About Dan Scherer Expertise I specialize in off-line editing of content-heavy websites with particular emphasis on formats for easy reading, effective language and avoidance of common mistakes in presenting text.
Experience As a writer/editor in broadcasting, association and corporate communcations, I have now taken this experience to the Internet as a private consultant. My career resume includes professional and management roles with the Voice of America, American Broadcasting Company, the Atomic Industrial Forum and 27 years with IBM.
Education/Credentials A.B.in Economics from New York University
Question Hi,
I'm putting up a very simple web page advertising cat-sitting in my area. I don't really want to have the expression 'pet-sitting' in the text, since we only do cats, but I want our site to come up when someone googles 'pet-sitting' in our area -- & also if they google things like 'pet care' or 'cat care.' Is there a way to do this? I've heard that in this sort of situation you can print the phrases in question in a print color that matches the page background, so that google will see the words but an actual person will not. Will this work? Any other suggestion for getting maximum hits? I'm building the page using Netscape 7's Composer, if that matters.
I expect this is pretty small potatoes compared to the web site issues you usually take on. Thanks for giving me a bit of your your time!
Sasha
Answer Hello, Sasha. For starters, I wonder why you are starting from scratch for a simple website. Sadly, I cannot tell you how to use meta tags via your software. BUT I also wonder why you have not explored any one of the free or low-cost, template-based site building/hosting services; like Go-Daddy, freehomepage.com, or 1and1.com. The have packages that will register a dotcom domain for you, help you build a starter page and host it for a modest fee. Do you realize that a domain is essential for minimal success via search engines? And if you Google "cat sit" you'll find many, many about sitting and many about cat training. Have you looked at local.com? Put cat sitting in the search box and show your city? That will give you an idea of the market, who's in it and if they have sites. I have a very simple, single-page site on bizland.com, costs $3.95/month for hosting. Take a look at www.copyhawk.com for ideas; or go to: www.hearmegod.freehomepage.com, for a freebie using a subdomain address. Yahoo Small Business also has a very inexpensive site builder/hosting deal.
I hope this has been helpful.
Regards, Dan Scherer, editors@copyhawk.com
