Archive for Meta Tags
Domain Stop Words, Duplicate Web Sites, & Increasing Article Backlinks
Posted by: | CommentsThree SEO questions are answered in this Q&A article:
- Do search engines ignore stop words in domain names?
- I created a duplicate website to target my services to a different state. My intention is not to dupe Google but I don’t know what else to do. How would you approach this?
- What can I do to increase the number of backlinks I am getting from articles?
Question 1) “I know search engines ignore stop words in meta tags and title tags. Do search engines ignore stop or common words in domain names? Example www.therealestate.com or www.arealestate.com” – Corey M.
Answer: Yes, to the degree in which the keywords have any effect the more common words within a domain name would be ignored. It is, however, important to keep in mind that search engines only place a limited amount of weight on keywords in a domain name. In my opinion the only time where a site keyword within a domain name wins a ranking war is when all other elements are equal between you and near-ranked competitor.
Additional Info: I like to do my due diligence before answering any question because frankly I need to be sure the rules have not changed overnight. Here are a couple links to pages that relate to this question:
- WebmasterWorld Posting (membership required)
- What are stop words? by Danny Sullivan at Search Engine Watch.
Question 2) “Hi Ross – I just finished reading your blog… “SEO Answers #7: What Determines Duplicate Content SPAM?” and I have a question for you. Allow me to give you a little background: One of my clients has expanded their business into another state with a different name, but it is ultimately the same business. In order to develop a Web presence for this new, duplicate company in a new area, we created a second Website that has its own unique design, etc, but is ultimately a take off on the original site, using the same content, just minor differences to allow for the new name, geographic area, etc. The original site is optimized and of course contains the original content. The duplicate site is not optimized. In no way is our intention to “dupe” anything, but will this cause problems with the engines? We are not trying to get mileage off of the content by duplicating it… this is simply a second company that offers the same services, just in a different state. Each site is in its own domain and has its own URL. Your input? Your suggestions for a different solution? Thanks for your time.”
Answer: Simply put if you are truly not looking to get any mileage out of the content then you do not want rankings for it which implies that the site should be blocked to the search engines. I would recommend using your robots.txt file to block the spiders entirely to that website so you do not negatively affect your rankings on the original site. The fact is that duplicate content, good intentions or not, is frowned upon by the search engines and you are gambling by having the site available for spidering.
If, however, you do want the search engines to spider the content then you must rewrite it to avoid duplicate content penalties.
As a final note I would like to pose a question; did your client absolutely have to create a secondary website? In many cases I find that a client need not have created a second site; they just needed to add a new section to their site to manage the new target marketplace. The other option, which may have been appropriate in this case, is to add a subdomain to enjoy the benefits of a secondary home page on a pre-branded domain and fresh marketable URL; nearly the same benefits of having a secondary domain without the headache of marketing an entirely new website. Even in this case, however, you would not be able to use duplicate content so you would be faced with the same issues; either rewrite the content or block it from spiders.
Question 3)“Ross, in an attempt to improve my ranking in the search engines, I have been writing articles for article directories in the hopes of receiving quality backlinks. Recently I came across a site mypagerank.net, which I decided to check on my link popularity. The result indicated that I only had 18 backlinks. What can I do to increase the number of backlinks I am getting? I would have expected more as I have written many more articles and submitted my URL to many directories. Thanks, enjoy reading your articles” – Peter
Answer: First, good work making the effort to write articles, they are an excellent medium for promotion and I commend you for dedicating the time to writing. I certainly understand the significant commitment to time and research required to write usable content. Fortunately, there are a few techniques that may help you squeeze some extra benefits from your hard work:
1. Be Clear – Request Credit
Are you being very clear to those republishing your content that you expect a linked credit for the copy? Simply stating that you allow syndication but request credit laid out in a particular linked format will do wonders. At StepForth we clearly request credit and we occasionally troll Google looking for those who have republished our content without credit; it is usually a simple matter to have the content removed or the appropriate link added. Hence, if you see this article does not give credit and provide a link to StepForth.com then please drop me a note, ross@stepforth.com 
2. Pick a Powerful, Timely Topic
Have you noticed a topic coming up regularly in forums? Perhaps a question that appears to be asked regularly? This is usually a good indication that an article discussing the topic would do well. Remember that many of the syndication networks online are looking for topics that will get readers and ultimately provide impressions for their advertisers. As a result, picking a hot topic will make a world of difference in how widely your article will get picked up.
3. Optimize the Title
The title of your article needs to clearly relay the topic and should engage readers and editors alike. The title can make or break a story if it is too vague or boring.
4. Refer to Your Own Content
It helps to provide inline links from your article to relevant previous articles or pages on your website. With practice and once you have built up a healthy reservoir of linkable articles it will soon be second nature to refer to links in a manner that is crucial to the article; so that editors note that the backlinks are relevant and play a legitimate role in the purpose of the article. Legitimacy of backlinks is crucial to make the ‘cut’ because editors are more likely to remove a link than keep one if it appears merely promotional.
5. Give Praise Where it is Due
Within an article don’t be afraid to link to other sources where you have noted particularly good information, particularly other small business blogs. The fact is that some bloggers take a real shine to those who syndicate or give credit to their content and may just link back to you in thanks.
6. Put RSS On Your Site
If you have not already done so ensure that your articles are syndicated on your website in RSS format as well. This can be easily accomplished by using a blog to publish your articles because most blog systems include automated feed creation. Many of the article syndication networks use articles solely through RSS. So as soon as you get a RSS feed you should go out and tell the world about it. Try using Google and search for ” submit feed ” or ” add blog ” and you are certain to find some great sites to submit your syndication feed.
There is a lot more information on this topic so I will provide some links that should help you further:
- Article Writing Tips – excellent resource I stumbled accross
- Related forum thread in SEO Chat
- Related forum thread in digital Point
After all this work is done, keep in mind not every proper (credited) use of your article will deliver the benefits of a backlink. The search engines are frankly too smart to give credit to every article link because of the obvious duplication and the unfortunate proliferation of article scraping sites (sites that republish articles to try and make their sites appear authoritative). That said, the links acquired from truly authoritative sites would pay off as backlinks and hopefully with the more important benefit – direct traffic.
As a final note remember that articles are meant for human consumption so be sure to proofread your work and ensure that the topic is either timely or originally written enough to be useful. I am not saying this applies to you, however, it is important that the quality of the content is high enough to merit wide spread syndication.
About The Author
Ross Dunn is the founder and CEO of StepForth Search Engine Placement Inc. Based in Victoria, BC, Canada, StepForth has provided professional search engine placement and management services since 1997. Ross is a search engine optimization and placement expert with over 9 years of marketing experience and is a Certified Internet Marketing and Business Strategist (CIMBS). Blending his experience in the art of web design and search engine optimization, Ross offers a unique and informed perspective on obtaining top search engine placements. Ross can be reached at ross@stepforth.com.
Website Traffic and SEO: Title, Tags And Content
Posted by: | CommentsSearch engine optimization is primarily about getting your website tuned up to optimum effectiveness as far as search engines are concerned. However, the intent is to get a good search engine placement so that more humans will be exposed to the “opportunity” to visit your website. If done properly, the steps you take to optimize your website for search engines can also often be used to optimize your site to get website traffíc. After all, it accomplishes little to get a good ranking by a search engine and yet be passed over by the human viewing the search engine results.
I have often pointed out how choosing the right domain name could be a step towards search engine optimization AND increased website traffíc prior to website design and site promotion considerations. In this article, I would like to discuss three basic areas that should be considered in planning and designing the website itself:
1. The Title Of The Website
2. The Meta Tags including: The Description Meta Tag, The Keyword Meta Tag and The Revisit Meta Tag.
3. The Content Of The Website
The Title Of The Website Is The Headline
If you think of your website as the best advertisement you can design to tell people about your business or product, then the title is the headline of that advertisement. The title is embedded in the head of the website. Most objects in the head are normally visible only to search engines. However, the title is visible to both search engines and visitors. In fact, the title of the website is normally the first clue a potential visitor has about your website, as it is commonly displayed as the first identifying text someone sees when they get a list of websites from a search engine after entering a search. The title will also normally be seen in the line at the top of the page. Titles should be five to ten words long, 70 to 80 characters.
As with the domain name, the title will be scrutinized by the search engine as to its relevance to the search topic. Part of the ranking awarded by the search engine, part of the placement in the list of returns may be influenced by the wording, or words, of the title. When speaking of domain names, I explain that using key words or phrases, hence the term “keywords”, in the domain name itself could help raise the placement of the website. Continuing this use of keywords into the title can assist this as well. For example, the domain bicycle-parts.xyz, may be enhanced by a title that uses the words “bicycle parts”; “Bob’s bicycle parts and service.” Thinking in terms of a headline, maybe Bob would want a title that reads, “Best bicycle parts delivered to your door.”
The Meta Tags Talk to The Search Engine
Meta tags are snippets of code which are placed within the head. Normally, they only speak to the search engine, but not having the right ones could cost your website its rightful placement and could create a poor impression with potential visitors. While there are several Meta tags which could be of importance, there are two that are extremely valuable, and I am going to recommend one other that, while not necessary, may be of value.
The “Description” Meta Tag Has Messages for Search Engines and Website Visitors Alike
The description will commonly expand on the brief “headline” presented by the title. Not only will the information in this tag be of value in helping a search engine determine placement of your website within search results, but the description contained in this tag is normally shown along with the title when the search engine shows the returns for a search.
Failure to provide a description may not only make it more difficult to obtain good placement within returns, but it is likely that in the absence of a description, the search engine will simply grab the first few words it sees on your page, and that may be what the viewer reads as a description of your website.
It is a good idea to repeat your keywords in the description, but don’t beat it to death. Also, most search engines will only display the first 20 or so words of the description, so don’t get too wordy up front. Say what you have to say and get it over with. The description should not exceed 150-200 characters.
The “Keywords” Tag is Fading in Value, But….
It used to be that search engines wanted YOU to list the important keywords in your website. These days, the programs used by the search engines generally extract the pertinent and relevant keywords from the content of the page itself and ignore the keyword tag completely. Many website designers have gone so far as to drop this tag. I and others leave it in for three basic reasons; we are used to using it, there may be a search engine somewhere that still uses it and why miss out, and in some cases where relevant keywords cannot be picked up from context, the keyword tag may be the coin toss that decides the issue. How valid these arguments are, I have no way of knowing, but it is just as easy to put in a keyword tag as not. Simply list your keywords, separated by commas.
The “Revisit” Tag Says “Ya’ll Come Back, Now, Ya’ll Hear?”
While not specifically a search engine optimization item, the “revisit” tag may help provide more website traffíc. The “revisit” tag tells a search engine spider to return in so many days to reindex the site. This can be of great importance with a site that updates data regularly, but might only get indexed by the search engines at longer intervals.
I have heard and read that when some search engines revisit a site, the site tends to rise in placement level. I have not been able to find a definitive statement on this, but have noticed a rise in visits to, and salës from, some of my sites that seems to follow the cycle of reindexing.
Content Is King!
This statement has been around for a while. Though it might be debated and there are certainly exceptions, generally having a website full of valuable content is one of the best ways to make search engines and people happy. The search engines have something to sink their teeth into, and can extract a lot more data from the content than you possibly could tell them in the title and tags. I very often find search engines sending visitors to my sites who have searched on a term I nevër even thought of as a keyword.
Many people write the content of their website and then try to see where to stuff in the keywords. While this could possibly fool the search engine, odds are it is going to make the writing a little strange, and might help cause the visitor to choose to visit, and do business with, a more professional looking site. The simplest course is to choose the website topic, title, description, and keywords and then write heartfelt copy based on those items.
In fact, one very effective technique in preparing website copy, particularly if you are writing it yourself, is to deal in topics where you are knowledgeable and have a passionate interest. An honest appeal from a true believer can be a lot more effective in many cases than a professionally designed and polished piece of advertising copy. Writing heartfelt copy on a subject also will often allow you to use the keyword or words without over using them or appearing to strain.
One Last Note:
Whether you are dealing with the title, the description, or the content, give thought to alternatives. For example; earlier I concentrated on bicycle parts, but a small group of people might actually be searching for bicycle “accessories”! In fact, I just checked and learned that while over 9,000 searches were done on one search engine for the term “bicycle parts” in the month of October; over 5,000 other searches had been done for the term “bicycle accessories” in the same period. Simply adding one term to the mix could have helped “Bob’s Bicycles” increase their target market by half!
This article is not the final word on search engine optimization. At best, it is merely an overview of areas to be considered by the budding website designer or internet business entrepreneur. As in most things, the art of search engine optimization is an art, and sometimes seems to border on black magic. For self-optimization, nevër stop learning about this and the other topics related to your goals and dreams.
About The Author
Donovan Baldwin is a Dallas area writer and network marketing professional. He is a graduate of the University of West Florida, a member of Mensa and is retired from the U. S. Army. Learn how to get your own domain name and create an internet business at http://donsdomains.ws.
