Search Engine Management

Search Engine Optimization is a technique to use your chosen keywords in a dominate manor in the 10 places (HTML Tags) on EVERY page of your site that the search engines are looking for them. The old practice of "stuffing" 50 to 75 keywords into the Meta Tags on your home page no longer produces results. All of your key words must be reused on the page. Google believes that the Keyword Meta Tag and the comment tag are so abused that they no longer use them when indexing your site. Google only look to visible text on your page. Top 10 tags index by search engines are:

1. Domain Name
2. Title (description for each page that appears in the blue bar at the top of the browser)
3. Meta Keywords (Except Google)
4. Meta Description (24 words that typically appear in the search listing)
5. Headings (Tags used to make page titles and sub-titles)
6. Link Text (Buttons on your page...are yours graphical or text buttons)
7. Hyperlink URLs (Actual link names for pages)
8. Alt Tags (for images)
9. Comments (Except Google)
10. Body Text
    

One of the more common and newer methods used by search engines is to determine how long a viewer stayed on your site. If the viewer quickly returns to the search page, then the search engine gives your site a low score for that keyword. The search engine figures that the viewer did not find relevant content for that search engine on your site. Too many low time scores and you more down the page or to the next page. If the viewer finds relevant content on your site and stay there for a long time or never returns to the search page, then you site gets a good time score. If you time scores are better than others on the same page, then you will probably move up the listings. SO CONTENT IS KING! You want viewers to find the information they need, be entertained and linger longer on your site that the other sites.

• Repeating key word in a row.
• Text the same color or near the same color as the background.
• Having text on a page that is too small to read such as 1 point in size.
• Hidden Input area with keyword text.
• Promoting keywords not related to your Web site. If you use keywords in your Meta tag the must be repeated within the body. This technique was popular when having 30 or more key words was the "in thing". You listed every conceivable key word that was remotely related to your site.
• Causing the search engines to show multiple listings for the same content such as creating multi-copies of the home page, under different names and submitting them such as Index.HTML, Default.HTML, Home.HTML etc.
• Using Meta Refresh tag to redirect the user to a "real" home page while hiding the "search engine" optimized page. This technique started when someone designed a "pretty" home page that could not be optimized and the client declined to accept a properly optimized page.
• Submitting more than one page per day for your web site. There are some know exceptions to this rule and one is Alta Vista that allows for 5 pages per day.
• Page swapping is a technique where a highly optimized page is submitted then after a high rating is obtained; it is swapped for a "user" friendly page after the site has been indexed. Many search engines revisit as often as 30 days regardless of what your Meta refresh tag says, to test your home page.
• Hijacking someone else high-ranking page. Search build a unique vector type index of each index page and can tell if a page is repeated in the index particularly if it is under a different URL.
• Cloaking or stealth scripting is a technique of writing server-side scripts that detects the IP address of the incoming search engine and delivers pages different from the ones delivered to the general (browser) public.
• Using other trademark or registered marks in your keywords to attract those seeking the trademarks owner site. If you were selling assembled computers, you might want to put IBM, DELL, Compaq and other brand names in your keywords hoping to attract viewers. Most search engines have a list of trade names and trademarks and will test your site if they are found. You had better be a dealer.
• Having too many "doorway pages". A doorway page is optimized for a particular keyword and delivered to the search engine to optimize each keyword.
• Submit your site to "link" farms. Link farms are an attempt to make search engines think that your site has a lot of links from other site and thus popular as a reference. There is no substitute for real link to your site. Some high cost optimization companies run their own private link farms and it is probably only a matter of time until they are on the "no" list.

If someone promises that they can make you #1 in any search engine, particularly Google, you can be assured of two things: 1) They are probably better at separating you from your money than getting you into that coveted #1 position, and 2) if they do, it probably will not last long until the search engines discover how and move you down the list or blacklist your site!