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Serving Western North Carolina since 1990 |
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PCC @ your Service |
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Volume 3, Issue 2, April 11, 2005 |
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Each of the search engines have different algorithms for calculating which sites place higher for different search terms. And each of these algorithms are proprietary. So we can’t know exactly what causes one site to rank higher than another. But there are some general rules and design guidelines that can be followed to enhance your chances of listing higher than your competitors.
When designing a web site, make sure you include MetaTags on each page. A MetaTag is a piece of code inserted into the HTML of a web site. You generally put keywords that you want the search engines to take notice of in these areas. If you code HTML by hand, you probably already know all about MetaTags. If you use programs such as FrontPage to create your web site, there are tools available for inserting MetaTags. Read the help sections of your program to get the details.
When choosing keywords for a web site, try to put yourself into a prospective customer’s shoes. What will that person be searching for? What search terms will he most likely be putting in when searching for companies that provide your products or services?
Each page should also have a title. This is a tag similar to a MetaTag. However, it should be concise and descriptive.
The text in your web page should also contain the words you think people will most often use in their searches. Avoid the excessive use of graphics in the place of text. Search engines can read the text on your page, but they will ignore graphics. Also, hiding text underneath graphics can cost you points. Many search engines see this as an attempt to fool them into including your page in a category where it shouldn’t be.
Your home page is your most important page to a search engine. Some search engines will only search the home page of web site. Others are limited to how many sub-pages they will travel. Make sure your home page is very search friendly by using MetaTags and text that contains your most targeted search terms.
Avoid introductory pages that show some sort of graphic and then redirects you to another page within your web site. Search engines, and many potential customers, do not like having to sit through a graphic presentation to get to the information they need about your company.
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Web Page Ranking |
