I have noticed that many SEO articles focus on what you should do after launching your site. Those who are responsible for preparing your site for presentation often discuss SEO on the site such as keyword research and meta tags. What is often overlooked are the benefits of having your site listed before you start. With a little planning and a few hours of operation it is easy to be identified by Google, Yahoo, and MSN before your site comes to life.
The key to getting your site listed is the top three to get links that point you to sites that are already identified. If search bots crawl on those sites they will definitely find a link to your site and your site will be added to their index. Follow these five steps a month before you start and you will be a step ahead of the game.
1. Register your domain name. You may be surprised at how many people wait until the last minute to do this. The sooner you register your domain, the more you can find quality links to it and get it listed.
2. Enter the home page. Create a "coming soon" page with your logo, information about your site, and an expected launch date. You can also add a form for people to sign up for email updates about your site. This starts building your email marketing list before you get started.
3. Start a blog and subscribe to Feedburner. Post a blog at www.yoursite.com/blog. No matter if you use WordPress, Blogger, or any other blog forum you choose, just make sure you host it on your site. Make a few posts about your site, what people can expect when it is launched, and why your site will be different. After your first post, sign up for a Feedburner account at http://www.feedburner.com/. Under 'Publish' to your account be sure to sign up for 'Ping Shot'. This will notify you of blogging references for your post which we hope will result in fewer links for your site.
4. Write a few essays and submit to the references. No matter what your site is about, there is a topic related to your site on which you can write an article. For example, if your site is going to sell fitness equipment, you could write an article about how to build a home gym. Or if you are going to rate and review new cars, you can write an article about how to buy a new car. After you have written and reviewed your articles, submit them to a topic index such as Ezine Articles (http://www.ezinearticles.com/) and iSnare (http://www.isnare.com/). Be sure to enter a description of your new site and a link back to the resource box. Also, this should result in fewer links on your site.
5. Find a link to a reference site. Steps 3 and 4 should lead to other links from indexed sites that should ensure that your site is listed. But it won't hurt to find a few more on your own to be sure. When I launched my last site, I linked it to my personal blog, which I knew was listed. If you do not have that option, you can ask someone who owns a blog or a site related to you. If you can find someone who is willing to do it for free, you can offer him free advertising on your site when you submit to get a link.
Listing before you submit it gives you a great start in your SEO and will allow your site to have an immediate impact. Why wait until you start? Start the month early and you will reap the benefits when the start date starts.
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