Return to the Web design menu to learn the basics of Web design with these great Web design tutorials. From navigation and usability, to choosing a Web host and domain name, these tips will help you get started!
Web design tips and tutorials for beginners: Home pageWeb design tips and tutorials for beginners: Design techniquesWeb design tips and tutorials for beginners: Dreamweaver tutorialsWeb design tips and tutorials for beginners: Fireworks tutorialsWeb design tips and tutorials for beginners: Photoshop Elements tutorialsWeb design tips and tutorials for beginners: AdSense tutorials

Home > Web Design > Search engine optimization

Search engine optimization

Optimizing your Web site for search engines is one of the keys to a successful site. It doesn't matter how great your site is if nobody is able to find it! Although search engine optimization is a topic for a complete book, here are some of the basics to get you started.

How search engines work

Search engines are constantly crawling pages on the Internet and continuously updating their indexes. By looking thru the content on your pages they can tell what the page is about. They index this data and 'score' each page based on internal algorithms. Each search engine works differently, and each is constantly changing to find new, better ways to list search results.

How to improve search engine placement

Here are some things you can do to improve your search results:

  • Include a meaningful title on every page. The title should contain keywords that reflect your content.
  • Provide a useful description for each page- be sure to include in the description keywords you wish to target .
  • Use the 'keywords' meta tag on each page. List any keywords you think your visitor might think of when searching for your site.
  • Try to get sites similar to yours, or sites that complement yours to exchange links. Having quality sites link to you will help your search engine placement.

Following these basics will help you get more relevant AdSense ads on your site too!

Registering with search engines

Although most search bots will eventually find your site, (as long as at least one other site links to yours) most have a process for submitting URLs. Here are some tips on search engine registration:

  • Submit your site to Google, Yahoo!, and MSN first as these sites are where most of your traffic will originate. Many other search engines get their results from these search engines.
  • Make sure your site is complete before you submit your search engine registration! Your site will rank lower in the search results if you have broken links or "Coming Soon" pages.
  • Follow the guidelines listed for each search engine. Submitting your site over and over could get you removed from search listings altogether!



Search engine "Don'ts"

  • Don't spam search engines by repeating the same words over and over on a page- especially with the text color the same as the background color! The search engines are smarter than that, and you'll probably get de-listed.
  • Don't believe anyone who says they can "guarantee" top placement. There are certainly some great Web site optimization firms that can help, but no one can guarantee you'll be #1.
  • Don't pay to be registered with "hundreds of search engines". As we said earlier, most of your traffic will come from 3-4 of the biggies.
  • Don't spend hours changing and re-changing pages trying to get a higher ranking. Build a great site and follow our tips, and those of some of the great search engine optimization books available, and higher rankings are sure to follow.

 

 

 
 
      
 

Home | Design | Dreamweaver | Fireworks | Photoshop | AdSense
   
 

©2006 Wilk Web Works
All rights reserved.