The NAPRP Blog

Mar 6

Written by: NAPRP Admin
3/6/2009 4:53 AM

Many pet rescue groups have Web sites now. This change is good for the animals since having a Web site is a great way to get the word out about what you do. Of course, that's assuming anyone can find your Web site.

Almost every time someone tells me they have a Web site, the next thing they say is that nobody visits it. Online marketing can be extremely affordable, but you have to start with the Web site. When it comes to the Internet, the old saying "if you build it, they will come" could not be less true. To understand how to draw in more visitors, you need to consider the way the Internet works. Sure, technology is always changing, but a few key principles about the way the Web works have not changed at all.

1. Search engines understand text. You can read a whole lot about "search engine optimization" but most of it really comes down to common sense. A search engine like Google can't read pictures; it can only read text. So if your Web site is all graphics and animation, Google can't read your site. If Google can't figure out what your site is about, it can't include it in the search results. So people who use Google to do a search won't ever find your site.

2. Content is important. The more text you have about what you do, the better. People go online to find information. If your site contains a lot of great information that people are searching for, you get more visitors.

3. Links matter. I've often said that the Internet is like high school: being popular is a big deal. "Link popularity" basically means the more links you have pointing to your site, the better. Both search engines and humans follow links. You can think of it like online word-of-mouth marketing (or "word-of-mouse" marketing). That's why we offer a free member spotlight page on our NAPRP web site. The spotlight page helps increase the link popularity of your site.

Making these changes is not particularly difficult, so if your Web site isn't working, consider recruiting some Web-savvy volunteers to help you fix it.

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