OPTIMISING AND PROMOTING YOUR WEBSITE Michael Heraghty, Heraghty Internet Consultants

WHY HAVE A WEBSITE? Number of People Using the Internet: 1996: 30 Million 2000: 330 Million 2003: 616 Million 2005: 938 Million 2006: 1.04 Billion

HOW MANY PAGES ON THE WEB? Number of Pages Indexed by Google: 1996: 24 Million 2000: 1 Billion 2003: 3.3 Billion 2005: 24 Billion 2006: Aiming for 100 Billion

VISITORS PER DAY Q: The typical website gets [?] unique visitors per day? a) 0 – 10 visitors a day b) 10 – 50 visitors a day c) 50 – 200 visitors a day d) visitors a day

VISITORS PER DAY A: The typical website gets: a) 0 – 10 visitors a day I’M LONELY !

BEWARE OF JAWS!

EXPECTING VISITORS? JAWS = Just Another Web Site Most websites look like one another. Most people judge websites within one- twentieth of a second - the blink of an eye. Don’t be Just Another Web Site!

LET YOUR WEBSITE EVOLVE 1.Specify Your Website’s Objectives 2.Optimise for Users (Usability) 3.Optimise for Search Engines (SEO) 4.Measure Your Website’s Performance (Analytics) 5.Repeat Steps 1 – 4

SPECIFY YOUR OBJECTIVES What do you want the website to achieve? - direct sales? - generate enquiries? - provide timely information to customers? - etc. What do you want website visitors to do? - become members? - return regularly? - fill out a certain form? - click on advertisements? - etc.

IDENTIFY YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE Who is Your Website For? - Those already aware of you? - People in Ireland only? - Those searching a certain product or service? - Those planning to visit a certain destination?

IDENTIFY YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE Who is Your Website For? - Your boss?!

USABILITY: THE GOLDEN RULE

THE USABILITY SCALE GOOD USABILITYPOOR USABILITY

HOW USERS SEE WEBSITES

You & Your Web Designers = Your Website Visitors / Everyone involved in designing and creating a website inevitably becomes too close to it. Website developers may actively resist usability suggestions, especially when they are made just before launch! GET OUTSIDE HELP

Usability testing with one user early in the project is better than testing 50 near the end. Even a makeshift test with one user will reveal things you wouldn't have known about your site. TESTING, TESTING

USABILITY REVIEWS Expert Reviews Carried out by usability specialists. Can be an audit of an existing website, or a review of a proposed design. A Good Usability Audit Will Identify potential difficulties for users Explain each issue clearly, using screenshots Give each issue a severity ranking Propose a solution for each issue

Users once “surfed” the web… today, they search the web. Home Page User enters search query Search Results 1.AAA.com 2.BBB.com 3.CCC.com AAA User visits Result 1 … and stays OR User visits Result 1, quickly leaves, visits Result 2 … OR … 3, 4, 5 … … OR User refines search query HOW WE USE THE WEB TODAY

ORGANIC LISTINGS VS. PAY-PER-CLICK “Organic” Search Results Paid-For Results

HOW WE REALLY SEE GOOGLE Eyeball hotspots X marks the clicks

THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION Q. How do I get to number one in Google?

THE TOUGH ANSWER Q. How do I get to number one in Google? A. With great difficulty!

1.Identify Target Keyphrases 2.Include the Keyphrases in the Page 3.Get Quality, Relevant Links to Your Site OPTIMISING FOR SEARCH ENGINES: THE BASICS

1. Identify Target Keyphrases - What phrases would potential customers type in? - What queries have already been conducted? - How strong is the competition? KEYPHRASE RESEARCH

MOST POPULAR QUERY TYPES

2. Include Keyphrases in Page Text KEYWORD OPTIMISATION Once in the Page Title Once in a Heading on the page Once in Regular Text on the page Ensure keywords blend in – write for users, not search engines!

3. Get Links to the Site -Get links to many pages – not just the homepage -Get links from reputable sites with similar themes to yours -Link exchanges are good but one-way links are better LINK STRATEGY

AVOID SEARCH ENGINE SPAM Hidden or Invisible Text Keyword Stuffing (in Alt Tags, Below Footer, etc.) Bounce Pages or other Cloaking Techniques Plagiarised Content Links from Poor-Quality Sites Links from Sites with Unrelated Content

OTHER PROMOTION TECHNIQUES Offer a useful free tool or service get a quotation online download the free industry report we’ve written useful timetables free fonts etc. Include a link to your site at the bottom of your s Include your URL in all stationery, printed advertising and other traditional media Create an industry-related weblog and update regularly Create an online/ newsletter and update semi-regularly Viral Marketing (games, jokes, video clips, etc.)

MEASURE YOUR WEBSITE’S PERFORMANCE Install Google Analytics (free) and review once a week.