Search Engines – The basics
Search engines fall into two broad categories. Directories (such as Yahoo
and the Open Directory Project)
are simply huge lists of web sites with descriptions and links for each. They
are often edited by people and may have fairly strict policies governing which
sites are allowed in. The most popular directories (such as Yahoo!) also charge
for a speedy review of your web site, which is often the only way of being guaranteed
inclusion.
Other searches use robots (or ‘spiders’) to crawl the web constantly
scanning for new and outdated sites. Spider based searches (such as Google
and Inktomi), have risen
to popularity quickly. At Google, the mathematicians in white coats have spent
years developing a complex algorithm that attempts to provide some order to the
mass of information that is the web. Understanding how these robots work is crucial
to achieving a high search ranking. However as both types of search are increasingly
sharing content, it is important to make sure that you are included in both.
1. Plan carefully
Launching a web site prematurely is akin to opening a high street shop with
products covered in wood-shavings from the work still being carried out on your
display rack. Too many sites rush to launch with broken links, missing images,
and badly conceived copy. Careful planning will not only ensure that your web
site is capable of growing with your business, but also that search engines (and
therefore your customers) will be more likely to find you.
- naming your baby
Choose your domain name carefully. Don’t go for a name simply because it
contains the keywords you want to rank highly. Search engines have wised up to
this, so naming your site ‘cheapcars.com’ won’t necessarily
drive any more traffic to your site from people searching for the key phrase ‘cheap
cars’. Instead, go for a name that can easily be recognised and remembered
by the visitors you want to attract. Treat your online ‘shop front’,
branding, and corporate identity with the same respect as you would in the offline
world.
- a home for your homepage
Your choice of hosting provider is an important and often overlooked factor when
planning your online strategy. Whilst many companies offer ‘unlimited everything’
for very little money, beware. Such companies often spend more on marketing than
they do on maintaining and upgrading their servers. All too often we have heard
stories of companies spending a fortune on developing their web site, only to
find that it’s only available three days a week!
This ‘downtime’ not only affects your credibility and reputation,
but can also severely affect your performance on the major search engines. It’s
quite possible to spend a huge amount of time and effort optimising your site,
only to find that your listings have been deleted because of server downtime.
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