Search Engine Top Things To Do To Get Good Rankings

10 Daily Things To Do for
Good Search Engine Results

I've included in order of importance what should be included in every HTML page (whether it's frame based or not). So here in order are my tips for getting a higher relevancy:

1. KEYWORDS - the words and small phrases that represent the webpage

Determine your keywords and use them!

Frequency - repeat your keywords

Don't be obnoxious but don't be afraid to repeat
Remember forms of the word (eg. travel, travellers, travelling)
Use synonyms (vacation, holidays, tour)
Don't be cryptic

Location - where is as important as what

The first few paragraphs are crucial - so include your keywords
Keep your first paragraphs at the top of your code (if you can)

2. TITLE TAG - most important tag!

Reflect the content

Include the keywords that are most apt to be searched for
Catchy is good - but not cryptic
Include the name of the website
60-80 characters

<TITLE> Ottawa: Canada's Ideal Winter Destination - Canadian Geographic Travels </TITLE>

3. Description Meta Tag - tell them what your webpage is about! This is crucial as otherwise with certain engines there will be no summary of your site.

About 20 words

Reflect webpage
Entice people to click through

<HEAD>
<TITLE> Whatever the title is </TITLE>
<META name ="description" content="Canadian Geographic Travel Section covers why Ottawa is the ideal winter vacation destination, with tips and links.">
</HEAD>

4. Keywords Meta Tag

At least 10 words or phases

No more than 25 words

Use forms of the word/phrases
Remember alternative spellings

Use synonyms

Don't repeat same words (eg. travel, travel, travel)
Use lowercase (proper names can be capitalized)

<Meta name="keywords" content="Ottawa, travel, winter, Winterlude, museums, National Gallery, Rideau Centre, winter vacation, skating, Beaver Tails">

5. IMAGE MAPS - looks good but problematic

Include text based links near image maps so that users and search engines can get into your site.

6. HEADLINE TAGS

Use <H1> to <H6> tags when possible

Text continued within them are considered more important
Use them over bolding and increasing the font size.

Use your keywords within them.

<H1> The National Gallery - showcase for the best in Canadian art. </H1>

7. ALT TEXT - describe your graphics

<IMG SRC> tags use ALT to add text to describe the image
Appeared as a caption when mouse-over
Be brief

Use keywords

<IMG SRC="ottawa.jpg" width="160" height="214" alt="Parliament Hill, Ottawa - Home of Canada's federal government">

8. The NOFRAMES TAG (For Frames users)

This code snippet should go below the frameset coding in the main frame page:

<noframes>

<body>
<title> NTN - The National Trivia Network - Live Interactive Games </title>
<p> NTN is the leader in live network trivia games! Great prizes are awarded to players who compete live on the Net or at our hospitality industry game. Test your knowledge of trivia in general knowledge quizzes or theme games. </p>
<p> If you are viewing this text, your browser lacks the ability to read frames. Please considering upgrading to Netscape 5 or IE4. You'll then be able to join in the live, interactive games on NTN's official website. </p>
</body>
</noframes>

This doesn't solve the problem of internal links. Just provide a link to your navigation based frame at the end of the above code.

<a href="contents.html">Contents</a>
</body>

</noframes>

Correct the non-frames layout with a home link that goes to the main frameset page. <a href="index.html" TARGET="_top">Home</a>

Or another way is to use JavaScript:

9. GET LINKS TO YOUR SITE

Many search engines are now using "popularity" to determine relevancy. So ask everyone for a link. Whether it's corporate partners, suppliers, fans, or related enterprises get a link. Besides, this is one of the best forms of advertising anyway, it's free and tremendously effective!

10. SUBMIT YOUR URL

Don’t wait for search engines to find you - go to them and "Add URL". Submit new pages or the best 2-3 pages of your site. Don't submit every page in your site. Of course, you will sooner or later have to Resubmit your URL!