Submitting to directories

By now you’ve figured out that directories work differently from search engines. You must complete
the submission process to have your site included in most directories. But even when you’re submitting
information about your site, there’s an art to doing it.
How you list your site can mean the difference between the site being included in the directory or
not. Before you even begin to create your listing, it’s usually a good idea to navigate through the
directory that you’re submitting to. Look at other listings and make note of what works in them.
Keywords are of little importance when you’re creating your directory listing. Instead, what will make
the difference is the content on your web site. So if you’re faced with listing in a directory that’s strict
about reviewing sites before they are listed, make sure you have fresh content on your site. And it’s
also a good practice to keep that content fresh by updating it regularly.
Links can also be important when your site is being reviewed for inclusion in a directory, so be sure
you keep your links updated. Broken links can be detrimental to your site, and links that lead to
unrelated pages won’t reflect well either.
Other elements of your listing that editors evaluate for include:
1. Appropriate categorization
2. Accurate titles and descriptions
3.Title and descriptions relevant to the subject of the web site
4.Domain names that match site titles
5.Secure ordering capabilities on e-commerce sites
6.Contact information that’s easily accessible
7.Links to privacy policies, return policies, and product or service guarantees
8.Working and appropriate links to other sites and resources
9.Images that display properly in the most common browser formats
10.JavaScript that’s free of errors

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Yahoo! Search Marketing

Another type of search engine is the directory search engine. Directories don’t display search results
based on keywords; instead they display results by category and subcategory. Web sites are usually
categorized by the site, not by pages on the site. What this means is that your overall listing in directory
search results will depend largely on either paid placement or on correctly categorizing your site
as tightly as possible.
Yahoo! Search Marketing is a PPC program that’s similar to AdWords, but there’s one big difference.
Yahoo! is a very commercial search engine, which means that many of the search results are
paid placement ads or are web sites that have been added by the web-site owner. Editors usually
review and approve submitted listings before they are shown in search results.
Yahoo! is also a portal that contains many different services, such as instant messaging, e-mail, maps,
and much more (Google is structured in a similar manner). Being a portal means that Yahoo! has
many loyal users who are likely to see your ads once you begin a PPC campaign with Yahoo! Search
Marketing.
When you sign up with Yahoo! Search Marketing, you have two options for the type of account you’d
like to have. These options are different from Google, because you can have a free PPC plan that you
use, create, and maintain on your own, or you can choose to have a Yahoo! specialist help you create
your campaign. If you decide to use a Yahoo! specialist, there’s a one-time $199 set-up fee.
As with Google, there’s no reason you should pay to begin your PPC advertising with Yahoo! Search
Marketing.

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Google AdWords

Google AdWords is the PPC company you’ve probably heard the most about. AdWords is one of
the top search engine marketing programs, and Google is one of the biggest providers of search,
and many other services as well.
Being biggest doesn’t always mean being the best, though. When you’re evaluating the PPC companies
you may use, be sure to check not only the traffic rate, but also the conversion rate if possible.
It’s great if your ads receive lots of impressions, but if those impressions don’t turn to clicks, you’ll
find your PPC campaign is not at all effective.
Google AdWords. You may have heard the name so often that you think there’s nothing else — and
certainly it’s one of the most diverse PPC companies out there. It not only offers search engine marketing,
but also includes marketing by radio and even a telephone service that potential customers
can use to call you. Google will soon begin offering purchase of TV, newspaper, and embedded video
advertising. Even the radio and phone models of AdWords are charged on a bid-per-keyword basis.
Additionally, AdWords is linked to Google’s AdSense program, which is an advertisement publishing
program in which web-site owners place ads on their web sites; when users click through those ads
and make purchases, the web-site owner gets paid a small amount. Many web-site owners use this
service to help offset the cost of having a site.
AdWords ads are shown when someone searches on Google, AOL Search, Ask.com, and Netscape.
This gives Google AdWords one of the largest markets for keyword advertisements. However, a
larger market doesn’t guarantee a higher quality lead, so when using AdWords, it’s essential that
you pay attention to the details that help your ads place when they’re most effective.

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Improving Click-Through Rates

Some of the efforts you take to reduce the cost of your PPC campaigns can also lead to improved
click-through rates. It’s essential that you work toward increasing these rates. Even though more
clicks drive up the cost of your PPC campaign, they also lead to more sales or conversions.
Aside from the efforts that you’ve already seen (like dayparting and better targeting) you can also
improve your click-through rates by improving the ad copy in your PPC campaigns.

Include special offers or incentives in ad text. If you have coupons to offer, discounts
available, or even free gifts with purchase or other special offers and incentives, be sure
those are included in your PPC ad text. People are drawn to specials, and advertising them
should draw more people to your site.
Consider including price in ads for products and services. Many people shy away from
advertising their prices, but those prices (especially if they’re real bargains) can entice customers.
If you have great prices, tell the world. Just make sure you check out the competition
before you decide you have the best prices on the Internet.

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Improve the structure of your URLs

Creating descriptive categories and filenames for the documents on your website can not only help
you keep your site better organized, but it could also lead to better crawling of your documents by
search engines. Also, it can create easier, "friendlier" URLs for those that want to link to your content.
Visitors may be intimidated by extremely long and cryptic URLs that contain few recognizable words

www.example.com/products/bike-14.html
www.example.com/bikes/red-bicycles 


URLs like these can be confusing and unfriendly. Users would have a hard time reciting the URL from
memory or creating a link to it. Also, users may believe that a portion of the URL is unnecessary,
especially if the URL shows many unrecognizable parameters. They might leave off a part, breaking
the link.

Some users might link to your page using the URL of that page as the anchor text. If your URL
contains relevant words, this provides users and search engines with more information about the
page than an ID or oddly named parameter would.

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Good practices for page title tags

• Accurately describe the page's content - Choose a title that effectively communicates the
topic of the page's content.
Avoid:
• choosing a title that has no relation to the content on the page
• using default or vague titles like "Untitled" or "New Page 1"

• Create unique title tags for each page - Each of your pages should ideally have a unique
title tag, which helps Google know how the page is distinct from the others on your site.
Avoid:
• using a single title tag across all of your site's pages or a large group of pages

• Use brief, but descriptive titles - Titles can be both short and informative. If the title is too
long, Google will show only a portion of it in the search result.
Avoid:
• using extremely lengthy titles that are unhelpful to users
• stuffing unneeded keywords in your title tags
Make use

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