Since late 2002, I have been working hard on search engine ranking for the
websites I supervise for myself and my clients. I've had some amazingly good results by just doing the simple things
the search engines beg you to do. No sneaky tricks and no secrets - mostly just the
basics and a lot of hard work. Google's ever-improving methods of search engine ranking means
you have to keep working in order to keep your fair share of the search engine traffic, but
the foundation of their ranking algorithm remains the same.
Since about 70% of all searches are done on Google, you cannot afford to overlook their
methods. Fortunately, search engine optimization techniques that work well on Google
also have a positive effect on your ranking in other search engines. The difference
is often simply a case on one search engine giving more weight in its ranking algorithm to one
factor over another. Each search engine uses its own formula for ranking web pages. I've
come up with a list of 4 key areas I think every webmaster needs to focus on in order
to get good results with all search engines, but especially Google, based on what I've learned:
- Get other relevant websites to link to you. A link that includes your keywords within
the <a>nchor tags is much better for Google ranking than simply the URL or the name
of the web site. Note that you should be prepared to reciprocate by installing a links
page on your own website. There is no substitute for quality links. You simply have to have incoming
links in order to get high rankings in search engines for any search terms that are not unique
to your website. Links are the sine qua non of search engine rankings. Period. Finito. End
of story. In addition, Google is becoming increasingly aware of the content of the page
where a link originates. This is related to the patented Hilltop techniques by which links
are analyzed for the anchor text (ie. the text between the <a> and </a> that
users click on) and the overall content of the page on which the link
resides. It is very important to emphasize links from pages with relevant content if you want
to do well in Google. Simple link exchanges are no longer enough to win the battle in the more
competitive areas. In addition, posting links on your web site to other relevant sites,
regardless of whether or not they link back to you, seems to have a positive effect on rankings
in Google.
- Make sure the <title> tag on each page emphasizes the keywords for that page.
The page title is the most valuable real estate on the page. Not only is it a vital
component of the rankings for the page, it is the text that the user will see in the
search engine results pages (SERPs). In terms of priority here, keywords come first,
and your company/website name is a distant second.
- Include ample amounts of keyword-rich text on your main page with text links
that contain the appropriate keywords within the <a>nchor tags to key pages within your
website. Google judges the relevancy of a webpage to the terms in a user's search query,
in part, by the proximity of the keywords to each other on the page, and the order in which they appear
on the page. This especially includes the <title> tag and <h>eadlines tags.
- Submit your website to quality web site directories like The Open Directory Project (ODP). A
listing in The Open Directory Project will get you a listing in Google and most other search engines
because so many websites incorportate The Open Directory Project's listings on their pages
that the link itself will present your site to the search engines.
The Open Directory Project is owned by America Online through its Netscape subsidiary,
but it is operated by volunteer editors. You need to follow their submission rules to the
letter in order to be approved, so be sure to read their instructions. Getting a site listed in the ODP can take many months, but it
does pay off. Other directories like JoeAnt and GoGuides are also valuable listings.
- Add fresh, original content to your web site as often as you can. All search engines, and Google in particular, like to see new pages and updated content on existing pages.
- Install a proper robots.txt file in your root directory. See
http://www.robotstxt.org/wc/robots.html for
information on creating a proper robots.txt file. It keeps robots out of your private or
content-free directories and shows an awareness of the search engines that can only help you. If
nothing else, it will enhance your control of which directories get crawled. For example, you
may not want your graphics files listed on the search engines devoted to their listings. The
robots.txt file can keep the spiders out of your images directory.
- Avoid schemes to try to fool search engines (particularly Google) into giving your website
an undeservedly high ranking such as keyword stuffing, invisible text, link farms, doorway pages,
throwaway domains, and so on, which can get you penalized for a very long time or banished
entirely from the search engines.
- When in doubt, see Rule #1. Links are the mother's milk of search engine rankings. Make
a habit of soliciting new links on a regular basis.
Google likes well-structured web sites and considers
internal links to contribute to a heirarchical structure that enhances
usability. This information and much more is available in the Google Information for Webmasters.
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