have any of you tried having a site here...I came across the idea while i was searching something completely different on the internet. Is it used more for just showcasing or does it help to build a business?

My husband once said that I wouldn't get many customers from my website. I am constantly asked if I have a website. People want to see pictures before they decide. I get many comments from my website. I set it up through geocities. They have a program you can download called Yahoo Sitebuilder which was a big help. Check out my site and let me know what you think:

www.fromtheheartevents.com

i checked out your websitre briefly..looks nice. (my computer is so slow..will look more later!) So, how would i find you if i didn't know your exact website..from a basic search? That is what sort of confuses me about geocities. I like the idea of having a website, but i don't quite get how someone would find me.

My website is loaded with pics and takes quite a while to load. Thanks for looking. I tried searching for myself one time. Didn't work. I gave up. Guess I should call and find out.

yes..that's kind of what i'm confused about...does anyone else know??

For example, if i type in a search for the word cake and even a city, i get all kinds of things that just include the word cake or the city...

Does anyone have insight?

Geocities offers a web search engine but when I tried to sign up it blocked me and said that site was unavailable. This happened a few times.

So, what do the rest of you with websites use?

ok you really have 2 questions there.

#1 - How do people find you?

In order for your site to show up on search engine results there are 2 things you need to do.

First, you need to make sure that you have a good set of keywords in your metatags. You need to think of all the keywords someone looking for your business might type in a search bar.

Second you need to submit your site to the main search engines: Google, Yahoo, MSN, Jeeves, etc.

It takes about a month from the time you submit your site, until the search engine indexs your site, so do not expect immediate results. Also Google determines how often it will update its links to you based on how often you post new information.

Now question #2 - For example, if i type in a search for the word cake and even a city, i get all kinds of things that just include the word cake or the city...

If you want to limit your search results to only entries that include both of your keywords you need to use a + between them for example:

cake+Seattle

you can also force search engines to look for a string of text like a full name by using quotes for example:

John Doe = all sites with John or Doe.

"John Doe" = all sites with John Doe put together as one name.

hope that helps.

It helped me...thanks H.

WOW!! Thanks for all that info! I bet it helps many of us