Is my hosting company a good choice for me?? + More questions!
Hey All,
I've got lots of questions, so I'm posting it in this general thread.
Last year, I started my own business and while I am really good with the computer, I didn't know much about designing my own website. A friend of mine suggested trying out SiteMaker 4.0 as it's pretty simple....lots of click and drag features. I decided to go with that choice so I could get my website out there ASAP. It turned out great...looks really professional. But...a year later, I'm wondering if I should stick with this host or not. Some of the problems I'm having....
I've registered with all of the search engines, and a year later, am still not appearing in any of them ?? Can anyone provide any insight on this? I believe I have the keywords where they are supposed to be.
I want to get involved with Google Adsense / Adwords, but I'm not sure if my host allows this on the site. I've been searching all over in the help and FAQ areas on the website, and am not finding any information. That's what actually prompted me to seek help on this issue.
I know there are a lot of knowledgeable people on this forum that can point me in the right direction. All comments / suggestions are welcome. Is SiteMaker 4.0 something I should get rid of and maybe move to something like MS Front Page? And if so...what steps do I need to take do get this done? Thanks in advance for the help. Let me know if there may be any additional information I need to provide. My website is in my sig!
Thanks!
DMonie
Megan posted this at 15:29 — 14th September 2006.
She has: 11,421 posts
Joined: Jun 1999
I don't know anything about SiteMaker so I can't say anthing about that. You wouldn't want Front Page as an alternative though. Dreamweaver maybe, but it's best to learn how to code the HTML yourself.
Your host doesn't have anything about adsense because there's no reason why they care. You can go ahead and do that on your site if you want - it's just a little piece of code to cut and paste after you've signed up and chosen what type of ads you want.
Search Engines are a tricky business and there are a lot of things you can do to get listed. Registering with them isn't really the best option at all since they should find you anyway. What you need to do is get links to your site out there on the web. That's how search engines find sites - they follow links around the web. If there aren't many links to your site it's going to be harder for them to find you.
You also need to work on the structure of your HTML page. Meta keywords and description aren't going to help you that much because the search engines have pretty much dropped them as a ranking factor. In page text is very important, especially text contained in header tags. The first problem with your site is that the important headers are in graphics which the search engines can't read. The second problem is that you dont' really have a lot of keywords in the body text. What would people type into a search engine if they were looking for this type of service? Make sure those words are on your page, and best to have them in header tags or links. Also include your locaction - since this is a local service people will probably use your city or region in a search.
Hope that helps,
Megan
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