Search Engine Optimization
External search engines such as Yahoo, Hotbot and Lycos index and rank Web pages differently in their databases compared to Loyola's internal search engine. These rules include ranking pages according to keyword placement, frequency of keyword use, and quality of hyperlinks inserted into a Web page.
If your goal is to rank higher in search results, it may be necessary to optimize and modify your existing Web page.
Optimizing Your Web Page
Typically your index file (index.htm, index.html, or index.shtml) should be modified for search engines. Optimization on secondary or splash pages containing graphics and minimal text may actually lower your ranking level.
The list below provides a brief overview on improving your Web page's chances in search engines rankings (from highest to lowest priority):- Decide on an appropriate set of keywords for your page
- Consider what keywords your target audience is most likely to enter in a search engine query to draw up your Website listing.
- Evaluate your keywords by trying them out on a search engine. The number, quality and contents of the Websites should be similar to your site's theme.
- Add keywords to the <TITLE> tags
The <TITLE> tag is given the highest priority for ranking purposes which search engines analyze. The format should follow:
<TITLE> keyword phrase - etc, etc. </TITLE>
NOTE: Adding keywords closest to the opening title tag gives it higher ranking priority.
- Add keywords to the <META> tags
Utilize the <META> tag, between your <HEAD></HEAD> tags using the 'description' and 'keywords' attributes.
- Keywords should have the format:
<META name = "keywords" content="primary keyword phrase, secondary keyword phrase, keyword1, keyword2, etc.">
- Descriptions should be kept under 100 words and have the format:
<META name = "description" content="brief overview of your webpage">
- The meta tag attribute "name" can be used to alert random visits by search engine spiders and robots:
<META name = "robots" content="All">
NOTE: Adding keywords closest to the top gives it higher search engine priority.
- Keywords should have the format:
- Add keywords to your headline
Headlines generally use the <H1> to <H6> tags to increase font size and are usually the first words your audience sees in your Web document. For example:
<h3> "Study Abroad - Rome Center" </h3>
- Add keywords to the first 25 words of your body content
Place keywords within the body of your Web page. The higher they are to the top of the page, the greater the ranking weight it will receive.
- Place <em> OR <strong> tags around keywords
Use special font decoration tags such as <EM> and <STRONG>. Spiders and robots search for keywords between these font tags.For example:
<STRONG><EM>Welcome to Rome Center, a Study Abroad Program.</EM></STRONG>
This program is...... - Add hyperlinks similar to the theme of your Website
- Search engines look for keywords contained within the text portion of a hyperlink. For example:
<a href="yourlink">Key word phrase - anything else</a>
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Add external hyperlinks from your page to outside popular Websites, directories and Webrings which handle a lot of web traffic and have the same theme. For example, Loyola's Rome Center can add a hyperlink to a popular travel site in Rome.
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Hyperlinks pointing from other Websites will raise ranking criteria. For example, one can request an external popular science Website to add to its pages a link to Loyola's biology department Website.
- Search engines look for keywords contained within the text portion of a hyperlink. For example:
- Add keywords to your alt tags
An attribute within your IMG tag is the ALT tag is a prime spot to add keywords.
<img src="your picture file" ALT="keyphrase">
- Add keywords near the end of your Web page
Search engines such as Lycos give keywords at the end of a Web document additional consideration for ranking purposes.
As an alternative, add one or two keyword phrases within invisible comment tags before your closing </BODY> tag. For example :
<!-- keywordphrase --></BODY>
- Name your file similar to your keywords (optional)
Web pages can be optimized when naming your document after your keyword. For example, if your keyword phrase is "study abroad italy" you might rename your "index.html" file to "study_abroad_italy.html"
- Keep keyword density low
Repeat keyword phrases only 1-2 times in the title tag and keep keyword weight in the body 5-15%. For example, 5 keywords out of a 100-word document is 5%.
Known as "spamming", search engines penalize sites that saturate their content with a high frequency of the same keywords and may result in lower ranking placement or removal of your site from their database.
Search Engine Registration
After opimizating your Web page, you can submit it manually to your preferred search engines.
Most external search engines offer a free submittal service with indexing results varying between 2 weeks to 7 months. Many engines reserve a paid option for faster indexing.
Search engine spiders, robots or crawlers are programs that visit and return information about your site to their database for automated analysis. The above optimization tips are designed for this indexing method.
Human editors will vote on, rank or index your page manually. This typically requires you to fill out a lengthy online form about your Web page. In this case, optimization through thoughtful and detailed explanation of your Website as well as quality content will raise your rankings. Words used within optimized title and meta tag descriptions can also be analyzed by editors for search engine registration.
A current trend is to do a combination of both robot and manually driven analysis. A successful Website should employ both optimization methods.
Here are external search engine registration links to get started:Optimization Checklist
The following is a post-optimization checklist for maintaining and improving your Website's search engine rankings:
__ Check your site's current visibility
__ Understand why your page did not rank as well:
- Check source coding of Web pages indexed above and below yours.
- Incorporate successful strategies into your Website.
__ Identify and correct areas
__ Resubmit your site:
- Re-register your site per search engine only after 24 hours. Search engines will generally ignore repeated submissions.
__ Keep accurate records:
- Track why your ranking is moving up or down.
- Keep several versions of your Website. If version B ranks down, change back to version A.
- Monitor new Web trends to appropriately adjust your site.