We last discussed what it takes to make your Home Page attractive and effective on the
World Wide Web. But that’s only half the story. Clearly, it matters not how jazzy your
page is if no one looks at it. So how does one get their page in front of as many web
surfers as possible?

The key here, as we discussed before, is that the surfer sees only what he/she selects for
viewing (exception, later). There are two general ways to encourage this selection:
First of all, you should make sure that you tell the world (in advertisements (for example,
in The Argonaut), letterhead, business cards, etc.) where your web page is. Every web
page has a specific, unchanging “address”, assigned by your webmaster. This address
(called a URL, a Uniform Record Locator) is like a FULL telephone number – country
code, city code, area code and individual number: no one else in the world has the same
number. You have seen these URLs scattered throughout print media and TV. They look
like:

Explicitly publicizing your own URL insures that anyone who has seen your name in
print and wants to know more about your product/service/hobby/pet (whatever you are
touting) can find your home page.

The second approach to web visibility aims at those surfers who have never heard of you
– they don’t know who you are, what you do, how to find your home page or why they
should care. This is especially a concern to those of you seeking nationwide or oversees
exposure. To help you reach these surfers, there are both free and for-fee services,
roughly characterized as Searches or Yellow Pages.

A Yellow Pages Service on the Internet (also called a Mall) is a widely advertised home
page containing a list of “subscribers”, and a detailed index to the areas and sub-areas of
the products and services offered by these subscribers. Just like telephone yellow pages,
the surfer looks up the product/service they are seeking and are led to a list of home pages
which fall into that category (and have subscribed to this particular yellow pages).

Searches are less structured web pages, but (with a little practice), are much more
powerful ways of finding a web site meeting some particular need. To launch a search, the surfer supplies one or more key words or phrases related to his/her interests. The search then performs a very efficient examination of tens of thousands of web pages, looking for these key items. The result of a search is a list of web pages, ordered by how
many times a key word/phrase was found in the page. (A higher number usually means
this page is more relevant to your interest.) Of particular importance is that the pages
examined are typically (not always) drawn from the World Wide Web in general, not just
a list of explicit subscribers.

Either type of service enables surfers to locate home pages of companies, organizations or
individuals, completely new to them, from anywhere in the world.

There are many free services of both the search and yellow pages variety. Those that
charge their subscribers claim a larger or more focused readership. Many of these are
purpose- or industry-specific.

Finally, more in the spirit of conventional advertising, there are ever more Internet-based
companies which, while providing some free, web-based service, continually expose the
surfer to unsolicited banners – a small ad which hot-links to the advertiser’s full home
page. These banner ads can be expensive, depending on the traffic claimed by the hosting
service.

Fees you pay for explicit promotion of your home page may also include the cost of
creating this page, but, as is usually the case, you are likely to get (no more than) you pay
for.

If you are contemplating a presence on the Web, you are well advised to do some
considerable surfing, yourself, to get a good feel for what is out there, whose pages are
effective, what is involved in using a search or yellow pages service, which are most likely
to reach your desired audience, where you are likely to get the most “bang for your buck”,
and so on.

Of course, any exploration into unexplored territory is likely to be more effective (and
safer) if accompanied by an experienced guide.

Jim Moore is a consultant and Webmaster for The Calculating Lady, providing a wide
range of services for users of personal computers as well as those seeking access to or
presence on the Internet.

(photo credit: Greg Wenger)
Information (310) 821-1519, fax: (310) 821-9079.
E-mail: jim@the-calculating-lady.com
Résumé: http://haven.ios.com/~jimmoore
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