One of the most important things you can do is, well, increase your importance. Google, in determining how highly that site is ranked, places a significant weight on the number of inbound links a site has. An inbound link is any link to your website from another website, or domain. Obviously, if someone is searching for, say “web developers in Brevard”, and one site has 100 inbound links going to it, while another has zero, it is probably safe to say that, for some reason, more people on the internet seem to value that first website than the second. Thus, Google (and a few other search engines, most notably MSN) will place a higher weight on the first website with 100 inbound links, than the second. This isn’t the only factor Google uses – in fact, they use several hundred parameters to determine a website’s ranking, but it is one of the more important ones – and one that is very easy to control.
Don’t fret. You can get as many inbound links to your site as you probably need. But you have to be willing to spend a few hours. The easiest way to get more inbound links is to simply request them.
Find your company’s name on other sites. Use Google, Yahoo, and MSN to find websites that already mention your company. Type the name of your company surrounded by quotes (i.e. “Brevard Web Hosting”) in the search engines.
Find who to contact. For each site, locate the contact page and send an email to the site’s owners. For larger companies, you might find they have an email to the web team, or web designer, so you’ll want to use that. Smaller companies will probably only have one email, or a form. If you have a company that has a lot of positions available, you might want to try marketing or sales, as these tend to be people with the most community-minded approach to business. If all you have are departments listed, just go for the highest person you can find (President, CEO, etc). Usually, it will get forwarded to the person responsible. Don’t send it to the lower-level employees. There is a chance they will neglect it.
This is one of the few things which a web developer can only help you so much. Part of the reason for that is, quite often, you are sending requests to companies and people with whom you already have a relationship with. They might be a vendor or supplier. They might be a high-profile client. Moreover, many websites do not to deal with a webmaster from, perhaps, a competing web development firm. But, they are usually very community-minded and enjoy hearing from the business owners directly. After all, in many cases you will be requesting a hyperlink from someone who has already listed your business in plain text.
Here is a sample email that you should send to any website that lists your company name. You’ll want to use an email that is linked to your domain. Thus, if we were requesting an inbound link from someone, we would use my sales@brevardwebhosting.com email, rather than a Yahoo, AOL, BellSouth, or some other third-party email account. Why? The first thing you need to make sure is that you come across professional and as an actual representative of the business. Using your domain’s email instills confidence in the reader that they are, in fact, getting a request from someone who represents your website.
Dear __________,
On this page (http://www.somecompany.com/somepage.html) you mention our company name. Would you kindly consider adding a link to our website where you mention us?
Our website address is http://www.yourwebsite.com.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. We would greatly appreciate it.
Sincerely,
Your Name
Your Contact Information
Your Email Address, Too!
You always want to list your email address in your closing in case the person who receives the emails prints them out and puts them in someone else’s inbox tray.
Keep all your sent emails in a folder and review them every week to see if your website address was added. Sometimes, your email may have gone to the wrong person, or may have been caught in a spam folder. Each week, resend any emails from which you did not get a response. Use a quick intro, such as, “Thought this might have got into your spam box, so I’m trying again. Please excuse the duplicate if you already received and are working on it.”. You can also use a return-receipt if you have tried a few times but are note getting a response. As a last resort, you might try calling the website owners if it has been a few weeks with no response.
Local directories are the bread and butter of the internet. There are several kinds of directories you’ll want to try and get listed in immediately.
The first is directories local to your town or community. Here is a list of directories in Brevard County and what to do to get listed in them.
Brevard Directory: This is Brevard County’s largest directory of online websites. If you are already a client of Brevard Web Hosting, you’ll be listed automatically. If not, go to the website, find the category of your business, and click the “Submit New Brevard County Website”. Fill in the URL of your website and click the “Get Title and Description”. The Title and Description will fill itself in automatically, but you can change this. Make sure to put your email address in so that you can keep up with changes to your listing automatically (Brevard Directory will email automatically if any change is made in your listing or category). If there are other categories to which you think you also belong, be sure to mention it. Click the city or cities of your locations and then “Submit” at the bottom. That’s it. Make sure you followed the rules for being listed as Brevard Directory is very strict about wording.
All Brevard Magazine: All Brevard has been a major source of information about Brevard for nearly 10 years. Click on the “Web Links” on the top banner and then “Add Link”. You’ll need to register a username and password first, and then just follow the prompts.
The second is more regional or country-wide directories. These are sometimes more time-consuming to get listed in, but they are usually well-worth it. Additionally, sometimes the information is culled from third-party sources, so if you haven’t looked at how you are listed, you might be in for a surprise. Be sure to include your website accurately when submitting additions or changes. The links below are to the rules and guidelines of the services. You’ll also want to put this on your New Year’s List of Things To Do each year to keep current and make sure your listing wasn’t deleted or modified incorrectly.
Google Maps allows free directory listings. You must have a physical address for your business that matches your business address. Google will mail you a postcard to that address to confirm your existence. It takes approximately five to ten minutes to sign up. You’ll need a Google Account, so if you don’t have one yet, you’ll be prompted to create one.
Yahoo Local Listings has been around longer and people can make comments about your business as well. Like Google, you’ll need a physical address.
One final note: An option to declare what type of payments you accept is usually available at these types of sites. Unless you obviously already take cash, as in the case of a restaurant, do not specify so for your safety. For example, if you are a female interior decorator who meets clients in their homes, just leave “cash” unchecked. You can always offer that to a client when meeting face-to-face, but you don’t want to advertise that you might have significant cash on your person. Safety before Marketing.
If you are a member of the Chamber of Commerce, a trade organization, or an association, be sure to see if they list their members online. For instance, all four Brevard County chambers list their members online and will include a link to their website, but you have to let them know you have a website.
