How to Make Search Engines Happy in 3 easy Steps by Kalena Jordan
How to Make Search Engines Happy in 3 Easy Steps Author: Kalena Jordan Contact
Author: mailto:kalena@high-search-engine-ranking.com Copyright: Copyright
Kalena Jordan 2006 Web Address: http://www.searchenginecollege.com
Publishing Guidelines: You have permission to publish this article
electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the byline and resource
box at bottom are included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be
appreciated.
--------------------------- How to Make Search Engines Happy in 3 Easy Steps
By Kalena Jordan
28 July 2006
Does your web site make search engines happy? Despite all the negative hype
lately, it's pretty easy to design a web site that search engines will accept
with open arms. All it takes is 3 easy steps:
1) Follow the Search Engine Guidelines
Nearly all search engines publish their own guidelines regarding the submission
of sites, the type of sites they will accept and recommendations for optimized
content. Google recently updated their Webmaster Guidelines -
http://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html - which cover the most
common forms of deceptive or manipulative search engine behavior that they
consider to be "spam". They also published SEO Guidelines
http://www.google.com/webmasters/seo.html
- advice for webmasters to heed when choosing an SEO. Google was the first
search engine to publicly acknowledge search engine optimizers in this fashion.
It's not just Google publishing anti-spam guidelines. You'll find them at the
following search engine sites as well:
- MSN Search webmaster guidelines
http://search.msn.com/docs/siteowner.aspx?t=SEARCH_WEBMASTER_REF_GuidelinesforOptimizingSite.htm
- AltaVista terms of use (AltaVista is a Yahoo-owned company)
http://www.altavista.com/about/termsofuse
- Yahoo terms of service http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
- Yahoo guidelines on search engine spam (covering AltaVista and AllTheWeb as
well) http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/ysearch/deletions/deletions-05.html
- Yahoo definitions of search engine spam (covering AltaVista and AllTheWeb as
well) http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/ysearch/deletions/deletions-04.html
- Yahoo content guidelines
http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/ysearch/deletions/index.html
- AskJeeves / Teoma terms of service and spam policy
http://about.ask.com/en/docs/about/terms_of_service.shtml
- AskJeeves / Teoma editorial guidelines
http://about.ask.com/en/docs/about/editorial_guidelines.shtml
2) Avoid Spamming the Search Engines
Often, webmasters will use search engine spam techniques without even being
aware that they are doing so. Or worse, web designers can - advertently or
inadvertently - integrate techniques that could cause a site to be penalized in
the site's rankings in one or more engines, without the site owner's knowledge
of such penalties. The key to avoiding spamming the engines is research.
Keep track of the various search engine guidelines via the links above. Watch
for any changes they make to these guidelines and tweak your site accordingly.
Trawl the various webmaster and search engine forums regularly to ensure your
site doesn't use any of the latest methods that appear to be penalized. If you
suspect your site has been penalized, remove the offending content, contact the
engine concerned and ask to be reinstated.
Google actually encourage you to file a re-inclusion request via their Help
Center - http://www.google.com/support/bin/request.py
- and this post http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/reinclusion-request-howto/
by Google staffer Matt Cutts outlines what should be included.
Alternatively, here is a sample email template you can use instead:
-------------------------------------------------------------------- Sample
Re-inclusion Request Email
Dear [search engine name],
I am the owner of [your site URL].
I did not realize that participation in [spammy method] and [spammy SEO name]
programs could cause problems for my website. I was assured that these
techniques were search-engine-friendly by [your source for using spammy
method].
I now understand that the practices used are not acceptable. I apologize for
having allowed them to be placed on my website. I've removed the questionable
pages and links from the site. I promise not to repeat such mistakes.
I am asking you to please consider reinstating my website, [your site URL] into
the [search engine name] Index.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
To assist them to provide a high quality service, search engines encourage
people to report search results they are dissatisfied with. If you spot some
content spam or techniques that are clearly in breach of the search engine's
public guidelines, you can report it using these links:
- Google spam report or via search-quality@google.com
http://www.google.com/contact/spamreport.html
- AllTheWeb relevancy problem report (AllTheWeb is a Yahoo-owned company)
http://www.alltheweb.com/info/contact/relevancy
- AltaVista search results manipulation report (or via Yahoo's spam report)
http://www.altavista.com/help/contact/search
- Yahoo spam report
http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/ysearch/deletions/deletions-06.html
- AskJeeves spam report or via information@ask.com
http://webk.ask.com/contactus
3) Build Sites for Visitors Rather than Search Engines
The methodologies may have changed over the years, but the same principles have
always applied to "good" or "white hat" SEO. Build sites for humans, not search
engines. Make the site as user friendly as possible, avoid the bells and
whistles and include high quality, relevant content.
Wherever possible, include text-based content and navigation menus with simple,
descriptive, well-written copy designed to convert your visitors into
customers. Include keywords and phrases your audience would logically type in
to search engines to find sites like yours. Only link to sites that are
relevant to your target audience and spend some time on usability, making sure
all your forms and shopping carts work.
Remember that what pleases a visitor is almost always what pleases a search
engine too.
--------------------------- The above article may be re-published as long as
the following paragraph is included at the end of the article and as long as
you link to the URL mentioned below:
About the Author:
Article by Kalena Jordan, one of the first search engine optimization experts in
Australia, who is well known and respected in the industry, particularly in the
U.S. As well as running her own SEO business, Kalena manages Search Engine
College - http://www.searchenginecollege.com
- an online training institution offering instructor-led short courses and
downloadable self-study courses in Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine
Marketing subjects.
About the Author
None
|
