|
|
Do Search Engines Like Your Web Site?
Between 75% and 98.8% of visitors to Web sites come from searches made at search engines. If you're going to get high levels of traffic - and hence the levels of ROI you're looking for - it's very important that the search engines can access all the information on your Web site.
Do the search engines know about all of your pages?
You can find out which pages on your site the search engines know about by using a special search. If you search for 'site:' and your Web site address, the search engine will tell you all of the pages on your Web site it knows about.
For example, search for: site:webpositioningcentre.co.uk in Google. Yahoo or MSN Search, and it will tell you how many pages they know about.
If the search engines haven't found some of the pages on your Web site, it is probably because they are having trouble spidering them. ('Spidering' is when the search engine uses an automated robot to read your Web pages.)
Spiders work by starting off on a page which has been linked to by another Web site, or that has been submitted to the search engine. They then read and follow any links they find on the page, gradually working their way through your whole Web site.
At least, that's the theory.
The problem is, it's easy to confuse the spiders - especially as they are designed to be wary of following certain kinds of link.
Links which confuse spiders
If your links are within a large chunk of JavaScript code, the spider may not be able to find them, and will not be able to follow the links to your other pages.
This can happen if you have 'rollovers' as your navigation - for instance, pictures that change colour or appearance when you hover your mouse pointer over them. The JavaScript code that makes this happen can be convoluted enough for the spiders to ignore it rather than try to find links inside.
If you think your rollovers are blocking your site from being spidered, you will need to talk to your Web designers about changing the code in to a 'clean link' - a standard HTML link, with no extra code around it - that is much easier for the spiders to follow.
Links like these will look something like this:
Page addresses to avoid
Spiders will also ignore pages if they don't like the URL (the address needed to find the page).
For example, a Web site that has URLs containing several variables can cause spiders to ignore the page content. You can spot pages like these as they have a ? in them, and &, for instance:
http://webpositioningcentre.co.uk/index.php?page=12&cat=23&jib=c
This URL has three variables, the parts with the = in them, between the ? and &s. We find that if a page has one variable, or even two, the top search engines will spider them without any problems. But if a URL has more than that, often the search engines will not spider them.
Spiders particularly avoid URLs that look like they have 'session IDs' in them. They look something like this:
http://webpositioningcentre.co.uk/index.php?page=12&id=29c8d7r2398jk27897a8
The set of numbers and letters do not make much sense to humans, but some Web sites use them to keep track of who you are, as you click through their Web site.
Spiders will generally avoid URLs with Session IDs in them, so if your Web site has them, you need to talk to the people who developed the site about re-writing it so they do not use these IDs, or at least that you can get around the Web site without them.
Clean links = happy spiders
If you use clean, easy to follow links without several variables in them, your Web site should be spidered without problem. There are, of course, many other facets to successful Search Engine Optimization, but if the search engines can't spider your content, your site will fall at the first hurdle.
Paul Silver and David Rosam are Head of Technical SEO and Head of SEO Copywriting at Web Positioning Centre (http://webpositioningcentre.co.uk). Paul has been involved with the Web commercially since 1996 and David has been writing marketing copy for 20 years, and writing for the Web for a decade.
Torpedo and Sink the Ship SS Search Engine Ranking
I was recently contacted by one of my best clients who asked me what I thought of his decision to make a major change to one of his highly ranked pages. His initial concern was that visitor sales conversion ratio was low. At almost one percent, it was just below normal, but I'm always happy when a client wants to improve. Conversion and rankings though, are very different beasts and his concern was overly focused on the former to the total exclusion of the latter.
Use Search Engines For A Guaranteed Web Site Promotion
For your web site to succeed, you must use is search engines optimization. Web sites definitely need top rankings in major search engines such as Google, Yahoo!, AOL, and MSN. The higher the ranking, the more likely viewers will come and visit your web site. Your site should stay in one of the top positions in the search engines to draw the largest amount of customers.
Search Engines The Masters Of The Internet Universe ? Part 1
Trillions of Billions of content pages make up the wide world of Internet. Keeping a house clean and arranged with proper placement for each household item is so big a task for each of us that it is a much despised daily chore. Ever wonder who or what keeps the Internet clean organized and keep them in arms length for you when you need it? This humongous task of making sure the right set of data is kept organized and delivered as information to the right folks when they need it are done by the Search Engines (SE). There are many popular search engines that deliver search results for countless number of searches every Nano-second. The Internet is the first place folks go for obtaining any type of information. The Internet has become the knowledge warehouse of what the world knows. Well almost true. If you have not discovered the full potential of the search engines it is not too late.
Optimizing Your Website
Search Engine Optimization, optimizing your website for it to be visible in the search results of a search engine's query or in a search result of a directory.
The Search Engine Optimization Secret that Everybody Ignores
Search engine optimization is a very critical task in the success of any website.
How to REALLY Profit from SEO
I want to give you a few more things to think about as you excel and grow in the craft of search engine marketing. If you are anything like me, you were hooked the first time you really made a difference to someone else's success. I soon realized that being able to help business owners to get results from these optimization methods and strategies could also be amazingly profitable. I found out that customers are your greatest resources and many of them are quite generous when you make an impact on their business. So the topic here is for those who want to profit from their skills (if you are not already doing very well and having an awesome time already).
Keyword Research Made Simple!
Keyword Research is the first task in optimizing your web site and pay-per-click campaign. Here you need to know what keywords your target group is using.
Submit All Of Your Pages And Watch Your Traffic Grow
Everyone is looking for "secrets" about how to get more qualified traffic to their web sites. What I'm going to share with you is no secret, however it is not practiced by very many companies or individuals. Many companies and individuals only submit their home page to search engines and directories. You can easily quadruple your traffic in 90 - 120 days by implementing the following procedures.
Rock Your Rank With a Dynamite Text Link - Yahoo Directory Explodes Rankings
Last week a client called me excitedly exclaiming that their Google PageRank had jumped a notch and their targeted keyword term now ranked #23 (up from #45) for their competitive search phrase. I asked the client if he'd been notified by Yahoo that his site was now included in the index after we had submitted it three weeks ago. "Yes," he said, "but why are you changing the subject?"
How to Boost Your Traffic and Profits with Content!
Are you aware of how vitally important and valuable CONTENT is to your online business? In fact, content can do more to build your business and profits than just about any other resource or service available.
Search Engine Optimization - A Beginners Guide
Getting your site listed in the top search engines, such as Google, Yahoo, or MSN is no small job. There is lots of work that needs to be done to guarantee the highest placement possible, and even more work is needed to keep your ranking for any period of time. Here are some simple tips and strategies to keep your site listed, and listed well, without spending any extra cash on pay per clicks.
How To Rank High On MSN Search
The new MSN Search is quickly gaining popularity among internet search engine users. Google still being the #1 search engine with Yahoo in #2, and MSN in a strong #3. Each of the three major search engines has their own unique algorithm, and MSN is no different. Over the past several months I have had amazing success with MSN. With a few tweaks and tricks I have all of my sites ranked top 3 (mostly #1's) with my targeted key words. This article will give you a quick look at how I have managed to rank so high so often.
How Search Engines Work
Before anyone can start optimizing a web site, you must understand how search engines work.
New Free Online Tool for Keyword Research
I came across a new website the other day and was quite pleasantly surprised.
Why Articles Are Not The Route To High Search Engine Rankings
If you have any interest in getting high search engine rankings for your website (and who doesn't) you've probably been sold the idea that writing and publishing your own articles will do it for you.
Attack Smaller Searches To Get The Big Ones!
Searching online can not only be fun, but you sometimes need to be downright inventive.
A Naive Mistake Cost Me My Google Rankings
Little do you know but you too could be making mistakes with your website that are costing you your search engine rankings.
Your Website Title Could Be Costing You Money
Nothing could be simpler than the title you give to your web pages right? Unfortunately, the vast majority of the websites I visit these days have absolutely terrible titles that hurt their online business. The title of your website is a very important part of getting good rankings on most of the major search engines. A good title also goes a long way towards getting your prospects to click on your listings.
An SEO Checklist
Search engine optimization is on every webmaster's mind these days. Achieving a favorable ranking for the right keywords can mean a steady stream of targeted traffic to your site, and all for free - that's hard to beat. The key to high search engine rankings is structuring your website correctly, including plenty of content that is relevant to your keywords, and making sure your website is spider-friendly. You can use this checklist to make sure all of your Web pages can be found, indexed and ranked correctly:
How To Get Listed In Google For Free
Google does not accept payment for inclusion in their main index ? so anyone that's at the top is there through hard work and perseverance, or through paying a company such as NikkiPilkington.com to do the hard work for you. Below I show you 7 great ways to increase your chances of a Google ranking.