Every search engine uses a different method to score and rank websites. The algorithms weigh several areas, including design and links from other sites to rank your pages. They constantly adjust and tweak the algorithms to give their users the most pertinent results and shut out those unfairly taking advantage of the system.
If you want to get higher on the results page you need to know what each search engine looks for and how they weigh relative attributes. For example, two search engines might both include meta tags in their algorithms. However, the one giving a 10 percent weighting will rank the results differently to the one with a 90 percent weighting. Google, like most other search engines, keeps its algorithms secret. But over time, some enterprising web designers have gathered together a few ideas on how it works.
The most important thing Google looks at is link popularity. Link popularity isn’’t just the number of web pages that link to your site – Google is more sophisticated than that. In addition, Google looks at the number of links, their relevance as well as the link text.
On relevance, if you offer graphic design on your site, incoming links from suppliers, agents and other similar sites will make you rank higher than incoming links from your friends’’ personal sites. To improve your incoming links, look who links to your competitors (or similar categories sites). Then request an exchange of links. When you do that, offer your preferred wording along with the tag. This is because Google rates linking text very highly, assuming other people will keep it relevant. A tag line with ‘Click here’’ doesn’’t do much for your rankings.
Once you have the links, make sure those sites are also submitted to the search engine as Google looks to its own database for link popularity. Don’’t forget to ask permission from the owner before you submit their site.
The second area Google looks at closely is keywords. Ask your colleagues what they would type in a search engine when looking for graphic design (or whatever your subject is). Then, consider where to place the keywords.
In general, make sure your front page is full of keywords. At the same time, don’’t fill it with tiny white words on a white background (that’’s considered spam and you can be banned from search engines for it). When tweaking for Google think about weighting and proximity and remember that putting your keywords in ALT tags, in the Title and on URLs is always good.
Keyword proximity is obvious, ‘graphic design’’ is better than ‘we do graphics and other kinds of design work’’. The first phrase will rank higher than the second. Keyword weight is the number of times your keywords come up versus the other words on your page. You should aim at having your important keywords repeat three to seven times per 100 words. Don’’t forget to place them all over your site, not just on the front page.
Oddly enough Google doesn’’t seem to use meta tags in its ranking system at all. This isn’’t to say you should leave them out, as other search engines use them extensively.
Finally, here are some tips to stop you getting carried away, which could result in your site getting banned from all search engines. So, don’’t do the following:
- Invisible text (white text on a white background) and don’’t overuse tiny text;
- Irrelevant keywords in the title and meta tags;
- Excessive repetition of keywords; and
- Overuse of mirror sites (same sites that point to different URLs)