article published online at IWKS.com)
Kevin Higgs, founder of Brass Monkeys, an underwear company, likes to delegate. "Outsourcing is the way to go," he says. "What do I know about managing a web site?"

Higgs and his wife set up Brass Monkeys at the end of 1991 and expanded on to the web in 1999. Before they went online, they just sold to trade customers, mainly the big menswear stockists, but once online they started selling directly to consumers. Why the shift?

"At the time you couldn't avoid the get-rich quick stories about e-commerce," Higgs recalls." We were selling to stockists at trade prices and relying on retailers to pass on the brand, which they often didn't do. There was this whole new world of e-commerce - the hype was prolific - and we were kind of sucked in."

Being a two-man band - they now have two further employees - and privately financed, there wasn't any serious money to invest in a site. But they found a web development company called Ten4 which was willing to build and manage the site without taking a penny upfront, instead taking a percentage of sales. "We were now selling the product at the full retail price, which is approximately double that of trade," explains Higgs.

Higgs advises other people thinking of setting up online to secure a similar deal if they can. "If you can't locate a company prepared to go on a revenue share, be absolutely sure of what you can afford to throw at creating a web site, assuming that your sales might be zero. It's a bit like going to a casino: only gamble what you can afford to lose."

It sounds perfect - outsource the tricky bits and do the fun bits yourself. But Higgs says outsourcing is really in the interests of the company, not just his amusement. "The biggest concern in going online was the money," he points out. "Previously we took cheques from retailers, now we had to enter the murky waters of plastic. We ended up with WorldPay. There's a fee, but it takes the hassle out of it, and we couldn't have given that kind of credibility to customers ourselves as a small company."

Of course, there was still a steep learning curve. "We hadn't done mail order before this, and you don't have a week to do it," says Higgs. "They want shipment immediately. Previously, mail order would be within 28 days - but now that's not good enough."

One of the reasons why Brass Monkeys has made money quickly is that it doesn't spend on advertising. Instead, it promotes the products by, for example, offering them as competition prizes. It has also gone into cause-related marketing, devoting a range of underwear to testicular cancer. "We were just trying to be clever with the promotion because we don't have big budgets," says Higgs.

When it launched, Brass Monkeys was riding the crest of the dotcom boom, but how was it affected by the slump that followed? Higgs says that all it did was put a smile on his face, and the company's sales weren't hit.

"We were so relieved because it confirmed that we were doing everything right," he says. "It proved that the same laws of business apply online, and you've got to just work hard at it. The added difference is in needing to keep reassuring people that you're a bona fide operation. That's where WorldPay earns its money."

Looking ahead, Brass Monkeys plans to expand into other countries, such as the US and Australia, with local sites and locally manufactured products. Higgs could then stay here and focus on the fun bits - just how he likes it.

The Answer

If the thought of running an ecommerce site seems daunting or this book has put you off the idea of starting up your own online business, a commission service may be the best option. Our company Viverdi would be more than happy to provide the web site marketing, design and maintenance for your companies web site. Using our experience of the Internet and online marketing could prove to be the best decision you have ever made. For an agreeable percentage of the turnover the web site created by Viverdi would act as an extra sales force with no set up fees.

Just think how you could benefit from the potential of the Internet without any of the confusing parts and all of the fun bits for you to enjoy. It is a no risk way for your company to trade online. With no start up costs or running costs to pay apart from the commission, you will have a commission only virtual salesperson.