Using your website as an advertising tool - part 6/6

Having a website that works - How do I do it?

You would by now have noticed the term that I used - fully optimized website. Let's take a closer look at what this means.

There are two types of web site designers in South Africa. The ones that are purely graphic designers, and the Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Specialists. If you know a little about how the internet works, and particularly how search engines work, you will be better armed with knowledge that will enable you to choose wisely.

In SA there are only a small handfull of companies /individuals who can really call themselves SEO specialists. Most are graphic designers or simply someone with sufficient skills to allow them to do a website - ranging from pretty decent to What a Mess. Graphic designers in particular are skilled enough to make websites that are really eye catching and aeshetically pleasing.

Unfortunately the level of skill as far as optimising websites is concerned ranges from knowing a little to downright dangerous! Of course there are always those who THINK they know, and as is usually the case, they can be the most dangerous to your website. Hence a very large proportion of websites are simply lost on the information superhighway. Just another website. So what!

By having your website designed by someone who does not posess the skill to optimise correctly and as per the most up to date methods, the nett effect will probably be the same as keeping your lovely new full colour brochures in your drawer somewhere - only you will know about it...

Who to ask then? To ensure that you get a website that works means you need to know more about how the search engines work.

Example - say you enter a search term in Google or Yahoo for "wedding photographers Gauteng" - Google will return, on date, results for about 57 000 possible sites, with 10 results per page.

Almost 90% of internet users will NOT look further than page 2 or MAYBE page 3 of the results pages. This means that, if your website does not appear in the first few pages of the results, it is literally a DEAD DUCK.

The question is - can YOU afford to have a website like that? I should reckon not, if you are serious about your business.Your site must appear in those first few pages for your type of service or product if it wants any chance of generating additional business.

In order for this to happen - we call it generically ranking in the search engines - the site needs to be properly optimized for the search engines. This is where you need the services of a specialist. Someone who knows what algoriths the search engines use when returning results for your search.

These search algorithms are based on various factors such as the correct use of meta tags and keywords, the correct amount of text and relevancy to a search, the amount of relevant inbound links to your site and more, up to and including certain design factors. Bottom line - you do not necessarily need the best looking site on the internet in order to have a web site that works, as long as it is correctly optimized.

So, before you decide to have your website designed by a "friend of your cousin's girlfriend" simply because it saves you the hassle of finding a website designer, rather contact the specialsits and be certain you pay for a website that works for you.