How Do People Find My Web Site?

I am often asked the question, "How do people find my web site?" This is a popular question because all who have a site, want it to be found! Here are the top three ways people find your site:

• Direct Reference
  This is the #1 way people find your site. This means a user knows your web address and typed it into their browser. For example, you printed your web address on your business card and handed it to someone. That same person used that card to find your web site because they knew the direct address. The user didn't search for it and didn't find it from a referring site.
• Referring Link
  The #2 way people find your site is through a referring link. This is a link that is placed on another web site linking to your site. For example, if you run an insurance company, you would want to be linked from sites that sell cars. This is a relevant link that helps promote your product. How can you find out who is linking to you? Check your web stats; you're hosting provider should give these to you. If not, you can use a free Google tool by typing the following search phrase "link:www.example.com".
• Search Results
  This is mistakenly thought to be the first way most people find your site, but it is actually the #3 way. How you are ranked in search results depends on the search engine. Generally, most engines rank sites based on relevance and age of content. If you are relying on search results for people to find your page, you might want to consider additional ways of promoting your web site.

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Whose Email Are You Using?

There are so many free email services on the web today. Most of us use email from our internet service provider (ISP) or a third party service such as Hotmail or Google. So why should you consider using something else? Consistency is the main reason. If you use an email provided by your ISP, it will change every time you change providers or if your provider is brought out by another company. On the other hand, if you're using a third party provider such as Hotmail, you are subject to a number of advertisements and must always have access to the internet.

In either case, you're not in control of the email service. Users find themselves frustrated from storage limits, attachment limits or network uptime. So what's the answer? Get your own domain! When you buy a domain, you can create your own email addresses at that domain. Let's say you buy the domain "example.com". Once you do, you can create an email address at that domain. You can create, john@example.com or jane@example.com.

What's better is that you never have to change your email address! You can hold the address regardless of who provides your internet service and you don't have to tolerate storage limits or a barrage of ads. You can also have the option to use web based email or a local program on your computer. If you have a domain and aren't using it for email, consider doing so and take advantage of the benefits you already have in place. Need help? Send us an email, we can take care of the setup for you.