Before you begin the process of submitting your Web site to the various search engines and directories make sure you do the following two things: - Reevaluate Your Web Site - Organize Yourself

By Cade Fox     
 
REEVALUATE YOUR WEB SITE:
 
It's really not that hard to design a nice looking Web site; it simply takes a little bit of common sense and "out of the
box" thinking. Take a couple hours out of your busy schedule one day and just look around the Internet and take note of the things you like and don't like. You will find that there will be sites that are not appealing at all to you as well 
as sites you absolutely love.
 
Because of the nature of the Internet, there really are no set standards for Web site design. This, in itself, is both
a curse and a blessing. What fun would it be if every site looked the same? But, at the same time, how are you suppose to design your site so it is easy for your visitors to navigate as well as to get them there in the first place.
It's called common sense.
 
Even though there are no official standards of Web design, there is a relatively accepted list of design "no no's."
Most of these may seem obvious, but its amazing how many of these are violated. The following are the biggies:
 
"USELESS" AND OVERUSE OF GRAPHICS
 
When using graphics on your Web site, ask yourself the following question.
 
Are these graphics really necessary?
 
If you are designing this site for someone else, try not to show off with your graphics expertise too much. Remember,
people visit and return to your site because you provide them with information they need or are interested in, not
because of the "cool" graphics.
 
COPY EDITING ERRORS
 
This includes everything from misspelling words to broken links to incorrect factual information. Not only does this
reduce your chances of being listed on the human indexed search engine directories, it also undermines your
credibility. This happens all the time, even the big sites are guilty of this. The bottom line is, if you don't have
enough pride in the format and grammar displayed in your Web site, you should not be taken seriously.
 
ENDLESS HOME PAGES
 
I am sure you have seen this before; sometimes the webmaster even packs the entire site on the first page.
Patience does not exist on the Internet. If you are one of these "Endless Home Pagers," fix it now.
 
UNDER CONSTRUCTION GRAPHICS
 
Here are seven words for you to remember: "If you're not ready, don't publish." People want to see the information
they expect to see, don't expect them to bookmark your page waiting for YOU to get around to posting useful and
informative content.
 
ORGANIZE YOURSELF:
 
The biggest mistake when promoting your site is not being organized. The first time I entered the site promotion realm, I submitted my sites to any directory or link trade site that would accept it.  Unfortunately, I looked rather foolish when I requested a link swap from a site I had already submitted to.
 
So, instead of the confusion, I created a simple database to keep track of my submission information. You don't need to go out and buy an expensive database program, a text file will work just fine. In the database, simply keep track of the site URL, a description of the site, the date submitted, how often you can submit, and whether or not your site actually got listed. Doing this will prevent some of your headaches (trust me).
 
You might already know some of this information(but do you practice what you know?). Some of you might be thinking, "Why is he spending so much time on this, hurry up and get to the search engine stuff." Patience, my friends, some of the search engines and directories won't even consider your site if they don't like your site.
 
Next week I will be talking about Meta tag generation, with special attention to keywords and content as well as other tactics to prepare your web site for submission.
 
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to e-mail me at: cadefox@e-massmarketing.com
 
I wish you much success!
 
o--written by Cade Fox, an Editor and Information Architect for e-Massmarketing.com. Profit from the quality site marketing and promotion techniques offered in our publications.  http://www.e-massmarketing.com