Increase Your Web Traffic in a Weekend

by Ford, Jerry Lee, Jr.

• ISBN13: 9781598631081
• ISBN10: 159863108X
• Edition: 4th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-11-01
• Publisher: Cengage Learning Ptr

Summary

Looking for a simple, low-cost way to attract visitors and advertisers to your Web site? You might have the most exciting, useful Web site in the world. The question is, are you getting any visitors? What about advertisers, so you can earn money from your site? Marketing your Web site and implementing strategies to increase your Web traffic might seem daunting at first, but in reality there are many low-cost ways to attract readers and advertisers to your site. "Increase Your Web Traffic In a Weekend, Fourth Edition" is the comprehensive reference you need to get started. Designed to present these marketing strategies in manageable chunks spread out over the course of a single weekend, this book covers everything from how to tailor your site for search engines, to how to place ads on other sites without spending a penny, to how to track and analyze your visitors and put that information to work for you. If you're ready for your Web site to attract the attention it so richly deserves, then this book is for you!

Table of Contents

Introduction	xii
FRIDAY EVENING
Promoting Your Web Site to the World	1	(14)
You Built It, but Will They Come?	4	(1)
Can You Really Promote Your Web Site without Spending a Fortune?	5	(1)
Making the Web Work for You	5	(3)
Leveraging the Power of Search Engines and Directories	8	(3)
Crawler-Based Search Engines	8	(1)
Human-Powered Directories	9	(1)
Hybrid Sites	10	(1)
Paid Inclusion and Paid Placement	10	(1)
Promoting Your Web Site to Joe Surfer	11	(2)
Determining Who Is Visiting Your Web Site	13	(1)
Wrapping Up and Looking Ahead	14	(1)
SATURDAY MORNING
Putting the Motion in Promotion	15	(76)
Capitalizing on Search Engine Fundamentals	17	(36)
Millions of Users Are but a Search Away	18	(1)
Indexers, Spiders, Crawlers, and Other Web Beasties	18	(1)
Working with Search Engines	19	(12)
Determining Popular Keywords	31	(1)
Researching Popular Search Engine Keywords	32	(1)
Free Keyword Generation Tools	33	(1)
Be On Guard Against Accidental Spamming	34	(1)
Boosting Visits with Ordinary Descriptions	35	(2)
Using Page Titles to Your Advantage	37	(2)
Getting Your Frame-Enhanced or Graphics-Intensive Page Noticed	39	(5)
Getting the Most from Keywords and Meta-Information	44	(6)
Leveraging Your ALT Tags and Comments	50	(1)
Inspecting Your Web Page's Body Text	51	(1)
A Last Look at Search Engine Fundamentals	52	(1)
Take a Break	53	(1)
Registering with the Top Search Engines on the Planet	54	(22)
Submitting Your Site to a Search Engine	54	(5)
Search Engine Tricks to Avoid	59	(4)
Increasing Your Web Traffic with the Top Search Engines	63	(10)
Metasearch Engines	73	(3)
Submitting Your Web Site to the Top Guides, Lists, and Directories	76	(14)
Submitting Your Site to Lists and Directories	76	(2)
The Open Directory and Yahoo!	78	(1)
Submitting Your Site to Web Guides	79	(1)
How Do People Find Your Listing in a Guide or Directory?	80	(1)
How Often Is Your Site's Listing Updated?	81	(1)
Increasing Your Web Traffic with Guides and Directories	81	(9)
Wrapping Up and Looking Ahead	90	(1)
SATURDAY AFTERNOON
The Coolest, the Hottest, and the Best	91	(54)
The Best Business Search Engines and Yellow Pages Directories	93	(11)
Submitting Your Site to Business Search and Directory Sites	94	(1)
Increasing Your Web Traffic with Yellow Pages Directories	95	(9)
Directories by Industry and Category	104	(16)
Getting the Most Out of Industry and Category Directories	104	(1)
Community Guides	105	(6)
Real Estate Directories and Guides	111	(5)
Travel and Tourism: Guides and Directories	116	(3)
More Guides and Directories by Category	119	(1)
Take a Break	120	(1)
Children's Directories: Getting Noticed by One of the Web's Biggest Audiences	120	(1)
Getting More Mileage out of What's New? Directories	121	(5)
Exploring the Starting Point Directory	122	(2)
Finding Out What's New at NerdWorld	124	(1)
Other What's New? Directories	125	(1)
Getting Your Site Listed as the Cool Site of the Day	126	(16)
Wandering in the Maze of Web Awards	127	(1)
Finding the Right Award	128	(2)
Submitting Your Site	130	(1)
Cool Site of the Day	130	(4)
Wild, Hot, and Zany Awards	134	(3)
Best of the Web	137	(5)
Wrapping Up and Looking Ahead	142	(3)
SUNDAY MORNING
Attracting the Masses	145	(88)
Registering with Many Search Engines and Directories Simultaneously	147	(17)
Introducing Web Registration Services	147	(12)
Checking on Your Listings	159	(5)
Selling Your Web Site through E-mail	164	(18)
Web Site Promotion through Direct E-mail, Newsgroups, and Mailing Lists	165	(1)
Establishing a Privacy Policy	166	(1)
Promoting Your Web Site Directly	167	(3)
Promoting Your Web Site through Newsgroups	170	(3)
Promoting Your Web Site through Mailing Lists	173	(3)
``Tell a Friend'' Marketing	176	(2)
Announcing Your Web Site, Products, and Services by E-mail	178	(2)
Creative Signature Files	180	(2)
Take a Break	182	(1)
Advertising on eBay	183	(3)
Attracting the Masses with Giveaways, Contests, Sweepstakes, and More	186	(30)
Can't Get `em Any Other Way? Give It Away!	186	(3)
What to Watch Out For: The Legalities	189	(3)
Boosting Traffic with Giveaways and Sweepstakes	192	(3)
Gaining Readers with Contests	195	(3)
Using Games, Puzzles, and Teasers to Attract Visitors	198	(4)
Sites That Promote Your Freebies	202	(6)
Other Ideas for Attracting the Masses	208	(4)
Setting Up Your Own Affiliate Program	212	(4)
Sponsoring a Virtual Web Site Launch	216	(1)
Free Banner Advertising: No Joke	216	(9)
What the Heck Is a Banner Exchange?	217	(5)
Banner Exchanges for the Masses	222	(3)
Analyzing Off-Page Factors	225	(2)
Building a Strong Ranking Through Links	226	(1)
Avoiding Link Farms	226	(1)
Increasing Your Traffic with Web Rings	227	(1)
How Do Web Rings Work?	227	(1)
Working with the Major Web Rings	227	(1)
Short on Time? Try Paid Inclusion	228	(3)
Locating Sponsored Links	229	(1)
Google Ad Words	229	(1)
Yahoo! Search Marketing	230	(1)
Other Paid Inclusion Programs	231	(1)
Keep `em Coming Back	231	(1)
Wrapping Up and Looking Ahead	232	(1)
SUNDAY AFTERNOON
Discovering Who's Visiting Your Web Site and Why	233	(54)
Using Web Stats to Understand Your Site's Visitors	235	(20)
Options for Collecting Web Site Statistics	238	(2)
Selecting Your Web Traffic Analysis Tool	240	(1)
Web Site Stats Are a Necessary Evil	241	(8)
Zeroing In on Visits	249	(6)
Taking a Break	255	(1)
Gaining Lost Readers from Error Analysis	256	(6)
Errors: We All Hate Them	256	(1)
Missing Files	257	(1)
How Can You Fix the Problems?	258	(2)
Lost Connections	260	(1)
Time-Outs	261	(1)
Redirecting Lost Readers	262	(20)
Redirection Basics	263	(1)
More Redirection Techniques	264	(6)
No More 404 - - File Not Found	270	(2)
Taking Advantage of Free URL Analyzers	272	(3)
A Few Last Words on Errors	275	(1)
Finally, You Know What to Do---So What's Next?	275	(7)
Reviewing Your Progress and Planning More for Next Weekend	282	(5)
What Have You Done This Weekend?	282	(2)
A Final Note	284	(3)
APPENDIX A Additional Resources on the Web	287	(20)
Site Management Programs	290	(7)
AccuTagger	290	(1)
FastStats	290	(1)
LinkProver	291	(1)
MozillaTracker	291	(1)
NetTracker	292	(1)
PageStats/HitCount	293	(1)
PowerMapper	293	(1)
Search Engine Commando	294	(1)
SERanker	294	(1)
SEPopular	295	(1)
Surfstats Log Analyzer	296	(1)
TopDog Pro	296	(1)
WebSpeed	297	(1)
Site Submission	297	(4)
AddWeb Website Promoter	298	(1)
Dynamic Submission	298	(1)
Exploit's Submission Wizard	299	(1)
SubmitWolf Pro	299	(1)
WebPosition	300	(1)
Web Authoring	301	(2)
HTML Power Tools	301	(1)
MetaWizard	301	(1)
SiteXpert	302	(1)
TagCheck	302	(1)
Connectivity	303	(4)
Connection Keeper	303	(1)
Magic NetTrace	304	(1)
MySpeed Server	304	(1)
VisualRoute	305	(2)
Glossary	307	(12)
Index	319