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FAQ Section
Frequently Asked Questions...answers to basic questions about our services.
At WebMarketingNow.com, we know that hiring a company to do your on-line marketing can be a difficult choice. After all, the web is face-less . . . and the last thing you want to happen is to get less than you expected - or worse, nothing at all. We strive to handle each client as if they were our only client.
Hopefully, the following will answer some of your questions and resolve any concerns you may have.
Why should I submit my site to the search engines?
When will my site be added to the search engines?
What search engines should I submit to?
How do I know if my site has been indexed?
Should I submit to the Yahoo! directory?
What is a Meta tag?
Are Meta tags required?
What is an FFA site?
What is a Robots.txt file?
How long have you been doing this?
Are you certified?
What if my site is created with Dynamic HTML?
Q: Why should I submit my site to the search engines?
A: In a word, you should not have to submit your site to search engines. In the past, search engines were rather passive, waiting for webmasters to submit URLs to them to crawl. Today, the search engines are more aggressive, as they send their "bots" throughout the web following links and eating as many pages as possible. Simply marketing your site through a press release is often enough to get Yahoo!, Google and MSN to your site, and with the market share the way that it is right now, those three can drive over 95% of your search referral traffic. You may not know this, but the search engines qualify your visitor up to three times before they arrive at your site. Better qualified visitors means better conversion ratios. Being listed high in the search engines is one of the key components to successfully marketing your site on the web. While being ranked high is a good step - ranking high with the right keyword phrases is better.
While submission to the search engines is important, top ranking is how to drive traffic to your site. For more information on how to effectively leverage search engine optimization, see the SEO Revolution.
Note: You should also realize that top ranking in the RIGHT search engines is equally important. Most do not realize that only a three search engines (Google, Yahoo! and MSN) drive 95% of the market.
Q: When will my site be added to the search engines?
A: Following the search engine spider indexing your pages, you should see your pages listed by doing the "site:domain.com" command in about 7-10 days. To check when the search engine spiders have visited your site you can review your web log files. We recommend Deep Log Analyzer to read your raw log files and Web Stat as a Web-based tool to track your traffic.
Q: What search engines should I submit to?
A: We recommend the top three: Google, Yahoo! and MSN.
Q: How do I know if my site has been indexed by the search engines?
A: If you have a web stats program like Web Stats or Deep Log Analyzer, you can see the IP addresses of the search engine robots in your log files. If you are unsure if you have a stats program, contact your ISP (Internet Service Provider) or you can check the major search engines if you are listed with them. This is how you do it:
site:domain.com
If pages show up in the list, then those pages have been indexed, cataloged and included in the search engine's index.
Q: Should I submit to the Yahoo! directory?
A: Even though Yahoo! does not pull from their directory for the search results, nor does the US directory count for PageRank/Link Popularity, we still recommend it as it is the best directory in the world and in terms of publicity, nothing comes close.
For more information on Yahoo! and how you can submit your site on your own, Click Here.
Q: What is a Meta tag?
A: Meta tags are HTML code located in the header, or <HEAD> tag of your web page. The Keyword Meta Tag is only read by some Inktomi-based engines and is not read by any other major search engine. Relying solely on meta tags will not place your site high in the search engines. We suggest to NOT use the keyword meta tag and instead, use the Title, Description and Body text to drive your message and your site up the search engine ranks.
Our advice: Build a better page with better content than your competition.
You can review our in depth article, "Meta Tags Explained" in our tips section.
Q: Are Meta tags required?
A: No, but if you use them in your site they should be used correctly and not abused. If you choose to use the Keyword Meta tag, do not use keywords in your meta tags which do not also appear in the body of your page; names of copyrighted and/or trademarked products that you do NOT own; never repeat a keyword more than three times in your keyword Meta tag. And never have two keywords back-to-back. For your description, keep it to 150 characters or less.
Q: What is a Robots.txt file?
A: It is a text file which informs the search engine robots and spiders which parts of your site they are allowed to "crawl". For more information, see our Tips Page.
Q: What is a FFA site?
A:FFA stands for "Free For All", meaning the link is free to anyone wishing to register. These are mostly garbage sites that are "spam farms", meaning, they are there to obtain your email address to spam. Instead, perform a solid link campaign that will benefit your site with not just a link, but a good partner that will bring you business and improve your bottom line.
Q: How long have you been doing this?
A: We have been consulting on the web since 1996. WebMarketingNow.com started in 1999.
Q: Are you certified in search engine marketing?
A: Of course, we wouldn't be in this business if we weren't.
We are Certified Search Engine Specialists from Search Engine Workshops. You can contact Robin Nobles for openings for training or references for SEO experts that she has trained.
Q: What if my site is created with Dynamic HTML (DHTML)?
A: We have done extensive testing and have determined that our clients who use DHTML are listed without penalty.
Search engines can index PDF files now, so they can certainly index dynamic pages. However, just because a search engine can index something, doesn't mean it can index it well. For example, Flash. While the engines can index Flash, it doesn't always index it correctly. Currently Java cannot be indexed, and many dynamic pages are having a difficult time staying in the Google index. Consult with your webmaster or join the SEO Revolution for access to information that can truly benefit your website.
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