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GET BETTER RANKING FROM SEARCH ENGINES
Here are the do's and dont's of geting good ranking from search engines. This information has come from the help pages of the search engines, books, and other resources.
DO's...
Use META tags
This is the most important tip I can give you, if you need help using meta tags check out the "Learn how to use META tags" section. Not every search engine uses META tags to index/rank web pages, but even on the ones that don't you will have a description you write show up in the results instead of a chunk of your html.
Keep important information at the top
Much like how you can tell what a paragraph is about from the first sentence, many search engines assume the first chunk of text in your html file can summarize the whole page. If the way your site is layed out prevent you from puttimg text at the top of your html, at least try to put a paragraph about your site towards the top.
Aviod excessive script
If the search engine grabs the first 200 words of your html (see above), too much javascript can lower your ranking. If you tend to use a lot of script, use an external .js file instead of putting it directly in your html.
Use your keywords often, but wisely
The more often you use the words searched for the better your ranking will be. Try to use keywords about 6 or 7 times in your document (this value can change depending on how many total words are in your document), but no more. If a key word appears too many times you can get penalized because the search engine will think you are trying to trick it.
Use ALT text in images
If your headers or buttons are in an image map or a picture, use ALT="..." in the image tag so the search engine can read it.
Pick a good title
Seach engines (especially Altavista) give credit for having keywords in your title. Try to include as many keywords as you can without making the title sounding stupid.
Get linked to
I was surprised when I found out about this... Search engines can tell when other sites in their index have a link to your page. If a lot of sites link to yours, your ranking may increase.
DONT's...
Don't use META refresh
People have used <META name="refresh" ...> to trick search engines by making a html file about unrelated information that will redirect to their real site so now some search engines won't index those pages. If you need to redirect, put onLoad="window.location='http://www.newurl.com/';" in the <body> tag.
Don't use too many keywords
Try not to use more than 6 or 7 keywords in the document. If you use more then that, the search engine might think you are trying to trick it and not include your page.
Don't use frames
Most search engines don't know what is inside frames, they just see the frameset. If you need to use frames, make a meaningful noframes section - don't just write "You browser does not support frames."
Don't attempt to trick a search engine
Search engines have many safeguards against spamers. Don't think by putting invisible text on your page (using comments or text the same color as the background) full of keywords and unrelated words that you will get a better ranking, most likely you will get penalized. Also, some search engines will "back list" your site if you submit it too many times.
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