| hwg-basics archives | Jun 2000 | new search | results | previous | next |
There are, as you say, about 15 big search engines and directories. They each have their own method and algorithm of deciding which sites rank high for which keywords. The algorithms are mostly automatic based on the words in your pages. There are several ways in which you can improve the visibility of your site on the search engines. First, select keywords that are most likely to be the words people type into a search engine when they are looking for a site like yours. Second, use those words liberally in your pages, especially in the title, meta tags, headings, link text, and body of your document. Third, go to each of the major search engines and read their submittal procedures and follow them in submitting your site. In some cases, it pays to submit each page. In others, you will get penalized for submitting more than the home page (like with Infoseek). For directories like Yahoo, Open Directory and Snap, you need to fill out a little form, explaining which keywords apply to your site and giving a brief description. This step generally cannot be done automatically for directories. Finally, there are organizations which spend full time trying to understand the search engines' methodology and the means necessary to get good positions for keywords of interest. Some of these are great (I particularly like and use www.webposition.com ) If you consult with somebody and their suggestion sounds to you like a 'trick' such as including keywords in the same color as the background, repeating keywords hundreds of times in comments or hidden values or anything else that sounds fishy, I would recommend you steer clear. The search engines have responded to these 'tricks' by removing the sites which use them from their indexes completely. Hope this helps, Kim ==================================================== Kimberley Mitchell (732) 750-1941 Member: HTML Writers Guild kim(at)mighty-sites.com http://sewingandvac.com http://www.mighty-sites.com http://www.oldbird.org http://www.asq-rd.org ==================================================== ----- Original Message ----- From: Freda Lockert <freda(at)rlockert.easynet.co.uk> To: <hwg-basics(at)mail.hwg.org> Sent: Monday, June 19, 2000 8:23 AM Subject: Getting noticed > Hello > > Please, what's the best way of getting a new web site noticed? I > tried one well known site that says it submits to 15 search engines, > five weeks ago, no results. I've done all the meta tags, carefully > worded text etc. Advice appreciated, I'm a novice at this. > Thank you! > > Freda > -- > 'Never give up on what you know in your heart to be right. The world > needs you and your commitment, desperately' - John Denver. >
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