Search Engines Fundamentals

The three major search engines are Yahoo, Google and MSN. Each service may have different requirements for submitting information to their web sites, but there are things all search engines have in common including the big three. The following information details what all search engines require to make up the elements of a search-engine-friendly site:

1. Dynamic pages
   Use simple URL structures. Long URLs with different parameters are harder for search engines to index. In case of Google, they may be buried in the their backup database.
   
   
2. HTML
   To make it easier for the crawlers and for your users, use well-formed HTML on your pages. You can use W3C's Markup Validation Service to check your pages for errors.
   
   
3. Information and content
   Make your content relevant to the page it is on. Search engines can't always read flash files (newer application make it better to allow this to happen), they also can interpret pictures and images, so make sure to use the [ALT=""] tag. The more content rich a site is the harder it is for a search engine bot to digest it and categorize it. Instead, create a site that your users and potential clients will find valuable with meaningful content, something easy to read. Search engines will follow.
   
   
4. Keywords
   Use descriptive, relevant keywords throughout your web site (without over-doing it). Search engines differ in what tags they index, so we recommend an approach that addresses every potential tag. Use your keywords in the text of your web site, in the HTML title, meta description and keyword tags and in the ALT tags. Use tools such as Keyword Analyzers to help figure out if you are hitting your mark. Good tool. Make sure you track your changes to, this is a helpful tool for that.
   
   
5. Links
   One of the worst things you can do to your rankings is join a link farm, an irrelevant link exchange programs and even paid linking sites. If you exchange links with a site check its popularity first, a site that is higher ranking will help your links become more relevant, but it WON'T help if the content is vastly different from your content. The three major bots discourage the use of link farms and irrelevant link exchange programs. To learn more about the current state of link popularity campaigns, please read our article Real Link Popularity.
   
   
6. Robots.txt
   Google, MSN and Yahoo encourage all webmasters to make use of the robots.txt file. The "robots.txt" file helps search engines know which parts of your web site should or should not be indexed and which search engines have the permission to do so. Many search bots will obey this file, however some won't so as a security precaution check your directory or file permissions.
   
   
7. Spam
   Not surprisingly, search engines don’t want the sites in their index to use any spam techniques. Examples of "black hat SEO" include using irrelevant keywords on your pages, creating doorway pages, cloaking, participating in link farms and so on. Click here for more information on search engine spamming.
   
   
8. Static text links
   Probably the most important part of your web page. Hard or Static links to other other places on your site can be easily followed by search bots and search engines follow more pages by crawling through your web site. To make this process easier, make sure that all pages are connected with a static text link. You can achieve this by employing a good navigational structure and creating a site map.