Search Engine Basics

The Top 3 Search Engines

The top 3 Search Engines of 2005 are GOOGLE, YAHOO, MSN Search and Aol Search, measured by search volume. Once they find your Site they crawl through each page found, indexing and ranking the content.

What are SERPs?

The results are indexed according to rankings called SERPs. "SERP" is an abbreviation for "Search Engine Results Page". The SEO (Search Engine Optimization) struggle is all about getting into the top SERPs on various Search Engines for your specified keywords and keyphrases.

How do Search Engines Determine my Ranking or Placement in the SERPs?

We know that GOOGLE ranks Sites and Pages according to over 100 quality points. When a page is indexed the information extracted from your website is processed through a complex set of algorithms. The algorithms determine a Site's value. Many of these ranking factors are proprietary, hidden from public knowledge. We do know though which quality factors the SE's hold in priority and weigh more heavily:

Content Depth and Uniqueness

Highly Ranked Sites have many pages of useful information. The more useful information you provide, the better chance you have of being ranked higher.

Quantity of incoming links from other Sites

One of the most important ranking criteria for Sites on the Internet is both quantity and Quality of IBL's (inbound or incoming links from other Sites). Each Incoming Link from another Sites represents a "democratic" votes by other Internet Community Site owners that believe your Site represents good value, the more, the better.

Quality of incoming links from other Sites

is concerned more with links from "Authoritive" Sites. It is even believed that some "PageRank" is transferred to lower ranked Sites this way. It is also believed that "Generic" incoming links hold more value than "exchanged" or "reciprocal" links.

Relevance of incoming links from other Sites

The Search Engines have been forced to implement certain spam guards within their algorithms. It is believed that the SE's utilize relevancy ratings on incoming links now. After all, "Search Relevancy" is probably the most important factor determining public choice and ultimate ad revenue.

Content Freshness

The Search Engines queries your server for your "If Modified Since" header and utilizes that information to help determine required crawl depth and frequency. It is also part of the reason that "real time data" on dynamic content Sites such as newsfeeds and blogs have gained widespread acceptance in such short time.

"Filthy Linking Rich And Getting Richer", by Mike Grehan, is an extremely authoritive article explaining the importance of incoming links to your Site.

You can check "public" Google PageRank by downloading the Google Toolbar for your IE browser. It's also a good way to check competitor rankings.

The Search Engine's Battle for Dominance

2004 was a bloody year in the Search Engine Wars. Google launched many new and useful tools, and went on a "Black Hat" SEO hunt. Here is more information on White Hat and Black Hat SEO. Google made a radical change in their algs in November 2003 known as the "Florida" update. Many Site owners that were using shady techniques were de-listed and some were banned. Where they were doing PageRank updates monthly , they have indicated that they have gone to quarterly PageRank updates.

Microsoft's MSN Search went through a new Search Engine "alpha" trial, made appropriate changes and came back with a stronger "beta" version, and integrated it quickly into MSN Search. (2/2005). They have a very hungry Spider and Webmasters are reporting increased traffic.

It's all about "Search Relevancy" and will continue to be. The global public wants to find what they are looking for fast and will always use the most relevant SE. There is nothing like $billions in ad revenue to drive new development and technologies. The top Search Engines are implementing AI (Artificial Intelligence) into their algorithms as you read this page.

Where can I learn more about Search Engines?

Below you will find references to some of the more important Search Engine Information Websites and Forums:

Search Engine Watch - Frequently updated info, forums and news related to the Search Engines.

Search Engine Watch Forums

WebProWorld - Search Engine Forums

A Complete Guide to Search Engine Terminology

Internet Directories and Their Importance

Internet directories do not have "spiders" and do not "crawl" the Web, find and index websites. They require manual submission. These submissions are usually reviewed by human editors and take a significant amount of time before being accepted and included. Probably the best way to generate "Generic" incoming links to a Site. There are several that just cannot be overlooked, such as DMOZ - Open Directory Project and the YAHOO Directory. Each directory has their own set of submission methods and rules. DMOZ is probably the most significant since several search engines draw from their data.

WebProWorld has a good forum thread going on High Ranking Directories, which has grown into a fairly comprehensive reference list.

Submitting your Website to Search Engines and Directories

List of Top Search Engines and Directories:

There are very few free inclusion sources in the primary Search Engines these days, however there are many in Directories. In fact, we recommend against engaging the services of any "Automated Site Submission Service", it's a waste of money in our opinion.

How Can I Make My Site Rank Higher In The SERPs?

Basic Search Engine Ranking Tips

1. Provide competitive content depth and uniqueness.
2. Provide useful and sought after information, products and services.
3. Design in "Channeled Logic". All software including the Search Engine algorithms are based on logic. This is accomplished by using appropriate keywords and phrases that establish a hierarchy used in your Page Title and metatags. Make sure that each page has it's own Title and metatags representative of the textural content on the page. Use your targeted keywords and phrases (2 and 3 word keyphrases especially) near the top of the page and use them often without being awkward. Many Webmasters feel that keyword density in the page's text should be between 6 and 10%.
4. Make sure your main keyword or phrase is used in the URL for each page when possible.
5. Follow the guidelines outlined for Wewbmasters in the Search Engine's Webmaster Guidelines Pages found on our Integrity Page.
6. Do not design with "Frames" and do not use "Flash" media only. It's better to augment a Site's "dynamic appeal" with "Flash" than it is to design a "Flash" Site.
7. Minimize your code to information anywhere possible. If you have to use javascript, put it in a separate file and call it up. Get rid of excess metatags, the only one's we recommend using these days is "Description" and "Keywords" for the most part. The page title is not really a metatag, but remains extremely important.
8. Use clean W3C validated code. Advantages include; cross-browser compatibility and streamlined code with a better "signal to noise" ratio. The Search Engines can parse clean code faster and more accurately. If you are not sure whether your Site has clean code check it here for free.
9. If your Site is not designed using CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) either primarily or with "Tables" then have it redesigned. CSS has several advantages such as:
   1. You can control all fonts, colors and look of Site much easier.
   2. No deprecated HTML code from earlier versions.
   3. CSS reduces the "Code to Content Ratio" dramatically, yielding faster downloads and less server bandwidth utilization.
   4. More professional Site quality and appeal.
   5. Reduces Site Maintenance complexity and cost.
   6. Possible future Search Engine ranking advantages in the algorithms, if not already.
   7. Remove any "bad neighborhood" links from your pages, such as any "Black Hat" SEO code that links your Site to Link Farms, Gateway Pages etc..
   8. Run a linking campaign, get as many relevant, high ranking Directory links as possible. The key terms being; "Relevant" and "Quality". One-way "generic" links from high ranking "authoritive" sites are the most prized.

If you are not sure whether your Site is designed using CSS, ask your Webmaster or contact us. Use this link if you do have CSS and want to see if it W3C validates to suggested CSS standards.

If you need help with a linking campaign, want to W3C validate, require Search Engine Optimization, or are considering a complete Site Redesign, then contact us as soon as possible.