The first thing I think you all should do is read this article and click on the links in there to learn more about a particular item.

Feel free to quote parts of anything you read and together, we will all work to help one another understand it. And it is a never-ending learning process.

http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35769&hl=en

(This information will be posted for future reference on a page in my design "offerings" store as soon as I get a chance to create the page)

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Jennifer


An independent BISI solutions provider



Filling Out SEO Tabs | Putting Images In Your Store | Understanding the XML File Transfer | So You Want To Get Googled...

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Jennifer


An independent BISI solutions provider



Filling Out SEO Tabs | Putting Images In Your Store | Understanding the XML File Transfer | So You Want To Get Googled...

 Thanks for the link and reminder that we really are the webmaster for our stores and that there is a lot to learn about promoting them on the web. Having an independent website is so different than auctions or where stores are part of a venue's lists of items for sale. I will be watching for any and all info you will be adding!!

I think it may take a while to learn- but will be well worth it in the end.

You also reminded me that I will want to add updating/changing informational  content to my stores as soon as I get the initial stocking done.

Knowledge is power!

Cathy

When your site is ready:

1. Have other relevant sites link to yours.
2. Submit it to Google at http://www.google.com/addurl.html.
3. Submit a Sitemap as part of our Google webmaster tools. Google uses your Sitemap to learn about the structure of your site and to increase our coverage of your webpages.
4. Make sure all the sites that should know about your pages are aware your site is online.
5. Submit your site to relevant directories such as the Open Directory Project and Yahoo!, as well as to other industry-specific expert sites.

1. Having other relevant sites linking to yours... This means do not go find every free index you can find to plaster a link to your site on. Choose where you put your link wisely. And don't let others just add you to their "list".

Find sites that are relevant and have good content to them. If you sell crafting supplies, a good place to buy banner space would be a site for crafters that shows them how to make crafts.

However, you do not want to put your website link on a site for automotive repair tips and tricks. The site is not relevant to your content.

2. This is a given to submit your URL to Google. But before you do, atleast get some content that has keywords to what you are going to sell on there. Yes, they will crawl your site, but if you have nothing there, you are going to be put towards the bottom of the barrel and have to crawl your way up from there. Content can be simply your About Us page, content page, terms page, faq's page, Home Page Content (an absolute must as this is the first thing people see), etc.

3. We all have a sitemap over here. The url will either be http://storename.mybisi.com/sitemap.xml OR http://www.mysitename.com/sitemap.xml This will tell Google where you have content and what to go read. Depending on the design, they do not always find links. That is why I do not like using Flash anything. Yes, it is fancy, but it prevents the bots from seeing your content.

4. If you have went out to find advertising but told them you were looking at sometime next month but get your site up the end of this month, get on the ball and let them know it is up early so they can turn those links on! This helps you with your advertising AND your Google crawling.

5. These are great places to submit your directory to. Yahoo! is not to bad on time it takes. I would say it is about the same as Google. The Open Directory Project can take a while so submit and forget. They will find you eventually. But make sure they are valid search engines. Some sites are just link farms and end up hurting you. You may be able to submit to Ask Jeeves, DogPile, MSN, and several others. Just do some digging to see which ones fit your needs.

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Jennifer


An independent BISI solutions provider



Filling Out SEO Tabs | Putting Images In Your Store | Understanding the XML File Transfer | So You Want To Get Googled...

Thanks!

I would add to make sure and get 'google checkout' setup. I imagine if you are setting up an account where they get 2% from the sales, they will make sure and crawl your site. Beyond that, it is a nice alternative and additional option to paypal and direct money orders/checks.

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Jennifer


An independent BISI solutions provider



Filling Out SEO Tabs | Putting Images In Your Store | Understanding the XML File Transfer | So You Want To Get Googled...