|
How
do search engines rank pages?
Search
engines use a ranking algorithm to determine the order in which
matching web pages are returned on the results page. Each web
page is graded on the number of the search terms it contains,
where the words are located in the document, and other criteria
that changes frequently.
All
search engines have a different method of ranking. That's why
you might rank number 1 on one engine and number 25 on another.
Robots look for relevance and rank results on a secret ever-changing
algorithm. Some look at TITLE, some look at META tags, some look
for link popularity. Search engine optimization means optimizing
the Web site for the best possible positioning based on the page's
keywords and description. Our numerous experts who have conducted
extensive tests to help identify what techniques work to better
your ranking in the search engines. Additionally, we have identified
what can get you into trouble with search engines.
General
tips to get a good ranking.
1.
Create a good site with good content. This is critical, especially
as search engines grow in sophistication. If your site contains
worthwhile material, users will return to your site and will recommend
it to others. Other sites will link to you - which will in turn
help you by improving your link popularity.
2.
Pick keywords visitors will actually use on a search engine query.
If you have keywords that are very competitive, consider narrowing
your focus to improve results. The keyword "horse" will
return thousands of responses and may not place you near the top,
while "Appaloosa" is more focused and targeted to a
particular query. Consider using a keyword phrase instead of just
one keyword. Visitors to search engines use phrases to narrow
their searches. For example, instead of using a keyword like "horse"
that would return too many responses, use a more specific keyword
phrase like "Alabama Quarter horse." Don't
just guess at which keywords are popular, get quantitative feedback
using the Keyword Popularity tool included in Search Engine Power
Pack. Remember, if you pick the wrong keywords, all your optimization
will be wasted. See story on Keyword Selection.
3.
Include keywords in your TITLE tag. Pages with keywords appearing
in the TITLE are assumed to be more relevant to the topic than
those without.
4.
Use keywords in META Keyword and Description tags. Using META
tags will not hurt you in search engines that don't use them,
and they can definitely help you in search engines that do index
them. While they are not as important as the TITLE tag, META tags
can give you the edge over your competition since most web sites
don't even use them.
5.
Use your keywords throughout your page. Search engines will check
to see if the keywords appear near the top of a web page, such
as in the headline or in the first few paragraphs of text. They
assume that any page relevant to the topic will mention those
words right from the beginning.
6.
Have a good keyword density on your page.Keyword density is derived
by dividing the frequency of that word by the total words on the
page. Frequency is a major factor in how search engines determine
relevancy. A search engine will analyze how often keywords appear
in relation to other words in a web page. Those with a higher
frequency are often deemed more relevant than other web pages.
This can turn into a balancing act as too high a density can be
considered spam by some engines. Usually you are safe if your
keyword density falls between 1 - 5 %.
7.
Continually work on improving your link popularity. Listings on
popular Web sites can increase your traffic significantly. They
do this in two ways: They give potential visitors multiple
paths to your Web site. They can increase your ranking in search
engines that use link popularity as part of their formula. Most
search engines use link popularity as relevance criteria. For
example, the Google search engine (not their new directory) is
based almost entirely on link popularity.
|