Search Engine Optimization Features

We get so many inquiries about ways to optimize web sites for high search engine rankings, that today we’ve chosen to reveal some of the most up-to-date tips on how to do so.

Know the Basics

First, a little background. The Web is now estimated to exceed more than 800 million web pages, and most major search engines are only indexing less than 10 percent each (1999: NEC Research Institute). Indexing is what a search engine “spider” or “bot” does when you submit your site to that search engine - the spider/bot goes out, scans your site for the critical features we will be telling you about, and adds it to its database.

Do you know the difference between a “search engine” and a “directory”? Search Engines (AltaVista and HotBot, for example) use programs to search the Web and create their databases, while Directories (like Yahoo) use human beings to decide what and where to list web sites. That is why sites have a better chance of being listed in search engines than in directories.

Good Source Coding Helps

Before you pursue having your site added to search engine and directory databases, consider checking it and updating it for optimal elements. For example, you’ll want to be sure that you have complete META TAGS, especially on your home page, which are important for search engine bots. You can view your site’s meta tags by clicking “View” on your browser’s menu and then clicking on “Source” or “View Source.” This will show you the source code for your web page. At the top of this page you want to see code like meta name=”description” and meta name=”keywords” with text following.

To optimize these meta tags, be sure they are as complete as possible. Building keywords into your description is important - bear in mind that descriptions are also what the search engine query result shows as the description of your site, so make it as interesting/sales-worthy as you can within the first dozen words. The meta tag for your keywords should list your most important keywords first, since some search engine spiders only index a finite number of words.

Another important source code to have is a complete & descriptive TITLE tag (which generate the words that appear at the very top of your browser window). Use your critical keywords in this tag, and don’t worry so much about “Welcome to” or the generic name of your company.

Search Support for Your Graphics

Another important aspect of code that can help you in several ways is your ALT TAGS. Alt tags are the words or lines of text that appear when you move your mouse (”mouseover”) a graphic (photos, clip art, etc.). Since search engine spiders don’t recognize images, if the majority of your home page is made up of images, you’re not leaving it much to go on without alt tags.

An example of how to write an alt tag looks like this:

IMG src=”images/shop_b.gif” ALT=”Shop for Oriental Rugs Online”

The first portion refers specifically to the image file and the second portion is the text that appears during the mouse over.

Alt tags ought and need to be used with all images. Remember, browsers allow Internet users to surf with their graphics feature turned off for faster loading, so if you do not have alt tags and no other distinguishing text, a visitor to your site under these conditions would see virtually nothing at all! Besides, alt tags allow you to more fully describe the image the visitor is seeing.

Weaving critical keywords into these alt tag descriptions can help improve your chances for a better search ranking. Search engine spiders can scan the text of the alt tag code, adding it to the ensemble of your other optimized site features.

Read In And Between The Lines!

Let’s talk about what’s actually ON your web page that can help with your search engine ranking.

We’ve already told you search engine bots do not recognize images, so you’ll want to incorporate alt tags to compensate. What folks also don’t often realize is that an image does not necessarily just equal a picture. Some web pages are designed wholly of images, from headlines and navigational links (otherwise known as “buttons”), to paragraphs of copy and the photos associated with them.

Unfortunately, though these graphical creations usually look terrific, this kind of web page construction can undermine your search engine optimization efforts because search engines look for text - text in the headline, text in the navigational links, text in the body of your page. And if you plan on using your home page url as the only page you submit to search engines, there better be a decent amount of text on that page.

Since search engines are looking for this text, you’ll want the text you do have to accurately reflect the core keywords of your business. Make sure at least your top keyword is in the headline of your page, and that the others are well-represented (repeated two or three times) throughout the rest of your page, particularly in the first 200 words of text (some search engines do not index beyond 200).

In addition, take those critical keywords (about five) and make them into hyperlinks to other parts of your site. Search engine bots recognize the HTML code for hyperlinks above other text. An example of this would be if you’re trying to sell picture frames on your site, you could have a sentence of text saying,

“Our selection of picture frames is unparalleled online,” where the words “picture frames” are hyperlinked to that main section on your site. <

The Final Step: Submitting To Search Engines

Now that you now know you have to create meta tags, alt tags, hypertext links and keyword text on your web site, it’s is time to get your hands dirty submitting your site to all of the major search engines. The most efficient way to get a search engine “robot” to find your site and index it is to submit your URL directly to the engine to get it processed.

Using Alta Vista as an example, let’s give you a simple walk through of search engine submitting. Go to http://www.altavista.com, Alta Vista’s main web page and scroll down to the bottom until you find the hyperlink titled, “Add A Page.”

(Hint #1: some engines will hide this link in a small font at the bottom, while others — Hot Bot for instance — will locate it on a side bar near the top of the page).

Click on this “Add” link and it will whisk you away to their submittal page you will see a submittal form asking for your url.

(Hint #2: Before you submit, make sure that you bookmark these submittal pages so you can find it easily for future submittals.)

Some of these submittal forms will simply ask for your web site url, while others will ask for description text, titles and/or keywords. Simply type in whatever information the form asks for and hit the submit button. It’s that easy!

( Hint #3: It may be easier to “recycle” your meta tag description, title and keyword text than trying to recreate the information anew. To do this, simply go to your own web site, view your source code as we explained how to do earlier, and copy and paste the appropriate text into the forms as requested.)

Don’t Limit Your Web Site’s Chances
Many people don’t realize that they can submit multiple site pages to search engine (in other words, pages besides just their home page). For example, consider submitting your “Contact Us,” “FAQ’s,” and other main sub-section pages within your site. Sometimes these pages may even be ranked higher than your homepage since they may contain more search terms than your home page does.

However, be careful with this. Some search engines consider more than one submittal a day spamming and might even kick your site out of their index if you do it too often. A safe bet is to keep your submittals to once every two weeks.

The Human Factor

“Directory” search engine tools are another story altogether. With directories, your submittals are reviewed, accepted and indexed by an actual human being, so the approval and ranking process may not be so simple.

Yahoo, the Internet’s largest and most popular directory, requires you to find the exact category page your site belongs in, and then you must look for the “Suggest A Site” link at the bottom of the page.

More and more search tools are turning into human-approved directories which are less likely to be “fooled” by web site manipulation.

That is why it’s important to have your web site be as relevant and as informative about the topic or category to which you are submitting as possible.

Submittal Tools

There are also many free tools out there on the Web that you can use to submit your URL to multiple search engines at one time, some at no cost, others for a fee.

A few free services include PromoteItHere and Add-Me. One negative aspect about these tools is that there is no visible verification that your site was actually submitted. This is why the best way to still have proof positive that your web site was submitted is to have it done manually.

After a couple of weeks or so try searching for your site on the engines that you submitted to, first by using your company’s name to see if it shows up at all, then by using your keywords. Keep an active log of your site’s ranking every month to track its status and to know whether or not your site rose in its standings or fell.

Also, try to stay away from those “Submit to 800 search engines for $50.00″ deals. You usually end up more with an e-mail box full of spam than high search rankings for the money you paid.

Now it is time to submit your site. Below we’ve provided you with a helpful list of submittal urls. Happy typing!

Submittal Shortcuts

AltaVista: http://www.altavista.com/cgi-bin/query?pg=addurl
AOL Netfind: http://www.aol.com/netfind/info/addyoursite.html
Excite: http://www.excite.com/info/add_url
HotBot: http://www.hotbot.com/addurl.asp
Infoseek (Go.com): http://www.go.com/AddUrl?&pg=SubmitUrl.html
Lycos: http://www.lycos.com/addasite.html
MSN Netsearch: http://search.msn.com/addurl.asp
&copy1999 Hollis Thomases, Web Ad.vantage, Inc.

Hollis Thomases, a marketer and public speaker with over 13 years of experience, is president of Web Ad.vantage, Inc., a creative Internet marketing, promotions and public relations firm specializing in strategy building and implementation. Call
410-294-9495 for more information.

 back to top