DeadFly SEO

Before starting search marketing for your web site it is wise to check if you site is already indexed in any of the main search engines. Type - site:yourdomain.com - this will list all the pages from your site that are currently indexed. The same works for Google, Yahoo!, and MSN.

If you find that your site is not indexed then you need some links for the search engines to find you. Many new web designers when they are first starting out will go to the search engines and submit their site directly to the search engine and then wait… Don’t bother, there are quicker and easier ways to get the spiders to find you.

If your site is indexed then you have passed the first post.

Getting your first links to your site may seem daunting. Where do you start, how do I ask people I don’t know for links? I don’t know anyone else that has a web site, etc. Don’t worry, there are easy ways to deal with the first links.

Search engines, like Google, visit blogs almost every day if they are written on a regular basis. That is where to start. If you already read a few blogs about your own industry, leave a comment with your name and your web site were it is asked for; remember though try and contribute to the subject, just saying “Great post thanks” is not a great contribution, if it is in your area and you know something worth saying then say it. Work at it till you have something worth saying. NEVER type your web site into the comments field, that is spam and will be considered as such by almost all bloggers.

One last point here, make sure the search engines can find your site and read your navigation. Search engines don’t like websites that are completely written in Flash, so re-consider. Are you using Javascript for navigation, if so get a site map up in plain HTML. Stay away from frames, just makes the job harder, sometimes impossible. Don’t make the job of getting up the rankings harder than it is already.