TIPS FOR COMPILING A GOOD SITE

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.

Naturally, anyone who runs a web site wants to be in the "top ten" results. This is because most users will find a result they like in the top ten. Being listed 11 or beyond means that many people may miss your web site.

The tips below will help you come closer to this goal, both for the keywords you think are important and for phrases you may not even be anticipating.

1. Pick your strategic keywords
2. Have relevant content
3. Position your keywords
4. Just say no to search engine spamming

 

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.

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 color at the background color to make the text invisible to browsers. Search engines will penalize such pages. 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.

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. A well designed logo, not in text form, JPEG or GIFF can not be read by a Search Engine, so place the logo somewhere else like the side, or background.

Search engines also like pages where keywords appear "high" on the 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. Which is what we currently do. 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. Tables are a good designing method and should continue to be used.

Large sections of JavaScript can also have the same affect as tables. The search engine reads this information first, which causes the normal HTML text to appear lower on the page. Place your script further down on the page, if possible. As with tables, the use of meta tags can also help.

 

JUST SAY NO TO SEARCH ENGINE SPAMMING

For one thing, spamming doesn't always work with search engines. It can also backfire. Search engines may detect your spamming attempt and penalize or ban your page from their listings.

Also, search engine spamming attempts usually center 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.

Consider search engine spamming against spam mail. No one likes spam mail, and sites that use spam mail services often face a backlash from those on the receiving end. Sites that spam search engines degrade the value of search engine listings. As the problem grows, these sites may face the same backlash that spam mail generates.

It is a good thing to once you have obtained a URL to use it to your advantage, by also marketing to your direct line of consumer and inviting them to view your Site. Even if they are a company that is substantially larger than your one you are on equal par e-commerce wise and will be so regarded. It is important to remember that even through you might be a small company working from home as far as they are concerned your office is your Web site. So do not take lightly the wording and approach you have to the product and content provided in your site as that is your mirror to the world.

Not withstanding the above information on search engines you can now see how important it is to assist and advise your client on having a meaningful and descriptive Web site for you are his first line of contact with the Internet.