When Yahoo went live in 1994 it was purely a directory of websites. Until the late 1990s Yahoos directory was still the most popular way to find information on the web however with the massive amount of new pages being added daily it was becoming extremely inadequate.
Then along came Google which indexed the massive amounts of new pages being added to the internet. So now instead of praying that Yahoo will include your site in their directory the focus has now shifted to search engine optimization the art of enhancing your website to increase your listing on search engines for various keywords.
To get a greater feel for how Google and Yahoo index the internet Ive included a few simple tips on how to optimize your site for maximum traffic in an effort to understand how information is indexed.
Check your Title Tags and your Description Tags
For search engine optimization your websites title and description tags are essential for free traffic.
The Title tags should be short, to the point and different for each page on your site. Creating unique titles for each of your pages will enable the search engines to direct traffic to not only your main page but also to these back pages. Allowing searches to be directed to these pages will result in visitors finding exactly what their looking for without getting lost via your homepage. The fewer clicks a visitor has to perform to get the information they need the more satisfied theyll be with your site.
Please Note: Resist the urge to create long winded Title tags. Numerous keywords or phrases will dilute their effectiveness and quality.
The description tag should be more descriptive and also repeat the main phrase of your Title tag in this case market research. It is also very important for this term to appear in the body of your website for that particular page.
Both the Title tags and the Description tags appear in search results for Google (and other search engines) and have become far more important these days than the tag. Do not limit your title tag to just your firms name since chances are its not one of the more popular search terms on the internet. However for branding purposes its a good idea to start your Title tag with your firm/site name.
Keyword Ranking Tool
To view the popularity of any word on the internet I recommend using Overtures (Yahoo) Keyword Selector Tool at http://inventory.overture.com.
Please Note: The most popular terms will not always send the most amount of free traffic since they are highly competitive terms.
Include Keywords in the Body of your Website
Search engines such as Google index every word (and link) on your site so its very important to include descriptive keywords and phrases in the body of your site. In the case above the phrase market research from the Title and Description tag should also be listed in the body of your page. Unique descriptions, words or phrases are especially important to include on your site since they are less competitive and will drive a targeted audience to your site however theyll probably send less traffic.
Add a Site Map
Search engines index the web by moving from link to link and therefore giving them a map to your site is extremely important. A site map should contain the Title of every page on your site and links to those pages. This will ensure that every page on your site has been indexed.
To view an example of a site map please visit Research Connects at:http://www.researchconnect.com/site_map.asp
Please Note: Dont forget to create a link to your site map from the main page of your website. The search engines need to be able to find the map before they can follow it.
Submit your Site to Google
Once your Meta Tags have been updated, your keywords have been added and your site map has been created its a very good idea to submit your site to Google. You can do this by visiting http://www.google.com/addurl/continue=/addurl
It may take a few weeks to a month for the Googlebot to visit your site but please remain patient and dont submit your site again for a number of months. The Googlebot will eventually get to your site. Pages that have a page rank of 5 or greater automatically get updated on a more frequent basis.
Please Note: Dont over submit your site to Google and only submit the main URL. Over submitting will not expedite your listing and could potentially be harmful.
There are other search engines (Yahoo, MSN, AOL) that you can submit your site to but Google is king. For example, on any given day ResearchConnect.com receives approximately 700 visitors from Google whereas the other search engines send under 10 each.
Increase your Google Page Rank
Google ranks every page on a scale from 0 to 10. To view the page rank for any site on the internet download Googles toolbar at http://toolbar.google.com/.
One way this PR is determined is by the quality and quantity of websites that link to your site. If your site has a PR of 1 and a similar site with a PR of 7 links to your site then that increases the quality of your site in Googles eyes. The higher your PR the better your placement will be on their site and thus the more traffic youll receive.
To increase your PR scour the internet for websites and search engines that will link to your site all while paying attention to their PR. I would stay clear of sites and search engines that require you to pay for that link. The only site that you might want to consider paying for is Yahoo but please note that none of these links will send you a lot of direct traffic. What theyll do for you is increase your sites quality in the eyes of Google and thus lead to more traffic via their search engine.
Please Note: Google consistently keeps people on their toes and no one is truly able to figure out how they rank websites. These suggestions will definitely help over time but are not the only criteria Google uses for ranking websites.
** OKeefe works with new and established websites to maximize the amount of free traffic they receive from search engines such as Google.
For an evaluation of your site please contact OKeefe at 617-947-8071 or via tom[at]tomokeefe.com.
Tom OKeefe is an internet business consultant and the founder of , a market research database. OKeefe works with small businesses and start-ups to help develop an affordable and effective online strategy to maximize traffic and exposure via search engine optimization, internet marketing and web development.
For a website evaluation of your site please contact OKeefe at 617-947-8071 or via tom[at]tomokeefe.com.
Research Connect is an integrated market research database and research service which connects leading researchers and consultants with the corporate and investment community.
Traffic from search engines is widely considered the best (and cheapest) way to generate traffic to your site. The increasing popularity of search engines has led to the development of a whole industry that revolves around ways to optimize websites.
The end result is that many people now think that only professionals can help their website rank high within search engines. But, the truth is that anyone can structure their site so they rank high for many keywords.
Below, I have listed 8 simple steps that you can take to optimize your web pages. By following these, you will improve your chances of increasing your rankings:
1) Target one word for each page: A huge mistake that many beginners make is cramming numerous keywords onto every page. Instead of doing this, you should focus on one specific keyword for each page. That way, you can make sure that the page is focusing on that one word without any distractions. If you want to target multiple keywords then it is necessary to create a separate page for each.
2) List your major keywords in the links back to your site: Many search engines, Google being the most famous, have started to take into account the words that are mentioned in the title tag of the links that point to your site. So, a great way to improve your rankings for your keywords is to place it in the title tag.
3) Make your first 100 words on the page keyword rich: Another mistake that most webmasters make is to have a menu on the left-hand side of a website. Since search engines primarily focus on the first 100 words of a website, a left side menu is a misuse of valuable space.
Instead of doing this, you should have your title, description and web copy within the first 100 words of your site. An easy way to do this is to have your menu on the right instead of the standard left-hand side.
But, since the left-handed menu is now commonplace, you can also choose to put your first 100 words above the left-handed menu, so this text will be the first thing read on your website.
4) Insert the keyword into your title tag: In the source code of most pages are header tags (also known as Meta tags), which help search engines understand the content of the page.
To fully optimize your website, you can tweak the source code of the page. The first step is to insert the keyword in the title tag. (This is what is shown in the results of a search engine when your site is listed)
5) Insert your keywords in the description tag: The description Meta tag is almost as valuable as the title tag. The information in this tag is listed directly below the title tag in search engine results. As a result, a good description can make your website stand out from other listings. To get the prospect to click on your site, it is important to write a snappy description while using your keyword.
6) Insert them into your keywords tag: Like the title and description tags, keyword tags are used to help search engines understand the content of your web page. Although this Meta tag has become less popular, it doesnt hurt to put your keywords here.
7) Place your keyword in the header: When writing the actual text of your site, the first part should be the headline. Whenever a search engine scans your site, it rates all words in the headline as being more important then the rest of the web copy. To take advantage of this, you should have your keyword in the page headline. But, since the header tag (h1) is quite large, you should format it so that it is smaller.
8) Write your keyword enriched web copy: Now that you have set up the structure of your page, you can write your web copy. While creating the text, you want to include the majority of the keywords at the top and the bottom of the page. In addition, the keyword should be included a few times in the middle. Basically, the common saying is that the keyword density should resemble an hour glass shape.
The total web copy of your page should be about 300-500 words. Also, the keyword should be included about 5-12% of the total words of the page. The percentage varies according to each search engine, so you might want to play around till you find the best results.
If you follow all these steps, you will definitely see an improvement in the search engine rankings for your keywords. The best part is that you do not have to spend any money on the expensive search engine optimizers!
Good luck!
Scott J. Patterson earns over $12,000 a month. To find out how you can make this kind of mon*y, download his fr*e ebook, The Secret-Guide to Home Businesses: