When you do a
search using a search engine, the engine quickly sorts through the
millions of pages in it's database and provides you with what it
feels most closely matches your topic. The matches are also ranked,
so that the most relevant ones come first. Search
engines have very specific ways in which they search for websites
and then list them. Each search engine has different criteria required
in a website in order for it to be listed. In order to cover as many
websites criteria as possible and achieve maximum visibility, Spec-Net
writes web pages specifically
for search engine optimisation.
But what is it that determines relevancy for a search engine? Search engines
are set up to follow what is called an algorithm. An algorithm is a mathematical
equation which provides the engine's with a set of rules to follow. These
rules mainly involve the location and frequency of keywords within a web page
or within certain HTML code.
Optimizing
Your Results
Whilst keyword location and frequency is an important aspect of getting good
listings in the major search engines, there is more to do. You may recall that
engines utilize "algorithms" to assign relevancy to sites. Well, no
engine uses the same algorithm and every one of them changes their algorithms
on a regular basis. That's why you receive different results on the same search
from time to time.
It is also important to know that several search engines index more web pages
than others. Some search engines also index web pages more often than others.
The result is that no search engine has the exact same collection of web pages
to search through.
Search engines may also give web pages higher rankings for unique reasons. For
example, WebCrawler uses link popularity as part of its ranking method. This
means they track how many links a specific page in their index has pointing at
them. The more links a site has to their page, the better the ranking they would
receive in a search query, since it is probable that they are more well-regarded
on the Internet. That's one of the reasons why it is important to be listed in
more than just the top
search engines and directories.
Some search engines also incorporate directories within their site which are
separate from their spidered database. These directories are more difficult to
get listed in because there is a review process sites must go through to get
listed. Only the "best" sites get listings in these areas. Engines
that have these separate directories may also give a relevancy boost in a search
query to sites they've reviewed. The logic is that if the site was good enough
to earn a review, chances are it's more relevant
than an unreviewed site.
META tags can be somewhat important for obtaining higher relevancy in certain
search engines, as well. However, many people make the mistake of assuming META
tags are the "secret" to propelling their web pages to the top of the
rankings. The fact is, Alta Vista, HotBot and Infoseek are the only engines that
do give a boost to pages with META tags. But engines like Excite, WebCrawler,
Lycos and Northern Light don't read them at all. In fact, research has even shown
that some pages without META tags still get highly ranked in the engines that
do utilize the code. So, they can be important but are by no means the be all,
end all of getting good rankings.
Search engines may also penalize pages or exclude them from their index if they
detect search engine spamming. An example is when a word is repeated hundreds
of times in a row on a page or in META tags, to increase the frequency and propel
the page higher in the listings. Search engines constantly watch for common spamming
methods and often receive complaints from users that spot pages that may have
slipped through. In fact, heavy offenders can even have their domain banned from
the engine.
In summary, ultimately not only
your users but the search engines visit your site for its content. Everything
else is just the backdrop. The design is there to allow people access to the
content and when questioning your websites rankings on the search engines bear
in mind the following:
Search engines cannot read images,
acrobat
files, Flash/Macromedia presentations, animations, complex programming such
as drop down menus or javascript special effects frame pages and any other non-standard
web pages, so it is essential to stick as much as possible to visible text and
well written source code. You may not get listed if your site is unfinished or
has too many broken links.
Search engines can take anywhere from 4-12 weeks to list a website unless you
pay for an express listing costing anywhere up to $299US. Sites are listed in
chronological order, so if your competitors had their sites submitted first,
then they will rank higher than you. Search engines also take into account website
size, so 50 pages will work better than 6 pages.
The rule of submission is: one page - per site -
per day to avoid your site being dropped, or even
banned for life, as spam.
Search engines also work on a cumulative basis. The more traffic
you get, the higher you will rank with search engines, so marketing
your website through more conventional means such as printing,
radio/TV is essential to a websites success.
Also, we must bear in mind at the end of the
day, there are no guarantees. There is no absolute control over what websites
get listed with search engines and where they will be placed. We and no-one
else can guarantee the number one position on every single search engine. It
is impossible. If you are satisfied that you have filled all of the search
engines criteria and are still not ranking, then it a question for the particular
search engine. But be realistic, with millions of websites in existance and
millions more being submitted every year, you have to understand that achieving
a TOP 10 ranking is getting harder and harder. That is why, companies must
not rely entirely on search engines for their main source of traffic, but as
explained before, on portals such as Spec-Net and traditional means of marketing
such as networking, printing and word of mouth etc..
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