The Role Of "Search Engine Bait"

Getting great traffic numbers to your web site can be difficult – and many search engines (Including Google) change how they work from time to time.

Being near the top of search results means getting more clicks through to your web site - which leads to more sales from your web site.

Not being found near the top of search results is a lost opportunity - and if your competitors are there then they will be getting business while you don’t.

Getting new business via your web site is the ideal if you sell a product or service - and if you can forward book your accommodation or tourism activity - even better.

Most business would benefit from an increased number of visitors - let's look at a single strategy that works really well to increase your visibility in search engines.

When you hear about or host an event use details of that event to create a new page on your web site.

Target the content to the kinds of things a visitor would want to know about the event - and how your product or service can make the event even better.

For example we saw some very real “hype” before the Rugby World Cup 2010.

At the time smart folks added a page dedicated to what they could provide to Rugby Fans - it was Limousine services, accommodation or other activities that rugby fans can do between matches - and we saw that somewhere in the world a rugby fan entered “rugby world cup nz things to do” into a search engine.

Edit 2022 - wow I wrote that in 2009 ;-)

So here’s your check list: -

1) Find out about an event that is happening near you – some ideas: - Whitianga Scallop Festival or Festival of Speed, Rotorua Ragamuffin Festival or Gisborne Wine and Food Festival. www.eventfinder.co.nz is a great place to find those events and the details…

2) Create a new page on your web site with keyword friendly content targeted to what the event visitors could enter into a search engine and that you supply.

3) Place the important keywords – in the Title of the page, in the META Description tags and in the Heading of the page.

4) Register the web site with Google.com/Webmastertools (We would have already done this for WebFoot Customers) and submit a Google Site Map. The content management system you use to maintain your website can be used to generate a Google Site Map at any time which would include any new pages that you have created and ask Google to come and index them.

5) After a few days – or when Google Webmaster tools tells you – test the page with some key phrases – add some more content to ensure that your new page is near the top

There’s no limit to the number of pages that you can create with the content managment system so think of those terms that there may not be much competition – such as: -

Ensure that the content of the page has enough information for the visitor to make a “buying decision” for your products or services and that there is a clear “call to action” on the page of what you want the person to do next.

2022 Edit - oh - and watch for out of date content examples too ;-)