When it comes to getting your website ranked in the SE’s, it comes down to variety of factors that all pertain to your pages overall visibility. Lower visibility on the search engines means less traffic, and less reach, we don’t want that. So how does page ranking actually work you may ask. Behind all the complex algorithms put in place by Google, the actual system for ranking is quite simple. I will go over some of the best ways you can optimize your site to make sure you have the best ranking possible across all SE’s, not just big G.
External Links: Page Rank is frequently amplified by the # and quality of inbound links. The better the sites that link back to yours, the better. You can attain these through massive email campaigns, networking with similar sites, or buying reciprocal links. Stay away from link trades as they are now deemed a negative impact on ranking as well as your SERP.
google pagerank explained
Keywords: SEO, SEM, Meta Tags, various social media advertising platforms (Adwords/YSM/Facebook Ads) all rely on these crucial elements. There are two types of keywords that can be implemented. Firstly there is the primary keyword which is the base for what you are targeting. Then you have a secondary keyword which is less pertinent but still helps to pinpoint what you’re targeting. Try to avoid keyword spam, as you need to place your primary keywords throughout your site strategically (H1, Title Tags, etc.) so that the SE’s can place your site quickly and easily.
Optimizing website content: The driving force that contributes to page ranking is textual content. You need to ensure that your web site has sufficient text on each page to facilitate proper indexing by the SE’s. Also keep in mind that the text on your page will not include images or Flash elements. The body copy of a web page should have the correct and most important keyword phrases.
Page titles: You need to create appropriate page titles for each of the web pages on your website. A page title is the first line of copy that is displayed during search listing. To attract visitors, you need to apply the right keywords and compelling copy in page titles.
Dynamic URLs: If you are using a dynamic URL then search engines will face difficulty in indexing your web pages. Try to avoid using dynamic URL’s.
Edit: Flash/JavaScript content: I was unaware, but apparently the SE’s can now read data from flash files, so feel free to create your menu’s and navigation in flash, however I would shy away from this as im sure not ALL the SE’s can read your swf’s. As for JavaScript, the SE’s also have trouble indexing websites using Java based navigation, so stay away from it.
Don says
September 10, 2008 at 7:56 pmYour dynamic URL recommendation isn’t quite inline with today’s search engines. There’s a wealth of _fresh_ information on this topic from the other reputable SEO sites and from Matt Cutts.
What’s generally said is that the major SEs can index most dynamic URLs without issue. The general guideline is to keep your parameters as short as possible, as well as the number of parameters ( 1 to 2 is recommended). There isn’t much SEO benefit to having a static keyword URL over a dynamic one anymore, although you’ll find some SEO experts with differing opinion on the value of a static keyword URL. As far as Google goes, there doesn’t appear to be any ranking benefit, if there is, it’s minimal.
That said, Still probably a good idea if you’re starting a new site to go with static URLs, but if your site is already established with dynamic URLs that are ranking it really isn’t worth the switch, atleast for Google.
David Leonhardt says
September 24, 2008 at 9:33 amHi Don. That is correct. Although it is still worth having the keywords in the URL, whether dynamic or static, because some people will want to link using the URL as the link text…and having keywords in the link text is very valuable. The main disadvantage about a long dynamic URL, is that some people might decide not to link to it just because it would look ugly, or if some links are generated from email newsletters, which might break the URL.
Lorne, regarding link trades, there is absolutely no evidence that this is harmful or even useless. If you read enough on the Internet, you will discover that all links are useless except a link in the middle of the first paragraph of the home page of the New York Times.
A more accurate statement would be avoid basing your link-building strategy primarily on link exchanges. Link exchanges existed before the search engines started looking at links. They are not bad. But too many website owners are in a link-exchange arms race, substituting massive link exchanges for a balanced diet of a variety various links (Imagine eating nothing but dairy foods. Milk is healthy, sure, but don’t you think some citrus and some greens, and some wheat, and some…)
What you want to go for is a natural linking pattern — like all the links sprang up naturally as votes of confidence in your website without any effort from you, just because your website is superb — or better said, without a perceivable pattern.
The Celebrity Cafe says
October 15, 2008 at 12:56 pmThat picture of the Google page rank made it clear to understand how it works.
Michael says
October 15, 2008 at 1:50 pmGreat article… i’ll have to try it out
SEO Blog says
July 25, 2010 at 8:23 pmSearch engine optimization is very important, with tips like this us newcomers can get stuck in.
adam hersh says
May 2, 2011 at 12:29 amHigh link popularity can be attained over time, but keep in mind the quality and trust level of the sites you want links from. By using proper optimization methods you will push you trust level up and rank higher on the search engines. The higher the page ranking is for the inbound links, the better your results will be.