Web Site Marketing
Sometimes Web site marketing is overlooked, but it is critical to your success in not only getting information to your audience and stakeholders, but in evaluating the effectiveness of Web content.
Marketing efforts can occur both on the Web and outside of it. A large focus of this module is in search engine optimization making Web pages that search engines can index properly.
Module Objectives:
After completing this module, you will be able to:
- Explain why it is important to market your Web site.
- Describe how search engines and Web directories work.
- Discuss methods for influencing how search engines find and display your Web pages.
- Define “keyword density” and “keyword relevancy” and explain how these elements relate to Web page design.
- List steps for developing keywords.
- Create strategies for getting other Web sites to link to your site.
- Utilize simple methods of marketing your Web site outside of the Internet.
For more news: csc.noaa.gov/wcde/module05/05.htm
How to make a link page and outbound link structure?
1. The best way to give outbound link is to give links inside the content page as it is most useful for users who interpret your site contents. This method of linking is usual and long permanent as search engines desire that the pages should be made for users and not for the search engines
2. You can build 4 to 6 resources pages but each page should be on exacting theme and object of the page should match the theme of your site. In such a way you will give the users more related resources on same topic at one place. It will help you in creation an power page.
3. You can also accept the traditional style which is used in research papers as well as books also where links are known at the end of the page referred to as more references and resources. It gives more information to the users about any exacting topic thus enriching their knowledge more. There are many other ways of creation link page but the most common is to have a long page with enormous list of sites on one single page and linking each site with its name or optimized anchor text without having any significance between the sites. Such pages never bring traffic quite we just make it only for search engines, which is no hesitation a Spam. Google mentioned in its SEO guidelines “Make pages for users, not for search engines “. Search engines are well aware of such type of link pages and are absolutely to be treated by search engines as “Link Farm” and will be penalized.
Tips to get more web traffic Links
Getting links can be automatic in some situation. You can sign up with a free service like Linkmetro and get back links from other web sites automatically. I’ve found that you will get a lot of back links from sites that have no page rank when you go this way. Another way is to put a linking script on your server so that webmasters can trade links with you without you having to do anything.
Web Traffic Tips
- Another neat way to get links is to join forum that you have an interest in and start participating.
- Don’t make the mistake of joining a group and try to sell something in your first position.
- Contribute content to the forum and your sales posts will be accepted later.
- Make sure to put your URL in your signature so you’ll get a back link back to your site.
After you have been obtaining links for a while you will want to start checking to see exactly how many links you have. This system works for most search engines and will tell you if your link activities are working.
Content, Usability, and Accessibility
Learning about target audiences and developing clear objectives help in guiding towards what content to place on-line. This module looks at appropriate formatting and presentation of content, and presents an overview of the concepts of usability and accessibility.
Module Objectives
After completing this module, you will be able to:
- Define the terms “Chunking” and “Microcontent.”
- Explain why you should reduce the amount of content as you transfer it from print to your Web site.
- Describe several parameters that contribute to Web site usability.
- Incorporate ideas into your Web site that can help users understand the purpose of the site and find the information that they need.
- Discuss special accessibility requirements and criteria for determining if a site is accessible.
- Explain Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.Describe accepted Web site navigation standards.
- Outline the steps needed to plan and develop a Web site.
This module also provides several links to other sites with good information regarding Web content, accessibility, and usability.
For more info: csc.noaa.gov/wcde/module04/04.htm
Determining your Target Audience
After completing this module, you will be able to:
- Define a target audience for your web site.
- Describe how to use survey questionnaires and personal interviews to learn more about your target audience.
- Create a user persona to better understand your target audience.
- Adjust your Web site content based on a user’s unique persona.
For more news: csc.noaa.gov/wcde/module02/02.htm
Characteristics are included in a Persona
- A name and picture.
- Demographics (age, education, ethnicity, family status).
- Job title and major responsibilities.
- Goals and tasks in relation to your site.
- Environment (physical, social, technological).
- A quote that sums up what matters most to the persona with relevance for your site.
How do we select a name and photo?
You make up the persona’s name. Select one that resonates with the team as representing that user group. Be relevant and serious; humor usually is not appropriate here.
For a picture, you can buy or license stock photography, although a more casual photo often resonates more with development teams. Don’t make it a picture of someone the team knows. Make sure you have permission for the photo that you use. You can tell that you have a good picture if the team sees it and says “Oh, yes, that would be Jim, the Press Guy” or “Oh, yes, that’s just what I see when I think of Rebecca, the Program Officer.”
Persona
A persona is a fictional person who represents a major user group for your site. Personas bring many benefits, including these:
- Users goals and needs become a common point of focus for the team.
- The team can concentrate on designing for a manageable set of personas knowing that they represent the needs of many users.
- By always asking, “Would Jim use this?” the team can avoid the trap of building what users ask for rather than what they will actually use.
- Design efforts can be prioritized based on the personas.
- Disagreements over design decisions can be sorted out by referring back to the personas.
- Designs can be constantly evaluated against the personas, getting better designs into usability testing.
According to Forrester, many companies including Ford Motor Company, Microsoft, and Staples develop and use personas and they report many benefits from doing so, including:
- A better understanding of customers
- Shorter design cycles
- Improved product quality
For more info: usability.gov/analyze/personas.html