How many websites are there out there in the world wide web? Well, according to a variety of sites, here are some answers that I found.
February 2007 – 108,810,358
April 2008 – 182,000,000
November 2009 - 20,340,000,000
December 2010 – 266,843,493
Today – upwards of 80,000,000
I’m not convinced that these numbers are accurate. I’m not sure that anyone could even give an accurate answer given how quickly things change on the internet today. But then, when you are dealing in the (at least) tens of millions, I don’t think that having an exact answer really matters. What we can take away from these staggering numbers, is that there are a lot of websites out there, and that means a lot of competition.
One of the common questions we are asked is, “How do I get more people to find my website?” There isn’t just one answer to that question. There are a number of actions you can take to increase your website traffic, but today I’m going to discuss Meta Tags.
Meta Tags are key words that are added to an entire website or individual pages of a website to help describe the content of the site. These tags are hidden behind the scenes and help web indexing robots better understand your site. The website is then given a ranking in the search engine database under specific search terms. This in turn helps users find the website.
There are a few important notes to mention in order for your Meta Tags to be effective.
- Be aware of the length of your key word lists. If your list of key words is too long and filled with irrelevant and unnecessary words, the indexing robots, may consider the information spam. Do not repeat the same words over and over again, as this will be considered spam. However, if your list of keywords is too short, the list will not be effective. You may want to do some research for some further advice on choosing your key words wisely. You can even go on line and pretend that you are searching for your own type of business and/or product. Take note of what you type into the search bar when you begin your search. Chances are, others are searching with those key words as well.
- Avoid including multiples of the same word. For example, flower, flowers, Flower…. Again, this will be considered spam.
- Make sure that your Meta Tags are relevant to what is on the page that they are describing. For example, on a Contact Us page, include the cities/provinces that you service, perhaps your street name, and/or specific names of those who work at your company. Do not include what you sell, manufacture or services that you provide as that is unrelated to the Contact Us page.
We encourage our clients to purchase the Meta Tag module when they purchase WebWiz@rd as it is an easy and inexpensive tool to use. If you are already using WebWiz@rd without the module, it can certainly be added on for you. This upgrade includes the page by page version of the module and the cost is $200*. If you currently have the site-wide Meta Tag module, you can upgrade it to the page by page version for $60*. As I mentioned above, the WebWiz@rd Meta Tag module is very user friendly and is a great tool to be able to have further control over your website. It allows you to change or add to your lists as your company and/or industry changes. The one-time cost is well worth the investment.
* Prices subject to change without notice.
