Web Design Ethiopia

Once your site has made it to the playing field, be sure that it has everything it needs to come out on top. Get your site noticed, keep it up to date and well-maintained, and respond quickly and efficiently to any errors.

Web Site Promotion: Getting the Users to Your Site
Having a highly usable site includes making access simple and straightforward. Even if your site works great – that is, your user tests have shown that users almost always find what they need, the ordering process is easy and intuitive, and the site gets raves from those people who have seen it – users still need to be able to find your site when surfing the Internet. If the site can’t be found, it won’t be used.

Directories and Search Engines
Users search for sites in several different ways. Occasionally users know exactly what they’re looking for; other times they are simply surfing the Web for something of interest.

More commonly, they have a general idea of what they are looking for, but use the search process itself as a means to clarify and elaborate their questions. If your goal is drive traffic to your site, you need to understand the users’ approach to searching.

To make the most out of search engines and directories, consider first how people use the sites, and second, how the different search engines are structured and respond to queries.

Directory or Categorical Web Indexes
When a user has a good idea of what he or she is looking for, a categorical index (or directory) is generally a good tool. For example, Yahoo! and dmoz.org  provide structures that facilitate searching by providing preexisting categories within a common framework. However, while this is great for the user, it can make the web site promoter’s task more difficult.

There are several things you can do to enhance the prominence of your site. Place your site at the most detailed level possible. Thoroughly review the possibilities and place your web site within the most common areas. (The number of categories you can select varies across directories; for instance, Yahoo! allows you to place a site in two places, whereas dmoz.org only allows you to suggest a site for one category.)

Carefully consider where your target audience is most likely to be looking for sites like yours. What keywords do they use? What group of sites do they expect to see you among? Describe your site so that it addresses the information needs your users have as they browse.

If you have appropriately focused subsites, consider submitting different sections of your site in different search categories. However, if you do this and if the subsites are not sufficiently different, you may end up not being listed at all in the indexing site as a punishment for breaking their rules and regulations (limiting you to only two listings, for instance).

There are many different directories in cyberspace, and there is no way to guarantee you are listed on every single one. In addition, adding your URL to the directories is a labor-intensive task. It’s a good thing there are tools to help. However, we still recommend making your own submissions to the major players (e.g., Yahoo!) yourself. This is the only way to ensure that the information is accurate and that you have chosen the right category for your site.

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