SEARCH ENGINES

One of the most common questions I received is:

"How can we get our name to come up first when people are searching for products such as ours?"

'Every search engine uses its own unique formula, called an algorithm, to index and score web sites. Search engines' algorithms weigh various factors, such as a page's design and links, to rank pages in their search results. By constantly refining and improving their algorithms, search engines hope to give their visitors the most relevant results.' searchengines.com

In a nutshell, we need to give the search engines what they want, but what they want will change over time. How do we know what they want? By knowing what factors search engines are using to rank your pages.

Here is a list we must consider:

• HTML Title
  Your title contains properly placed keywords
• Meta tags
  Use the meta description and keyword tags on every page
• Keyword prominence, density, proximity, frequency
  Use your keywords correctly within your pages
• Keywords in the URL or file names
  Name your files with keywords
• ALT tags
  Image descriptions
• Link popularity
  Very important ranking factor, you need to link and be linked
• Themes
  Give your pages a consistent theme
• Design
  Fast, pleasant, clean and easy to navigate
• No spam or frames
  Avoided tactics that search engines frown upon

Analyzing your competition is crucial to optimizing your site. By checking out sites like yours, you can learn which optimization techniques to focus on and which ones to skip. Plus, comparing and contrasting the sites that score high on various search engines can give you a quick snapshot of each engine's characteristics.