Search Engine Ranking - 'Avoid Doing It The
Hard Way' -
There are many ways that you can improve the probability of
achieving
higher search engine rankings for your web site. For most of us who
already operate web sites, it can be a painful and costly process.
Applying 'search engine ranking' techniques retrospectively can mean
dissecting web pages and trying to add new elements to the page
without 'upsetting' the visual appearance of the site. Having your
web pages 'picked-apart' by 'search-engineers' is not a pretty
sight!
For those just considering a new web site, or those considering an
overhaul to their existing sites, you have a great opportunity, so
don't waste it.
Most issues that adversely effect search engine ranking are built-in
during the design, and are more difficult, often impossible to
remove
once the design is complete. If you are fortunate to be at the
design
stage of planning a web site, or preparing to rework your existing
site, then there are a few simple things you should do.
Talk with your designer and ask them what steps he or she will
implement to ensure your site is 'search engine friendly'. If you
pre-arm yourself with a little knowledge of the subject, you can
easily gauge from their reaction just how search engine friendly
your site will be. Intervene if you think it necessary and take
corrective actions before the fundamental design elements are
'locked-in'.
The basic elements you should review are:
Include all the important Meta tags
on all pages.
To see actual Meta Tags, go to any website and on your browser go
to "View" and select "source" and that will let your see the
code in back of the page. The Meta Tags should be right in
the top 10 lines of the code.
Keywords,Description and Title Meta tags should be included as a minimum, and each should be set to focus on the content of the specific page, remaining where possible within the 'theme' of the
site.
Add 'robot instruction' tags indicating which pages should be
indexed by the search engines and which should not. If you have
pages that detract from the overall theme of the site, use the robot
exclusion tag - <METANAME="robots" content="noindex,nofollow">
within the opening <HEAD></HEAD>, to exclude search engines from
visiting those pages.
Avoid using 'Meta Refresh' tags that automatically direct the viewer
to a different page. If you must use 'refresh' set the time to a
minimum of 15 seconds, or use the robot exclusion tag described
above.
Design a navigation structure that allows search engines to crawl
the
important content pages from the home page. This can be done easily
using transparent image files and setting them as hyperlinks.
Using Java, Flash software or 'Frames' to facilitate navigation,
can often present a 'closed door' to search engines, preventing key
areas of your site from being indexed.
Use the alt-image attribute and name images descriptively. Some
search engines read the alt text and it can help, though marginally.
Name pages using keywords. Instead of 'page2.html' use
'american-ginseng.html', if your site is about herbal products!
If your site uses 'Frames' there are important techniques to
consider. Many search engines cannot navigate through the Framed
section of a site, unless the Frames are prepared in a specific way.
As a minimum, ensure your designer includes a detailed description
about your business, products or services on the 'noframes' page,
and
ask them to research specific information about Frames and search
engines. If the site design uses dynamic content pages as with ASP,
consider designing additional pages that use static HTML. Having an
'about us' page in HTML is always a good strategy when using dynamic
content or 'active server pages'.
If your designer is using Macromedia Flash software, to enhance the
visual appearance of the site, make sure that your descriptive text
is not created within 'movie' files. This is true for text within
any
kind of image file, the search engines cannot read it. Consider
having two paths through the site 'Flash' and 'non-Flash'.
Ensure your site has a good deal of descriptive content. This is the
most important aspect for search engines and also for your visitors.
Content-rich sites invariably fair much better than those with
minimal text content. These are some of the basics to consider
when designing or re-designing your web site.
Careful design and consideration to the basics is often enough to
secure good page rankings with some of the leading engines. If your
site design follows the above guidelines, it will be much easier
to 'fine-tune' pages at a later stage if necessary.
If your site is already online then the above techniques can still
be applied retrospectively, though making changes is always more
difficult than getting it right the first time.
Marketing Companies
Some marketing companies can
also help you dirve traffic to your site. Start here:
Carl Hruza - Operates one of the business Top Web Promotion sites,
They provide Web Design and Search Engine Promotion strategies.
Email at carl@topwebpromotion.com
http://topwebpromotion.com
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What ATTIC can do for you - We
help you get noticed on the web.
Search engines, and there are plenty of them, are one way to get traffic to
your site. We can submit your finished site to the various search
engines. And we can introduce you to the other ways to get noticed on the
web.
Once your
site has been submitted either
a search engine robot will go out and scan your site to gather your pertinent
information and keywords or a real person will access your website and gather
information to help list you in their search engine. It is helpful to
resubmit your site to each search engine once a month to help improve your
ranking.
Let
us explain this process to you
so that you can make some informed decisions as to how to proceed in advertising
your web address, your products, or your business. It is very
important to have a good looking web site - but just as important to have
someone map out a strategy and business plan so that you know where you're
going. Don't fly blind....We can help.
Search
Engines
You can't make a profit if you don't have any customers
to sell to. So you have to attract customers to your site. Make it easy
for people to find your business on the Web. Many potential Web buyers
like to use search engines; programs that help you search for things on
the Web. Search engine technology acts as a directory, listing links to
Web pages based on keywords. By registering your business with a search
engine you can gain a competitive advantage by maximizing your traffic.
Popular search engines include Lycos, Alta
Vista, Yahoo!, and Excite.
Our Web Site Review & Express Submission
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Initial
search engine ranking report
We provide a detailed ranking report showing where your site ranks today
under particular search terms. |
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Custom
targeted keyword research
You'll be advised of popular search terms currently being used by people
looking for websites like yours. |
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Website
review and custom optimization report
One of our website analysts will review your site and provide you with a
custom report that is crucial to your search engine success. |
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Optimized
meta tags (title, keywords, and description)
Properly prepared and optimized title, description, and keyword tags are
an important part of establishing search engine success. |
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Hand
submission to 14 top search engines
We submit, by hand, to Google, Yahoo!, MSN, AOL, Lycos, AltaVista, Hot
Bot, Excite, DMOZ, Look Smart, Fast/AllTheWeb, IWON, Netscape, and
Inktomi express listing submission. |
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Express
submission
Listings within 48 hours on search engines such as AOL, MSN and HotBot. |
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Monthly
submission to 75,000+ portals
Submission to search engines, directories, and classifieds monthly for
12 months. |
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Monthly
confirmation reports
You receive a monthly report stating all successful resubmissions. |
Other Search
Engine Hints
Here are a few tips
that should be of great assistance in gaining knowledge of what the search
engines consider important and how top rankings are achieved.
Don't stuff the
top of your pages with data the engines can't read.
As with the last example, something higher up in your page can be more important
that something further down. Therefore, HTML formatting, images, scripts,
etc. toward the top of your page can result in lower rankings.
Optimize
your title. Many search
engines weigh the data in your title more heavily than other data in your
page. Make sure that your title has keywords that represent your
website effectively. For the most part the title should be short but always
include your keyword(s). Your "Keywords" in your meta-tags should also
be found multiple times on your homepage. This is how the search
engine knows your site is really about the keywords that are listed in your
tags.
Consider NOT
using frames. Most
search engines simply cannot index a frames page. They get to your
website and can't go anywhere. If your site does use frames, there are ways
to work around them. The <NOFRAMES> tag should always include keyword
content. As the search engines evolve, it is believed they will be able to properly
index framed sites. For now, the majority can't.
Don't spam.
People come up with ways to 'fool' search engines, and they work for a little
while...sometimes. But then the search engines catch on and write algorithms
that penalize sites that use this practice. Examples of this include, but
are not limited to: repeating keywords over and over; using invisible
text (white text on white background); using very small text to jam the
keywords in a small area.
Keep important
content near the top of your pages.
The actual text on your website is very important. Search engines (spiders)
read this to determine where your site is ranked. Some engines will place
a higher rating of importance based on where they find the text and keywords
in your page. Closer to the top is usually better. But having
keywords throughout your page develops a "theme" and that too is
important.
Create great
website content. Your
quest for high placement must start with a good website. It is important to
have a good amount of text describing what you do. Use your keywords in the
content, but don't repeat them over and over. Many search engines rate
sites based on 'keyword density'. This is usually a formula that looks
at META Keywords, words in your TITLE, words in paragraph text, words in
links to other pages, and even words in the 'ALT' text on your images.
They will even look at different forms of your keywords. For example,
if an important keyword for you is 'FISH', the word 'FISHING' in the
body of your document will raise the confidence in the word 'FISH' on
some engines.
Control the use
of images. We have all
seen pages that are almost all images. Usually they are the most
beautiful sites. After all, the artist can make beautiful screens
that display your content in the most eye-pleasing way. However, the
search engines don't have eyes. They don't see the beautifully formatted
text in your image. All they see is 'yourimage.jpg', and 'yourimage.jpg'.
This doesn't go far in terms of keyword content and relevancy.
"Optimized" images are an important part of search engine
positioning. We will analyze your html vs. image ratio and compare that with
the current search engine requirements for top listings.
Links on your
pages. When most search
engine spiders see them, they consider your site more 'real'. It also gives
the spiders a place to go. Make sure you link all of your website's
important pages and also add links to other related sites. Using keywords in
the link text itself is important.
Links from
other websites. Some
search engines place a very heavy rating of importance on how many
other sites in their index have links to your website. Think of it for
a second. If you knew that a company was only linked to by one website,
versus a company that was linked to by many relevant websites, which one
would you consider more important? If you were a search engine, you would try
to link the more important ones first. A few links from related sites are
worth more than a bunch from unrelated sites.
Call Us Today - We Can Help
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