Guten Tag Fußballfreunde!
Avatar's Pom contingent is glued to coverage of the Football World Cup at the moment. So, as part of our nod to the beautiful games in Germany, we've included a few soccer-themed tidbits this month, which are truly weird and wunderbar!
Meanwhile, do you want to know how to check your link popularity? Or what the easiest way to find pictures for your Web site is? Well, this month's news has the answers. Plus, our guest writer, the lovely Greta from New Zealand directory, NZS.com, offers editorial insight on how you can create the best directory listing for your Web site.
We've also got a new member of the team onboard, Jason Moore, who has settled into his Web design role so smoothly, you'd be forgiven for thinking he was more Bond than Moore. Our new hot property has licence to graphically thrill and we've already made him into a cartoon! (By the way, Jason is not really armed and dangerous, he's just holding Helen's hairdryer.)
Finally, don't forget to check out this month's sites of interest.
How To Create the Best Directory Listing for Your Site
Yahoo, the world's largest online directory and Google, the world's most popular search engine, are household names in New Zealand. But did you know that we have localised search directories of our own such as NZS.com, NZ Pages, NZSearch and KiwiPages?
What's a search directory?
A directory holds and references 'listings' which contain basic details about Web sites and their content. When using a directory, users can browse the directory's categories to locate the section that best fits their query. Increasingly, directories integrate search features that work in a similar way to a search engine, i.e. searching brings up results that are based on the keyword relevancy of the site or the site's directory listing, or a combination of both.
Part of your search engine optimisation strategy should involve submitting your site to local and international directories. Good positioning in the search engines and directories can significantly increase the number of targeted visitors to your site.
Creating A Listing for Your Site
To have your site listed in a directory, typically you need to submit:
- The title of your site (e.g. Avatar Web Promotions : New Zealand Web Site Design).
- The site's URL (e.g. http://www.avatar.co.nz/).
- A well-written description about your site (its products, services or key focus).
- To achieve maximum effect, your site description should contain relevant keywords and search terms.
- Choose the category in which you are listed with care (it's key to receiving targeted traffic).
If you haven't listed your site in a directory before, why not give it a go?
Submit your site to NZS.com, receive a free listing and give your business a boost today!
Checking Your Link Popularity Rating
If you've been following our tips and advice on how to promote your Web site to search engines, you may have been diligently adding unique and interesting content to your Web site and over time, working to increase its link popularity.
Link popularity is the term given to the number of links that a search engine finds for your Web site. You can check how many links search engines find to your site, by going to each search engine and keying in link:www.yoursite.co.nz or link:http://www.yoursite.co.nz into the search box (remember, each search engine behaves differently, so you won't get the same number of links found by each search engine).
What's perhaps even more useful is finding out how your site's link popularity stands up against that of your online competition. There are a number of free tools on the Internet which do this for you. We like using Market Leap, which enables you to benchmark your site against specific industry sites.
If you want to find more ways to increase your link popularity, please contact us.
The Easy Way to Find Images for Your Site
Last month, we were talking about choosing pictures with oomph for your Web site. If you haven't got time to scrutinise these picture resources, you can always opt for the new, easy way to find images for your site — booking in one of our Web designers to do an Image Search for you!
View more details of our Image Search service. This service is only available for Avatar clients commissioning a Web site design, update or promotions service.
Sites of Interest
Here's a selection of sites we've designed, updated and/or promoted recently...
- Canterbury Sports (design and promotion)
Wide range of leading brand sports uniforms and sports gear available through mail order for rugby, netball, cricket, soccer, hockey, touch and softball.
- Cuddon Freeze Dry (design)
Cuddon Freeze Dry offer turn-key, quality assured batch and continuous freeze drying machinery with capacities ranging from 5.5kg to 1500kg.
- Total Span (design)
Garages, sheds, workshops, farm buildings and carports from New Zealand's leading manufacturer of steel framed buildings.
- Sue Kelly Water Systems (design and promotion)
Water filters, purifiers and water treatment by Sue Kelly ensures New Zealand water is the way it should be — pure, safe, clean and clear.
- USave Rentals (design and promotion)
Affordable, quality and comfortable cars and trucks for hire in Auckland, Palmerston North and Christchurch.
- Amber Court Motor Lodge (promotion)
Friendly, family run motel in Nelson offering a wide range of easy access, ground floor accommodation near Tahunanui beach.
- PhotoPhysical (promotion)
Easy to use photo software enables you to create photobooks or photocalendars from your own digital photos — suitable for promotional gifts, these products are printed to a high professional quality by the factory in Christchurch.
- Slim and Tone (promotion)
New Zealand gyms and gym franchises from one of the market leaders in the USA. Slim and Tone offers women's only express fitness and workout studios with a unique training programme.
