HOME  >>  SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO) (Updated: February 18th, 2011)
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MANDATORY READING
No Guarantees - Google's web site states "We can't guarantee that any page will consistently appear in our index or appear with a particular rank, we do offer guidelines for maintaining a "crawler-friendly" site. Following these recommendations may increase the likelihood that your site will show up consistently in the Google search results."

What Determines a Site's Position - Google's web site states "Sites' positions in our search results are determined automatically based on a number of factors." Years of research and testing has shown us that there are many keys to improving search ranking. We know what web spiders like, and we know how to develop well-designed sites that attract web spiders.

Web Spiders - Web spiders are automated scripts or programs like Googlebot, that browse the world wide web. When they find a web site, they examine (crawl) the contents, and if they like what they find, they record (index) the location of your site, and some even catalogue some content into their database.

How to Get Good Search Results - Google's web site states "Our search results change regularly as we update our index." This means that good search results require an on-going and significant investment of time and money. There is no quick, easy or cheap way out. If you publish a site and let it collect dust, it will dissappear from most searches. That might be ok for a personal site or a venture with an established name and clientel, but most businesses want traffic. Almost everyone checks online before buying a product or service. That's why a well-designed and well-maintained site is one of the most effective forms of advertising.

Marketing - A well-designed site and a regiment of procedures designed to constantly improve search rankings is only part of the picture. You have to market your site to market your business, but it won't work if there is a problem with your products, services, prices, reputation, etc.

Search Results - Google's web site states "We do run relevant ads above and next to our results, Google does not sell placement within the results themselves." In other words, no one can purchase a higher position in any search results, but you can pay a lot to have a link to your site occasionally appear somewhere in the "Sponsored Links" area when a specific search is made.

Age and Size - Sites that have been around longer, tend to get higher rankings. So get online now, even if it's only a couple of pages. If you can add a couple of pages each month, your rankings will definately improve. Search spiders will keep coming back to index your site if it's grown bigger and has new content.

Reciprocal links - Google's web site states "A page may be assigned a rank of zero if Google crawls very few sites that link to it. Webmasters can improve the rank of their sites by increasing the number of high-quality sites that link to their pages." If we work on your site, a link to your site will be placed on our site to improve your search rankings. This link will remain in place as long as a reciprocal link to our site is kept in the footer area on your site. We do not respond to requests for reciprocal links from link farms and unknown parties.

Vote For Your Site - Google's web site states "Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But, Google looks at more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives; it also analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves "important" weigh more heavily and help to make other pages "important." Important, high-quality sites receive a higher Page Rank, which Google remembers each time it conducts a search." So list your site with us, and have everyone with a decent site link to your site. Post articles and blogs on good sites with a link pointing to your site. Be creative, but avoid link farms as you may be penalized.

List With Online Directories - To improve your search rankings, list your site with lots of online directories. These are like Internet phone books. Some are free and some charge a fee. Use legitimate directories that are relevant to your business. Avoid link farms and be selective about who you give information too. Make a list of the sites you submit too, and record your login info so you can update your listing. We do not provide this service as it involves submitting your personal information to sites of your choice.

List With Phone Books, Industry Canada, etc. - To improve your search rankings, list your business with the Yellow Pages and purchase listings in their online directories. List your business profile and site with Industry Canada and other agencies, it all helps.

Keywords, Coding and Content - Google's web site states "Important pages mean nothing to you if they don't match your query. So, Google combines Page Rank with sophisticated text-matching techniques to find pages that are both important and relevant to your search. Google goes far beyond the number of times a term appears on a page and examines all aspects of the page's content (and the content of the pages linking to it) to determine if it's a good match for your query." This means that in addition to everything else, if you want your site to place well in Google's search results, the search terms used must match your keywords, and "all aspects" of every page on your site must satisfy Google's requirements.

Be Patient! - Google's web site states "Pages recently added to the Google index may also show a Page Rank score of zero because they haven't been crawled by Googlebot yet and haven't been ranked. A page's Page Rank score may increase naturally with subsequent crawls, so this shouldn't be a cause for concern." It can also take several weeks for Yahoo!'s Search bot to crawl your site.

Final Word - Every site is unique, and it may be months before your site starts to show up in any searches. Don't expect an increase in traffic without investing a lot of time and work. If you want to keep improving your site's ranking, you have to keep your site fresh and alive. If your results are not satisfactory, then you'd better work harder and do a better job than the competition. We can help, but you have to provide the content.
WEB SPIDERS
Web Spiders - Web spiders are automated scripts or programs like Googlebot, that browse the world wide web. When they find a web site, they examine (crawl) the contents, and if they like what they find, they record (index) the location of your site, and some even catalogue some content into their database.

Search Engine Spider Simulator

Enter URL to Spider    (http://www.example.com)
Much of what you see on screen (Flash, javascript, images etc.) isn't seen by spiders.

This tool simulates how a spider sees a webpage.

It also shows hyperlinks that spiders will follow (crawl).
What Spiders Like:
  • Reciprocal links (Spiders like valid recommendations)
  • Site submission (Spiders like invitations)
  • Meta tags (Spiders like help when they arrive)
  • Proper syntax (Spiders like to be able to traverse your site with ease)
  • Relevant content (Spiders like to find the foods they're looking for)
  • Static pages (Spiders like easy access)
  • Lots of static pages (Spiders like easily accessible smorgasbords)
  • Updated content (Spiders like fresh food)
  • New pages (Spiders like finding new items on the menu)
What Spiders Don't Like:
  • Links from bad sites (You site may be removed)
  • Too many submissions (Spiders don't like to be spammed with invitations)
  • Missing meta tags (Spiders may leave if they're ignored)
  • Syntax errors (Spiders may leave if they're held back)
  • No relevant content (Spiders may leave if there's no food)
  • Dynamic pages (Spiders may leave if the food is hard to find)
  • Very few static pages (Spiders may leave if there's not enough food)
  • Stale content (Spiders may leave if the same old food is collecting dust)
  • No new pages (Spiders may leave if there are no new items on the menu)
Some search engines also filter sexually explicit, racist, or violent websites.

WEB SITE SERVICES
  • Consultation - Answers to your questions
  • Reciprocal Link with purchase of web site development - To improve your site's ranking
  • Keyword Development - Search terms to improve your site's ranking
  • Meta Tag Development - Instructions for spiders (Web Bots)
  • Code Validation - Eliminate syntax errors to improve your site's ranking
  • Image Optimization - Make your images load faster
  • Tag Optimization - Develop meaningful tags to improve your site's ranking
  • Search Engine Submission - To get your site crawled and listed
  • Updates - Edit existing content to keep your site fresh and improve your site's ranking
  • New pages - Add new content to improve your site's ranking. (Larger sites tend to get higher rankings)
  • Content Development - Resource pictures and compose text for your site (see below)
  • Web Site Development
  • E-Commerce Web Site Development
  • Web Site Hosting
  • Domain Management Services
Content Development - Content consists of the pictures and text that you want to appear on your site. Content is usually provided by you, preferably in electronic format. We can develop content if you want, but bear in mind that this can be very time-consuming, and we charge for our time. Developing content may include researching your company and industry, taking pictures, and resourcing, analyzing, drafting, and submitting documents for your approval. If we are sent back to the drawing board, we still charge for the work we've done. It is usually much more cost-effective for you to provide us with content that already satisfies your requirements.

What We Charge - Our rates for web site optimization services are $60/hour. Lower rates may be available for larger or ongoing projects and contracted services.
RESOURCES
Submit Your Site to Search Engines - Submit your site on a regular basis. Search Engine Optimization and SEO Tools

See Who's Linking to your site - Go to the search pages below and type "link: www.mysite.com" in the search box... (Note: substitute "mysite.com" with your site name) Google Resources - Learn from the best