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What is a Search
Engine? |
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A search engine is a special web site that catalogs other
web sites and has search capability. Their function is to somehow catalog websites into a
database and they each have their own algorithm for searching their databases. A search
engine uses something called a 'spider' or 'robot', which are automated programs that
scour the web jumping from link to link, cataloguing web sites. |
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What is the
difference between a search engine and a directory? |
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A search engine uses automated 'spiders' or 'robots' to
catalog websites. A directory uses people to go through a web site and catalog the web
site. Therefore, Yahoo is really a directory and not a search engine, as they employ a
team of people to go through every site listed in their database. |
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How do I get listed in
Search Engines? |
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Unless you tell the search engine about your site, they
will have a hard time finding you. There are several ways to get listed in search engines.
- Visit each search engine and register your site. On each search engine there is a link
typically named 'Add URL', 'Suggest A Site', 'Add Page' ...etc. You should click through
and follow the instructions. This method also takes the most time but often allows you to
be most specific about where your listing should be.
- There are some online web-based services that will register your site in various search
engines for free. For example, Register It!
- You can pay an online service to get you listed in a large number of search engines and
directories. For example, Register It! and Submit It
- You can pay a marketing service to help you market your site. As part of the strategy
you can have them worry about how to get your site listed.
- You can buy special software that will submit your site to various search engines and
directories.
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How long does it take to
be listed? |
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Each search engines varies in the time it takes for your
site to be listed. Usually directories will take a long time - a couple months, because
some personnel at the company must review your web site. Search engines will list you
faster but it can be from 48 hours to a few weeks. You will have to check with the search
engine itself for this information. Typically you will find some answers in their FAQ or
help section. |
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How do I get my site to
show up on top of the listing? |
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This is a tough question. There is no one that can
guarantee you top positioning on any search engine. Each search engine has its own
algorithm as to what it deems most important when cataloguing the content of a particular
web page. In addition, search engines will periodically change their algorithm so what
helped you get higher listing may not always work. You will have to keep up with each
search engine or hire someone to keep up to date for you like http://www.equityusa.com However, there are some
strategies in web site design which can help you raise your position. Read through the
Search Engine Optimization Tips. |
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Why is the title tag
important? |
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You should place a TITLE tag on every web page on your
site. Most spiders will first look to the TITLE tag to decipher the web page content.
Therefore, it is advisable to not use acronyms, and you can even use a few descriptive
keywords. Also, some search engine will penalize you if your TITLE is too long. |
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What are META tags and why
are they important? |
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META tags should be used on every page of your web site.
These are special tags that sit in between the HEAD tags in your HTML code and are
invisible to the viewer. For example, look at the source code for this web page. Many
search engines will store the META tags in their databases. META tags allow you to include
a description of the particular web page and also store additional relevant keywords that
may or may not exist on your page. However, keep in mind that many search engines will
penalize you if you use repeated keywords. |
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Why are ALT tags important?
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We recommend that you always use ALT tags with your images.
There are some search engines that record this information in their database. There are
some search engines where you can actually search for images - typically using the ALT
tags as references for the search. |
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Why is having HTML text
important? |
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If your web page is composed only of images, the search
engine spider will have no idea what your content is about, as it typically will look to
the HTML text on your page to try to automatically decipher the web page content. This
is why it is good to have text navigation links (even as a supplement to your graphical
navigation) and text content. Some spiders will weigh sentences with proper punctuation
marks as more relevent than single words. Some spiders consider text links to be more
important.
It is also a good idea to try to raise your HTML text content up on the page as high as
possible. Some search engines limits the kilobytes of data that it will scan for its
database. Therefore, if the spider doesn't see any HTML text, then it can't figure out
your page content. |
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What is search engine
spamming? |
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Each search engine has a policy on spamming. Spamming is
considered the act of abusing the registration process and the use of some tricks to
attempt to raise a web site position. For example, it was common in the past to use the
background color for addtional HTML text on a page. Since the color of the text matches
the background - the visitor would not see the text. In this way, you can hide all sorts
of keywords. Search engines will automatically drop your web site if you do this.
Another example is repeating keywords unnecessarily or using keywords that have nothing
to do with your content, just for getting a higher listing. If caught, the search engine
will usually drop your site.
If you are concerned about spamming, you should visit the search engines and read
through the help documentation. Each search engine will have different criteria and
spamming policy. |
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Can I submit multiple
pages? |
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For the most part the answer to this question is YES. We
recommend that you submit a few key pages of your site to all search engines. However you
should be very careful as any abuse of multiple page registration is considered search
engine spamming. If the search engine catches you spamming then they will drop your site
entirely from the search engine. You should read the search engine's help documentation to
determine at what point they consider a person to be spamming. |
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Why is using frames
problematic? |
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Because of the way frames work in HTML, some search engines
will not follow your pages correctly and your site will not be completely indexed. If you
are using frames, then it is advisable to make sure your site is navigatable without
frames, you have an option for using frames or not, and/or use the NOFRAMES option. |
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