BE SEEN

Search Engine Design Tips

A search engine query often turns up hundreds or thousands of matching web pages. In most cases, only the 10 most "relevant" matches are displayed first.

Tips below will help you get higher ranking with search engines, both for the keywords you think are important and for phrases you may not even be anticipating.

Pick Your Strategic Keywords

How do you think people will search for your web page? The words you imagine them typing into the search box are your strategic keywords.

For example, say you have a page devoted to stamp collecting. Anytime someone types "stamp collecting," you want your page to be in the top ten results. Then those are your strategic keywords for that page.

Each page in your web site will have different strategic keywords that reflect the page's content. For example, say you have another page about the history of stamps. Then "stamp history" might be your keywords for that page.

Your strategic keywords should always be at least two or more words long. Usually, too many sites will be relevant for a single word, such as "stamps." This "competition" means your odds of success are lower. Don't waste your time fighting the odds. Pick phrases of two or more words, and you'll have a better shot at success.

Position Your Keywords

Make sure your strategic keywords appear in the crucial locations on your web pages. The page title is most important. Failure to put strategic keywords in the page title is the main reason why perfectly relevant web pages may be poorly ranked.

The title should not have more than 80 characters. Website Garage say:  The <TITLE> tag should be 5-15 words in length and include your organization and/or product name along with a descriptive phrase.

Search engines also like pages where keywords appear "high" on the page, as described more fully on the Search Engine Ranking page. To accommodate them, use your strategic keywords for your page headline, if possible. Have them also appear in the first paragraphs of your web page.

Keep in mind that tables can "push" your text further down the page, making keywords less relevant because they appear lower on the page. This is because tables break apart when search engines read them. For example, picture a typical two-column page, where the first column has navigational links, while the second column has the keyword loaded text. Humans see that page like this:

Home      Stamp Collecting
Page 1
Page 2    Stamp collection is worldwide experience.
Page 3    Thousands enjoy it everyday, and millions
Page 4    can be made from this hobby/business.

Search engines (and those with old browsers) see the page like this:

Home
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4

Stamp Collecting

Stamp collection is worldwide experience.
Thousands enjoy it everyday, and millions
can be made from this hobby/business.

See how the keywords have moved down the page? There's no easy way around this, except to use meta tags. That helps for the search engines that use them. For the others, it may not be that big a problem. Consider how tables might affect your page, but don't necessarily stop using them. I like tables, and I'll continue to use them.

Have Relevant Content

Changing your page titles and adding meta tags is not necessarily going to help your page do well for your strategic keywords if the page has nothing to do with the topic. Your keywords need to be reflected in the page's content.

In particular, that means you need HTML text on your page. Sometimes sites present large sections of copy via graphics. It looks pretty, but search engines can't read those graphics. That means they miss out on text that might make your site more relevant. Some of the search engines will index ALT text and comment information, along with meta tags. But to be safe, use HTML text whenever possible. Some of your human visitors will appreciate it, also.

Be sure that your HTML text is "visible." Some designers try to spam search engines by repeating keywords in a tiny font or in the same colour at the background colour to make the text invisible to browsers. Search engines are catching on to these and other tricks. Expect that if the text is not visible in a browser, then it won't be indexed by a search engine.

Finally, consider "expanding" your text references, where appropriate. For example, a stamp collecting page might have references to "collectors" and "collecting." Expanding these references to "stamp collectors" and "stamp collecting" reinforces your strategic keywords in a legitimate and natural manner. Your page really is about stamp collecting, but edits may have reduced its relevancy unintentionally.

Avoid Search Engine Stumbling Blocks

Some search engines see the web the way someone using a very old browser might. They may not read image maps. They may not read frames. You need to anticipate these problems, or a search engine may not index any or all your web pages.

Have HTML links: Often, designers create only image map links from the home page to inside pages. A search engine that can't follow these links won't be able to get "inside" the site. Unfortunately, the most descriptive, relevant pages are often inside pages rather than the home page.

Solve this problem by adding some HTML hyperlinks to the home page, something that will help some of your human visitors, also. Put them down at the bottom of the page. The search engine will find them and follow them.

Also consider making a site map page with text links to everything in your web site. You can submit this page, which will help the search engines locate pages within your web site.

Frames can kill: Some of the major search engines cannot follow frame links. Make sure there is an alternative method for them to enter and index your site, either through meta tags or smart design. For more information, see the tips on using frames.

Use Meta Tags

As mentioned above, meta tags can help you overcome problems with tables, frames and other trouble areas. Meta tags will also help you control your site's description in engines that support them. You should use meta tags, but keep in mind that they are NOT a guarantee that your site will appear first. Adding some meta tag code is not a magic bullet that cures your site of dismal rankings.

Say No To Search Engine Spamming

Spamming doesn't always work with search engines. Search engines may detect your spamming attempt and penalize or ban your page from their listings.

Search engine spamming attempts usually centre around being top ranked for extremely popular keywords. You can try and fight that battle against other sites, but then be prepared to spend a lot of time each week, if not each day, defending your ranking. That effort usually would be better spent on networking and alternative forms of publicity, described below.

If those practical reasons aren't enough, how about some ethical ones? The content of most web pages ought to be enough for search engines to determine relevancy without webmasters having to resort to repeating keywords for no reason other than to try and "beat" other web pages. The stakes will simply keep rising, and users will also begin to hate sites that undertake these measures.

Sites that spam search engines degrade the value of search engine listings.

Submit Your Key Pages

Most search engines will index the other pages from your web site by following links from a page you submit to them. But sometimes they miss, so it's good to submit the top two or three pages that best summarize your web site.

Don't trust the submission process to automated programs and services. Some of them are excellent, but the major search engines are too important. There aren't that many, so submit manually, so that you can see if there are any problems reported.

Also, don't bother submitting more than the top two or three pages. It doesn't speed up the process. Submitting alternative pages is only insurance. In case the search engine has trouble reaching one of the pages, you've covered yourself by giving it another page from which to begin its crawl of your site.

Some search engines have an instant indexing service, as described in the Search Engine Features page. In this cases, you should submit all the key pages from your web site, not just the top two or three.

Be patient. It can take up to a month to two months for your "non-submitted" pages to appear in a search engine, and some search engines may not list every page from your site.

Verify And Maintain Your Listing

Check on your pages and ensure they get listed. Once your pages are listed in a search engine, monitor your listing every week or two. Strange things happen. Pages disappear from catalogues. Links go screwy. Watch for trouble, and resubmit if you spot it.

A common cause of getting knocked off search engines is web hosting failure.  When some search engines turn up a 404 page not found error, they automatically knock your page off their listings.  Page not found can be caused by a failure of your web page hosting company. Most ISPs host pages but they are not dedicated to the job of web hosting.  To save resubmitting your organisation profile to search engines, because of service failures, it is imperative to have a reliable, professional web hosting service. Ozhosting provide a good service for as little as $10 per month.  The service includes comprehensive, statistical site activity reports, with great graphs.

Keep in mind that a number of the major search engines are now providing country-specific versions of their directories. These mainly work filtering sites by domain. For example, a British edition of a major search engine might only list web sites with British domains, such as ".co.uk." A British site ending in a non-British domain, such as .com, would be filtered out. If this type of situation applies to your site, you may need to message the search engine so that they can manually include your site.

Resubmit your site any time you make significant changes. Search engines should revisit on a regular schedule. However, some search engines have grown smart enough to realize some sites only change content once or twice a year, so they may visit less often. Resubmitting after major changes will help ensure that your site's content is kept current.

Everybody and their sister is telling you to make Gateway or Doorway pages to get listed higher in search engines. I'm here to tell you this is a waste of your valuable time. If you follow the guidelines I've given below, you should increase your position and, if you do it right, be ranked in the top 10. The following list (in order of importance) will show you how:

 ==> Different Title On Each Page

Think about what keyword or phrase your visitors would input into a search engine if they wanted your product or service. Use these keyword(s) in your title and make sure you don't use more than eight words (five would be better).

For instance, let's say you sell heat pumps. Your keyword phrases would be heat pumps or HVAC because these are the words someone might input into a search box when they are looking for this product. So you use these keywords in your title (i.e., "Heat Pumps, HVACs at XYZ.com") on your index (home) page title.

Then, figure out what else they would input like "electric heat" or "pumps" and put these in other titles on subsequent pages. The object here is to use each page on your web site as a place your visitor can enter from when clicking on a search engine link...not just a link to your home page. If your site has 20 pages filled with heat pumps and accessories, you have the opportunity to have 20 different keyword phrases your visitor might input into a search box and thus come to your site. Webmasters make the mistake of just putting in their business names. Unless you're Sears, KMart, etc., your name doesn't mean squat to the average surfer. But if your title uses words which somebody is searching for, your site will come up first, even before the "branded" names. And, instead of just getting hits, you are getting targeted hits.

Also make sure your keyword or phrase is the first word(s) in your title. This also helps rank your site higher when push comes to shove and another site has the same keyword or phrase.

This tag must also use your keyword or phrase and match what you've used in your title. The trick here is to write a short concise sentence in 25 words or less which will make the surfer want to click your link on the search engine page.

Give considerable thought to this sentence. Write, rewrite and write it again until it's perfect. Do not just use the keyword or phrase over and over again because the search engines are wise to this and will consider it spamming and you'll never get listed.

Quite frankly some search engines use them, but some larger ones don't even include them in their ranking criteria. The reason--too many sites put in keywords which have nothing to do with the content in their pages. If you do decide to use this meta name tag, only use your keyword or phrase.

The first sentence the robot "sees" or "crawls" through should almost be the same as your meta name description sentence. It is looking for a match. And, search engines give added weight (score) to those sites who use this technique.

The search engines rank sites higher by how you use keywords in your content. This means the top third of your pages should have four (4) instances of your keyword or phrase and the last two-thirds should have three (3). No more than seven instances of your keyword phrase should be on a page; otherwise, the search engines will think you are spamming. This means your copy (content) must be very well planned. It has to make sense to the visitor yet, be "robot- friendly." Not an easy task when writing copy, but well worth the time you spend doing this.

If you use the guidelines above, you should see your site's ranking go much higher. By following them exactly, more than likely you will be in the top 10 on at least one of your pages.

You have the opportunity to make every one of the pages on your site a gateway or doorway page. Instead of wasting your time writing gateway (doorway) pages, finding web hosting sites to place them on and redirecting them to your home page, design the pages on your site to do the same thing.

Use this time you save writing how-to or informative articles on what people should look for if they want your service or product. Not only will you show you are an expert in your field; but, you'll have a larger more interesting site. Also, if you use the techniques outlined above on each of these new pages, they'll lead more targeted visitors to your site. <End WebPro.

Beyond Search Engines

It's worth taking the time to make your site more search engine friendly, because some simple changes may pay off with big results. Even if you don't come up in the top ten for your strategic keywords, you may find an improvement for strategic keywords you aren't anticipating. The addition of just one extra word can suddenly make a site appear more relevant, and it can be impossible to guess what that word will be.

You (or employ Webwevers) should also consider negotiating reciprocal links with sites that do appear in the top ten lists, if you are having no luck. Perhaps some of these sites might be considered "competitors," but you'd be surprised how many are happy to link to your site in return for a link back. After all, your site may appear first when slightly different keywords are used. Links are what the web was built on, and they remain one of the best ways for people to find your site.

Also, remember that while search engines are a primary way people look for web sites, but they are not the only way. People also find sites through word-of-mouth, traditional advertising, the traditional media, newsgroup postings, web directories and links from other sites. Many times, these alternative forms are far more effective draws than are search engines.

Finally, know when it's time to call it quits. A few changes may be enough to make you tops in one or two search engines. But that's not enough for some people, and they will invest days creating special pages and changing their sites to try and do better. This time could usually be put to better use pursuing non-search engine publicity methods.

Don't obsess over your ranking. Even if you follow every tip and find no improvement, you still have gained something. You will know that search engines are not the way you'll be attracting traffic. You can concentrate your efforts in more productive areas, rather than wasting your valuable time.

HotBot considers a number of factors when computing ranking pages. Some of the most basic factors affecting query-result scoring include the following:

• Word frequency in document: In general, the more often a query word occurs in the document, the higher the score. However, the obscurity of the word also has impact. Common words like "the" contribute less to the score than unusual words like "tiki."

• Search words in title: Pages that use your search terms in the title will be ranked significantly higher than documents that contain the search term in the text only.

• Search words in keywords: Pages that use your search term in the "keywords" meta tag, will be ranked more highly than text words, but less highly than title words.

• Document length: When the search term appears frequently in a short document, the page will be ranked higher than when the word appears in a long document.

Optimising your website for better search engine rankings requires some special knowledge and also takes a lot of time and hard work to be done effectively. This article outlines only the basic mechanics of website optimisation. It is not meant to be taken as a total solution to getting your site listed higher in the search engine listings.  Keep in mind the following main points as they are the basis for the whole process.  Focus: Your site should be focused on no more than three main keywords or keyword phrases for maximum results.

Content:
Your site should be set up as a valuable resource of information on one particular topic. This is how you'll generate your keywords and phrases. Uniqueness: Your site should offer something that no one else has. Concentrate on this as the theme of your site. Ok, let's jump right into the action.

Optimising Your Title:
The main purpose of the title is to accurately describe what your web page is all about. It tells in a few words why a visitor is either on your site right right now, or why they should click on your site in a search engine listing. You could also look at it as your sites "Headline", and write it as just that, a headline. Pick 3 main keywords or 2 - 3 keyword phrases and use them in your title, but make sure the title still makes sense and also offers the viewer a reason to choose your site. Be creative but keep it relevant and stress your sites theme. Benefits sell. Show the potential viewer the benefits right in the title.

How am I suppose to include all that in my sites title? you ask. Well, the most effective way is to do some research. Go to the major search engines and type in keywords and phrases that a potential viewer may enter if they were looking for the type of information your site is offering. Out of the top 10 or so sites that are listed, which has the most compelling title? In other words, what would make you want to click on their site? Do this with several keywords and phrases, log the results on on paper for use later and move on to the next section.

Keyword selection:
This seems to be the "Holy Grail" of search engine submission services and novices alike. The perfect keyword phrases.  Although having the right mix of keywords is important, your goal is not only to get listed high in search results, but also to get the right type of people to click on your site.  Prequalifying your sites viewers will bring quality traffic, people more likely to take advantage of what your site has to offer. With this in mind, write up a list of at least 25 keywords and/or phrases based on the info you gathered in the previous section on titles. Then take your list and cut and slash it down to no more than 3 keywords or phrases most accurately related to your sites content and purpose. These three keywords will be the basis for your whole optimisation process.  They'll be used in your title, your META tags, the description and body copy of your pages and even in the ALT text of your images.

META Tags:
The two main META tags used by most search engines are the:

<META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="your,keywords,here,">
<META NAME="description" CONTENT="your description here">

They are used by some, not all search engines along with your sites title to index and rate your site in their listings and also to provide the viewer with the text that appears when your site shows up in search results.

META keywords:
Use your keywords here with the most important ones first. Use different variations like capitalized and lowercase, commonly misspelled words etc. all followed by a comma with no space after the comma and do not go over 255 characters.

META description:
Up to about 500 - 700 characters can be used here in the form of a short keyword loaded descriptive paragraph. I cannot stress enough the importance of a good description that accurately describes the benefits of your site, uses your main keywords and phrases and also gives a compelling reason for the potential viewer to click on your site in the search results. You see, your sites title is the headline, the keywords give the search engine spider the info on where to place your site in it's database and the description you provide is like the ad copy in a classified ad. Give the viewer a reason to click on your site, sell them on what your website has to offer.

Here is what http://www.linkstoyou.com say:

Keywords: 
The ultimate key to search engine success

There is no magic rule to selecting great keywords, but there are things you can do to increase your positioning on search return lists. Here are some tips to make your keywords work for you!

Avoid popular keywords: 
If you select popular keywords you'll be competing with millions of other pages for a search engine's attention. If you must because that's what your page is about, combine them with other words to make phrases for which people might search. Use a few synonyms of the keyword in your text. 

Make your keywords as specific as possible:  
Combine your keywords in phrases that searchers looking for a site like yours might utilize. Use keywords that are common enough so the "typical" searcher might use them, but unique enough so they don't return millions of matches. 

Find out what keywords "typical" searchers use: 
A good way to come up with keywords is to use the search engines themselves to tell you how popular (useless) keywords are. Type in a few keywords into the major search engines you would like to be listed on and observe how many references are found. Play around with different combinations of words—eventually you should be able to find keyword phrases that aren't commonplace, but will still help searchers find your site.