Over 250 million web domains are registered worldwide. 15.7 million of them have the ending .de. Tens of thousands of websites are added every day. Your blog is one of them. Will it be found and used?
The fortunes on the Internet are apparently spread out, and it is almost impossible for anyone new to challenge Google, Amazon, eBay, Facebook, Twitter and Wikipedia for their market leadership. But everyone has the chance to reach a targeted group of users with their own website, be it a blog, an online shop or the introduction of a company.
Three ways to fame
Word of mouth is now known as social media. You won't have a budget for advertising or even TV spots. So you create awareness yourself via social channels – online and offline. Don't expect others to constantly visit and share your page if you don't. Many Facebook likes or Twitter followers hardly generate direct sales, but they indirectly increase the awareness of your page.
You need relevant 'content' that is easy to find on Google. In Germany, Google is the clear market leader with well over 90 percent of all search queries. Your site is smoothly aligned with Google guidelines, you don’t include any technical stumbling blocks and you offer relevant content. Google is becoming increasingly better at recognizing SEO measures as such. So don't overdo it with search engine optimization, it must correspond to the size and purpose of your website.
You will find multipliers who will spread your message. This is usually done via linking. The more prominent and relevant the link-setting website is, the more your site benefits from it.
The content counts
If you have nothing to say or just put together vague texts or irrelevant photos, you won't attract crowds of users. Relevant content' means that it answers a question in a focused manner, presents a topic or is coherent in other respects. A travel blog, for example, only contains articles and pictures about the trip, from the preparation and organization to the experiences and adventures on site right up to the aftermath. Posts or photos about garden furniture destroy the thematic focus and the coherence of the content.
In the real world, people have diverse and multi-topic interests, but this does not apply to websites. Each website is essentially a monograph like the one you see in the library and only deals with one topic.
Put yourself in the shoes of an internet user and think about what search queries you would make on Google in order to accept your website as a relevant result. With Google Trends you can check how strong the competition is. The more demand there is for certain queries, the more difficult it is for you to compete against existing websites. However, sometimes competing sites are so poor in terms of content or technology that you have a real chance.
Technical aids
Every website is enriched with metadata. These are invisible in the head of the HTML file; But search engines and social media evaluate them. This includes the page title, keywords, description, author information and more. By using the author information, which is included on the website, you qualify yourself for the subject areas with Google and thus increase the relevance of your contributions.
Metadata only influences search engine rankings indirectly. If they are missing, Google basically gives you penalty points; If they don't fit the website, the same goes. Image titles (alt tags) and link titles are also important in order to underline the content of a website on a non-visible level. Supplementary metadata according to schema.org are particularly effective and search engine friendly. Metadata can be easily maintained in WordPress, for example, and some plugins make the work easier.
The content must be relevant, formulated in appropriate language and written as error-free as possible. You structure it with HTML heading types: from h1 (main heading) to h2 and h3 (subheadings) to h4 and h5. There are suitable HTML formats such as blockquote or address for quotes and other purposes. With the correct formatting and all the metadata, there is usually an additional effort of 50 percent over and above the actual text. If you save on this additional effort, you can also save on writing. Just as the layout work and editing of this article for uNiglobale took at least half of the writing time, you also have to plan this effort for your websites.
Share with others
With Facebook and Twitter you can distribute links quickly and easily. However, these have little influence on search engine rankings. Links from other websites are given much greater weight. Stay away from “link farms”; Too many links from wrong sites can kill a website on Google. Motivate friends and acquaintances to share and link to your content. The more interesting, entertaining and share-worthy your content is, the greater the chances of getting links.
Use Google Analytics (or another provider) to monitor your website. Then you will find out which posts are popular, where your visitors come from and what they do on your website. Learn from successes and especially from mistakes. By the way, only up to ten percent of all visitors will visit your site for more than a few seconds. This applies to all websites. Facebook and Twitter integration motivate visitors to place links and recommend your site. A good URL structure also helps; Cryptic names have no place in this, but the web address should be readable and fit the topic. Comments and ratings also add value to a post.
Go to your own website
Whether you put together a virtual application folder, start a study blog, set up an online shop as a start-up, promote a company website or start an online petition, the first thing you do is define your target group. An online petition thrives on social interaction and multipliers. A good press release in the right channels and active support via Facebook and Twitter can be more effective than SEO. You will only reach number one for very rare search queries. Even the perfect page only ends up on the first page of search results after several months. You need stamina and continuity because your competition never sleeps. And your competition consists of millions of other websites!
Create an editorial concept with topic planning to ensure content relevance and ensure topicality. Deal with the technical basics and see how others do it; You can access the website source code in your browser. Ensure a standard-compliant implementation, a clean URL structure and only use Flash for videos. Integrate metadata and useful linking functions. Never forget that ultimately people are supposed to use your site, so you need an appealing design, plausible structure and good usability. Google also recognizes good usability for people, so this work pays off twice.
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Over 250 million web domains are registered worldwide. 15.7 million of them have the ending .de. Tens of thousands of websites are added every day. Your blog is one of them. Will it be found and used? The sinecure on the Internet is apparently spread out, and it is almost impossible for anyone new to use Google, Amazon, eBay, Facebook, Twitter
