Background: It’s a startup created by past Google employees. Dan Sullivan outlines how it’s different in four main areas:

• Big web index
• Unique relevance algorithm
• Unique results display
• Privacy

The one noticeable difference is the way that it displays the search results. But I find that when I click on results that I’m interested in it takes me to the home page of that site rather than the permalink of that particular article. That’s like saying there’s the haystack, now find the needle!

The biggest issue that I have with it is that when I search for my name there are no results. I like being on the first page of Google search results. Because people commonly misspell my name I purchased both domain names: conniebensen.com and conniebenson.com. So I come up on first page for searches using both spellings.

I agree with Chris Brogan’s overview. It’s hard to be excited about a search engine that doesn’t recognize us. Many of those that commented on his post experienced the same as I did. Maybe in time the search engine will improve, but for the meantime… we’ll wait.

Part 1 Choosing a Domain Name

Part 2 Choosing a Hosting Package

Part 3 Website Builder

Part 4 Content

In addition to having interesting content there are many things happening in the background. You want to make it easy for people to find your site. When people search in Google & other search engines, you want your site to rank as close to the top of the search results.

To understand the importance of keywords & SEO (search engine optimization) one needs to know what’s going on in the background: Search engines have ’spiders’ out crawling the web. An algorithm is used to index the sites based on keywords. Keywords are the main topic words associated with your product or resource. To decide which keywords are most appropriate for your niche think backwards. What would people be searching for? There are free tools for finding keywords.

Free Keywords

Good Keywords

SEO is an area that is a specialized service. Network Solutions also offers Search Engine Optimization packages that are sold in quantities of keyword phrases.

Once you have a keyword list to work with then you can focus your content on making sure that you include those keywords.

One thing to note is that search engines are continually changing their algorithms. Personally I prefer to write my content with the reader in mind rather than a focus on keywords. SEO & ranking is also based on the number of links that people make to your site & this happens over time. (All of that can be gamed & that’s why the algorithms are adjusted).

Metatags are keywords placed in the code on each web page. They also contribute to SEO, but not as much as they did in the past. I would make sure that they are there though.

SEO & keywords sounds really complicated but it’s a matter of being consistent. There are two important things: 1. Having a good site structure & 2. Make sure that your topics are related to your content area as you add it, then you will build your SEO organically.

For further reading there are many articles in My Solution Spot:

10 SEO Tips

How to Get Your Business Started With an SEO Strategy

Can Small Businesses Benefit From SEO?

and many more at My Solution Spot

You can also ask questions in the forums there.

My analogy references building a house so keeping with that where do you want to put it? Do you want it to be on a main thoroughfare seen by everyone? You definitely want to make it as easy as possible for everyone to find it rather than being on a quiet side street with little or no traffic.

The domain name will be the unique location for your site. There are two options for choosing a name:

1. Keyword based – these are words that are related to your business. The advantage is that Search Engines will notice them when people search. This works well in niches that are smaller. In broad areas such as automotive, reality & computer it will be more difficult to find unique names. A good example is Digital Photography School

2. Branding – Choose a name that is related to the brand of your business. This is effective for big companies like Google, eBay, etc but it’s equally effective for small companies too. As you search for domain names you’re probably more apt to find available options that use your brand name. A typical example is www.DetroitLakesFord.com

Here is an overview from Network Solutions’ suggestions for choosing a domain name.

Make it memorable – Ultimately keep in mind that you want to find something that is easy for your customers to remember.
Pick the right extensions – What type of site is it? .com is usually used for businesses, but there are others if that’s taken
Check your spelling
Test different name combinations
Register your domain name ASAP
Register variations and multiple extensions
Don’t give up! there are options if your chosen name is registered

In some respects I think that choosing the domain name is the hardest part in this process. Once that is decided the next steps are much easier. The next post in this series will cover choosing a hosting package.