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(Originally published May 2002, last updated April 2010) If you're new to the sometimes confusing world of getting listed on search engines, this guide will provide you with basic information and tips about ranking well on search engines that provide organic (free) listings.
Search engine optimization is not rocket scienceRegardless of what you may have read from companies attempting to sell products that promise a no.1 ranking, there is no real secret to ranking well by playing by the rules. What it does require is time. Doing anything outside a search engine's recommended guidelines might see you ranking well for a while, but in the end you'll likely end up with your site penalised or banned - and that can be forever. "White Hat" search engine optimization is not about scamming or fooling search engine "spiders" (the software used by the companies to crawl through your site and index it). It's about making the best of what you have and making what you have the best. "Grey hat" optimization is using techniques that are sometimes just inside the boundaries of what search engine companies consider good practice. "Black hat" optimization is pretty much about tricking search engines - strategies you shouldn't risk unless you can afford to get banned altogether and as such, something I don't really get involved with. Much of the white hat optimization is about content. Solid content is still king - the more valuable information you have, presented correctly, the more that other sites will link to you - but you need to let other sites know about your content. These inbound links, known as backlinks, are given great importance in ranking calculations as is the search engine's own "opinion" of your content. Tried and true optimization techniquesThe following is a list of tried and true strategies for increasing your profile in search engine rankings - stick by these to begin with before trying the more exotic strategies, and remember - don't gamble what you can't afford to lose. Content is kingA well worn term, but of critical importance. Provide valuable information, lots of it, ensure that is relevant to your subject and that it contains popular keywords and phrases in relation to your topic or industry. Learn more about selecting good keywords Relevant file and folder namesUsing relevant file and folder names not only helps you to quickly identify a page when maintaining your file base, but also does provide a bit of ranking juice. Learn more about file and folder naming issues. Ensure you use correct meta tagsMeta tags are the sections of your HTML that provide direction and information for search engine robots. To get the best rankings possible in some search engines, be sure to use unique keywords, description and title tags every web page, with the latter being the most important. Meta description and keyword tags are not viewable to Internet users unless they examine the source code of your pages. For further information on these aspects of optimization, read our articles on meta tags and title tags. Formatting your textIt's important to use heading tags (h1, h2 etc.), bolding and italicizing in your content - just don't overdo it. Apply them as you would in a hard copy report. Use heading tags for breaking up your page content into subject areas - it's not only good for search engines, it's kinder to your visitors as well. Use bolding and italicizing for emphasizing key points, preferably words that are related to queries you wish to rank well for. Inbound linksThe more "right" sites you can have linking to you, the higher you will be ranked in some of the major engines. In fact, a site without inbound links is liable to never do well. Also link out to other sites in your genre, bearing in mind that not all links are created equal - beware of linking to bad neighborhoods. Try and exchange links with other quality sites which are *relevant* to yours ; but don't become a link farm; i.e a site with little content compared to the number of link pages. Search engines can detect this type of activity. Aim to be linked from popular sites if you can. Learn more about link exchange strategies. It's also becoming increasingly important that the anchor text of incoming links is relevant as this relevancy will also effect your rankings on some engines. For further details on this aspect, read our tutorial on anchor text optimization. Alt text for images Search engines can't read images, so ensure that descriptive "alt" text is added to your
image coding. Some sample coding: Be careful not to go overboard with your alt text - this is known as keyword stuffing. For the best results, ensure your images are linked to relevant pages. Page loading speedIt was announced by Google in 2010 that page speed would be one of their new ranking signals. While not as important as some of the aspects mentioned above, optimizing web page speed isn't just good for giving you a bit of edge in your rankings, but your visitors will appreciate it too. Keep your site freshWhile old content can rank well for years, adding fresh content regularly not only helps to create "stickiness" (return visits) but also acts as a signal to search engines your site isn't one of the millions of abandoned sites that litter the Internet. Some believe it acts as a signal of relevancy to search engines. Get socialIt's not hugely important, but establishing a presence on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook can help lift your profile among users and search engines. Maintaining a Twitter account and using Facebook fan pages as a marketing tool doesn't have to be a time consuming exercise. Also offer social bookmarking features on your site to make it easier for visitors to spread the word about your content - remember that more inbound links can certainly help with your rankings. A free and very easy to implement tool for doing this is available from AddThis. Target your optimization efforts Just as your site's content should be focused, so should your search engine optimization strategies initially. Submit to all engines, but focus on gaining high rankings on
Google, before turning your attention to Yahoo or Bing. Bear in mind too
that Yahoo will start using Bing results sometime in 2010. It's my view that most site owners should focus on Google as it has around 67% of the market share and the only other two real players at present are Yahoo and MSN (now known as Bing). If you focus on Google, chances are you'll do okay on Yahoo and Bing. Frames are evilFramed sites can be optimized for search engines, but it is very, very time consuming. If your reason for using frames is to make the editing of common elements such as menus a simpler task, consider implementing server side includes (SSI) or FrontPage Includes as an alternative. You can learn more about these elements, plus other search engine friendly elements that can also save you time in our article about web site upgrades. Can't get ranked or listed?If you've observed all of the above, but still aren't having any luck with getting listed, try my article: "Why some sites aren't listed on search engines". Current search engine URL submission overviewThe following is a brief rundown on the major engines/indexes - and there really are only 3 these days - Google, Yahoo and Bing. In most cases these days, you don't need to submit to the major engines as they'll find you as long as you're linked to from somewhere, but it doesn't hurt to do a manual submission for a new site. Google search free listingTo add your web site to Google for their free listings; use this page: http://www.google.com/addurl.html Yahoo search free listingTo submit your site for free (but you'll need a Yahoo email account): http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/free/submit MSN (Bing) free listing:This is an important one as Bing will be supplying Yahoo with search results very soon. Free submission form: http://www.bing.com/docs/submit.aspx Further Learning ResourcesThe following articles, guides and tutorials will assist you with developing a search engine optimization strategy. Nearly a hundred other Internet marketing, web site development and promotion articles are listed on the following pages: General site marketing tutorials Michael Bloch In the interests of transparency and disclosure, please note that the owner of Taming the Beast.net often receives goods and services mentioned in reviews for free, or may receive payments or affiliate commissions for advertising or referring others to merchants of products and services reviewed. Copyright information.... This article is free for reproduction but must be reproduced in its entirety, including live links & this copyright statement must be included. Visit http://www.tamingthebeast.net for free Internet marketing and web development articles, tutorials and tools! Subscribe to our popular ecommerce/web design ezine!
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