From time to time we receive an email in our Customer Service Department from ‘worried of Berkhampstead’ or ‘concerned of Benalmadena’ because they cannot find their website on the Internet when they enter in their full domain name. Don’t panic, the solution is simple.
We have found that the problem is normally confusion between the Address Bar and the Google search box or other Search Engine’s search box.
The Address Bar is located at the top of your screen. It is where the URL, or website address appears. A search box, like the Google search box, is the place where you type terms to search for.
For example, if you are looking for a website that you know the address (URL) of like www.independentowners.com you would type that address into the Address Bar to reach that website directly. If you do not know the exact address you would type Independent Owners into the search field and the Search Engine would give you a list of results to help you find what you are looking for. A search box is also where you might type ‘seafood restaurants in Marbella’ to find a restaurant that serves seafood in Marbella. See the graphic provided below.
Why can’t I find my website?
Sometimes owners that type their domain into a search box generate no results, meaning they cannot find their website. Owners of older, more established websites do not see or recognise this as a problem. Concerns generally arise from Members who have young websites.
The reason for this is young websites have yet to be recognised by Google, Yahoo! and other major Search Engines because that takes time; sometimes weeks, sometimes more.
How do I find my website?
To avoid any moments of panic we recommend that Members, especially those new to the IndependentOwners.com community, type their domain into the Address bar at the top of their browser. Type in your full URL ie, www.mydomain.com, in the Address Bar to navigate to your website.
As your website becomes more established and you have created links to it from advertising, from forums and/or from listing sites (see more about this under My Optimization and the Website Marketing Guide, both found in your CMA) the Search Engines will begin to recognise your domain and will direct you to it if you enter it in to the search box.
Remember, the Address Bar is there for you to type the domain address of the website you wish to visit. Use it instead of the search box to avoid confusion! Better yet to access your website, simply click the Home icon on your IndependentOwners Toolbar. It’s that easy!
Happy summer rentals all!
Must admit, I’ve made this mistake and was pointed in the right direction from customer services. I think I’m getting to grips with the internet. My kids think I’ve a long way to go yet!
Thanks!
My kids think the same thing, but 10 years ago when the internet was getting really big I thought it would just pass me by. Ha! And now I have my very own website!
Presumably if you have plenty of time the more times you access your own website the more likely it will be picked up by search engines.
http://chloecasa.com
Hi David,
Thanks for your comment.
As far as we are aware, click throughs alone on your website will not improve your positioning with Search Engines.
Since your website content has been structured in a Search Engine friendly manner with the guidance of your SEO Consultant provided by your My Optimization solution, then the more times you change your content, the more times the Search Engines’ spiders will have to index your website to keep their systems up to date. So content here is the key, not click throughs.
When Search Engine spiders see that content on your website changes regularly and have to re-index your website then this can help your positioning…. But it is important that the Spiders see that the new content is well written text that is relevant to what you profess to be offering on your website.
One of the biggest things Search Engines look for are links from other websites to your website. Each one of these links counts as a “vote” for your website. More “votes” means better Search Engine ranking. Furthermore, each “vote” carries a different weight. A “vote” from an established website, with a good PageRank that appears high on Search Engines will count for more than a “vote” from a website with a lower PageRank. Check out this article for more about PagePank:
http://independentownersblog.wordpress.com/2008/05/16/what-is-a-google-pagerank-how-can-i-get-one/