by Debbie Moore
As a web site designer, search engine optimizer and owner of several large, successful pet-related web site directories for more than 10 years, I've seen many, many changes with search engines over the past decade.
In the early days of the Internet, when the general public was just starting to go online, getting your web site ranked high on the search engines was fairly easy; just plunk in a few meta tags and keywords and you were off to the races.
Unfortunately, as more and more web sites started vying for the
top search engine positions, many web site developers began using underhanded
tricks to get top listings, such as "keyword spamming" (loading each page with
hundreds of instances of the same search words), hiding search word text on each
page by making it the same color as the page background, creating "doorway
pages" to rank high on the search engines, but with no useful content, using
automated redirection scripts to ping visitors from an optimized doorway page to
their actual page, and other tricks too numerous to mention here.
This created problems for people searching for information online; the search
results returned were often irrelevant to what they were seeking. The top search
positions were being held by the web site with the craftiest webmaster, stuffing
his or her web site with every possible search term related - and often not
related - to their web site.
As a result, the search engines, in order to keep their visitors
happy and deliver relevant information, have become more sophisticated, and
webmasters need to be more sophisticated in their search engine optimization
measures if they want to obtain - and keep - a high ranking on the search
engines.
Fortunately, good search engine optimization is not "rocket science". It does
not require a degree in computer science, and it is definitely something that
everyone with a web site, a few online tools, and patience and perseverance can
achieve.
Good search engine optimization is simple; provide a web site that is easy to
navigate, has a clearly defined hierarchy of internal links, provides useful,
well-written content, does not include humongous image files, java scripts, or
other bells and whistles, and follows a few rules for proper search engine
optimization.
Unfortunately, most well-intentioned web site owners do not
realize that achieving a high search engine ranking is a non-technical
aspiration. This common goal of almost every web site owner has spawned a huge
industry unto itself; the Search Engine Optimization Industry. Like any
industry, this one has it's honest members, and it's not-so-honest members (to
put it lightly).
The honest ones will usually tell you up-front, pretty-well everything I've
mentioned above, but the dishonest ones (who shall go nameless, since they are
scamming people for so much money they could easily afford to sue my pants off)
would have you believe that you need to pay them hundreds of dollars per month
to "put" your web site on the search engines - and keep paying them money if you
wanted them to "keep" your web site on the search engines.
As an example, an elderly client of mine who breeds purebred Cavalier King
Charles Spaniels as a hobby received a telephone call from just such a service.
A very pushy, ill-mannered woman called my client to inform her that her web
site "was not listed on the search engines". She had my client go to a few of
the major search engines and type in "Cavalier King Charles Spaniel". Obviously
my client's web site did not show up in the top 20 listings, which put her into
something of a panic. The "search engine optimizer" then informed my client that
she could "put" the web site on the search engines for an initial start-up fee
of $299.95 and "keep" the site there for a monthly sum of just $129.95. My
client signed up on the spot, and gave the woman her credit card information.
What the search engine optimizer failed to tell my client, was that her web site
was listed in the top 5 on Google, Yahoo, MSN, Infoseek, AOL and other search
engines for the search terms "Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Puppies", "Cavalier
King Charles Spaniel Breeder", "Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Dogs", "Cavalier
Puppies", "Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Puppies For Sale", "AKC Cavalier King
Charles Spaniels" and a bunch of other more specifically targeted key word
phrases. (These are what I had optimized the web site for when I created it).
Fortunately, the "search engine optimizers" had to go through me to obtain my
clients web site login and password in order to "optimize" her web site, and I
told them "where to go and how to get there", without mincing words. They
reversed the charges on my client's credit card, and she was saved from throwing
away more than a thousand dollars a year for nonsense.
I've heard this same scenario over and over again from new clients who have
fallen victim before they met me, and I shudder to think of how many people, who
can ill-afford to, have thrown away hard-earned dollars on this scam.
Hopefully by reading this article, you will not become the next statistic.
Forward this article to everyone you know who has a web site and should be
aware. I'm going to outline the most common myths about how to get your site
ranked high on the search engines, followed by 5 simple steps you can take to
greatly improve your search engine position.
1. Only a professional search engine optimization company
or search engine submission company can get your site ranked high on the search
engines.
Nonsense! You can do this yourself by making sure your website is a
quality resource for your visitors.
2. Your web site needs to be submitted to the search engines by a search
engine submission company using an automated system.
Bupkiss!!! The search engines, especially Google, do not want you to do
this. Search engines crawl the internet constantly, and will visit your site
without you having to submit to them. The best way to get your site crawled
faster is to have other related, quality sites link to you.
3. You have to pay to be included on Google, Yahoo, MSN, Infoseek,
Dogpile, and other directories and search engines.
Untrue!! All these engines do offer "pay per click" services where you
can pay to be instantly listed at the top right of the page, but you do not need
to pay to have "organic" (free) inclusion in their regular results, which most
visitors look at.
4. You need to rank high for the top 1-word search term related to your
web site.
It's easier and better (I think) to rank high for more targeted keyword
phrases related to your web site. For instance, if you were a breeder of Burmese
cats, you would be better served to target "Burmese kittens for sale" "Burmese
cats for sale" & "Burmese cat breeder" than simply to target the word "Burmese"
(which might bring you visitors looking for Burmese pythons, Burmese cooking,
etc)
5. You need to have hundreds of web sites linking to your site to get a
high search engine position.
False. It's better to get fewer links from high quality, related web
sites than a ton of links from questionable sites with unrelated content. Build
your link relationships slowly, making sure you only exchange links with sites
that complement your own and are of good quality.
6. Your current web site position will fall if you stop paying your
current "search engine submission" service to submit your site to the search
engines on a regular basis.
Very unlikely. Having your site submitted to the search engines is no
longer recommended, and can even cause your site to be banned from Google. If
you are currently having your site submitted, save yourself some money and
cancel the service. You would be better to spend that money on pay per click
listings through Google Adwords or a similar program.
7. Hiring a search engine optimization service will cost a fortune.
Not necessarily! Although some search engine optimization services do
charge a hefty sum, there are many knowledgeable professionals who can provide
affordable search engine positioning services for $100 or less. (Like me, for
instance! Click here if you want to hire me! :-)
8. You need a flashy, animated, music-filled web site to catch the
attention of visitors and the search engines.
Wrong again! Unless these elements really add to your web site, it's
best not to have them. Most visitors do not like music on a web site, flash
animations are generally a nuisance to visitors, and most browsers now have
security settings that will prevent java applets and other programs from
loading. Additionally, all these unnecessary bells and whistles create a lot of
"html shrapnel" that makes it difficult for the search engines to find the
actual text in your site's html code. The best web sites offer informative,
well-written text that is displayed in an intuitive format, clear, interesting,
fast-loading images, and a simple, prominent and easy-to-navigate page
hierarchy.
9. Search Engine Optimization techniques are trade secrets that only
professional optimizers are privy to.
Total myth! The fact is that there is a ton of information available
online about how to optimize your web site for search engine success. Some is
free, some can be purchased for a reasonable price. The Internet is like a
massive university where everyone is a student. I learn something new almost
every day, and there are a lot of good newsletters about search engine
optimization that you can subscribe to for free, or for a modest fee.
10. The more domain names I buy - the better my search engine position
will be.
Mistake! All you need is 1 domain for any given web site. Having more
than 1 domain can actually hurt your search engine rankings by creating the
appearance of "duplicate content" from the search engine's viewpoint. Unless you
just want to buy up domains to keep them from your competitors (but not direct
them to your web site), save your money. 1 domain is all you need.
1. Discover the right search phrases (keywords) to focus your
search engine optimization efforts on.
There is a service called "Wordtracker" that keeps a database of actual searches
performed on a variety of search engines. Using this service, you can pinpoint
the EXACT search word phrases you want to optimize your site for - instead of
guessing, and possibly missing the boat.
2. Hone your "Title", "Description", "Keywords" meta tags and your page text to
make use of your three focused search term phrases. There are many free online
resources that will help you learn how to do this in a few simple steps.
3. Submit your site by hand for inclusion in the
Open Directory Project (http://www.dmoz.org)
4. Create a "links" page and begin exchanging links with quality web sites that
are related to your own.
5. Maintain your web site regularly! Check for broken links, links to sites
which are no longer there, and other problems and correct them! Share your
knowledge about the subject of your web site by writing short articles - and
link to them from your home page - and from your home page to your articles. You
can find ideas for topics to write about by looking at Wordtracker search term
suggestions for the subject of your web site. This will help you to pinpoint
topics that people are searching for information about.
There are many other things that you can do to improve your web site's search engine position, but these 5 are a great place to start, and, I think, demonstrate that you really can be your own search engine optimizer!
The search engines have changed greatly over the years, and will, no doubt, continue to change and evolve to provide their visitors with the best possible search experience. You can ensure that your website gets indexed and displayed by the search engines for relevant search terms by providing a quality web site that offers the visitor an informative, enjoyable and relatively bug-free online experience. Follow the tips listed above, and try to keep abreast of the ever-changing search engine landscape, and you should see a steady - and relatively permanent - increase in your web site's visitorship. Rome wasn't built in a day, and your web site traffic won't increase dramatically overnight (regardless of what the "snake-oil salesmen" mentioned above would have you believe!) Keep your nose to the grindstone, delivering a quality, informative web site, avoid employing cheap tricks, and your web site is sure to succeed.
Debbie Moore is a web site designer, graphic designer, writer and search engine optimization specialist. She is the founder of Moore Designs Web Site Services, and also owns and operates a number of Internet directory web sites including Dog and Puppy Central , Cat and Kitten Central, Pet Net and others.