Marketing Tip: Do it yourself site optmization to increase your web presence

[Frank Gomez]

There are many ways to make a difference with your website but which ones can you do yourself?

1) Social Media: If you are too busy to do this yourself I strongly recommend that you hire a social media consultant. I personally have had good experience with NetWeave Social Media http://netweaveonline.com
Social Media Examples in rough order of priority
-Facebook (NOTE: In Facebook you want to create a Page for your business separate from a personal profile.
-Linked In
-A Local Social Network such as a Ning site. This is ideal when it is narrowed down to your area, or your niche for business. For example I have my business listed in the Sarasota Design Network because I'm a design professional in Sarasota.

2) Directory sites: Having your website listed in a local directory site is a great thing to help your internet presence. A few out there offer free listings and charge a premium for either a photo or a link to your site. It is up to you whether you want to spend any money for a link or not.

3) Ask your friends to visit your website and snoop around for at least 15 seconds. The longer people stay on your site the better Google thinks your website is.

4) Put your business location on Google Maps Search for "Google Local Business Center"

5) Blog about something you have expertise in. If you don't already have an audience you ca use your Facebook page to do this for you, another way is to post on an online magazine.

You might not be able to do it yourself but...
You can ask your web designer to do some optimization:
-Change your title tags
-make sure your keywords are relevant,
-make sure each page of your site that is really important has sentences on that page using the relevant keywords.
-Make sure images on your site have "alt tags" describing what the picture is or what it is related to. For example in my online portfolio I might put "logo design" for an alt tag on an image of a logo I designed or "book cover" or "flyer" etc. etc.
-Submit a sitemap to Google
-Get an article written about your company.

Frank Gomez is president of Frank's Designs which offers Graphic De....