criteria for search engine listing?

[Steve]

I am aware that nowadays, Having a good TITLE in your meta info is important
for getting placed well in search engines. I also understand that meta
KEYWORDS are pretty much "out" as a method of getting seen by robots. What
are the other criteria? I believe I read once that having your page linked
to from many other pages is a plus. Is that correct? Also, what about the
DESCRIPTION? Is this important to robots, or just important in terms of
attacting those who read them in search engine listings?

I know that there are for-pay services that sort this stuff out, but
something tells me I could do it as well or better myself, armed with the
current best thinking.

Thanks,
Steve

 

[Jukka K. Korpela]

I am aware that nowadays, Having a good TITLE in your meta info is
important for getting placed well in search engines.

It always was.

I also understand that meta KEYWORDS are pretty much "out" as a
method of getting seen by robots.

They never helped in _that_. They were for some time used as additional
source of information _if_ a robot had seen a page. They still might.

What are the other criteria?

Roughly speaking, look at your page on Lynx, and you'll "see" it the
same way as a blind person "sees", or a search engine "sees".
(I said _roughly speaking_.) Use a Lynx simulator if desired, or
another text browser. You'll find some using search engines.

I believe I
read once that having your page linked to from many other pages is
a plus. Is that correct?

Definitely. And increasingly important due to Google policy.

Also, what about the DESCRIPTION?

Relatively irrelevant. If your page begins with summary-like text, as
it usually should, you wouldn't need a description meta tag even if
they were useful.

Is this important to robots,

Absolutely maybe. Classified information. But it's not unreasonable to
expect that some robots might index description meta tags too.

or just important in terms of attacting
those who read them in search engine listings?

Well, not very important to them either, since search engines are
moving away from such approaches and tend to emphasize extracts that
show keywords in context.

I know that there are for-pay services that sort this stuff out,
but something tells me I could do it as well or better myself,
armed with the current best thinking.

It's probably not worth doing. If anyone wants to pay for such
services, I would suggest wasting one's money on lottery instead -
giving oneself a chance to win.

 

[Steve]

Jukka,
Thanks for the "instant" reply and good suggestions. I will try out "Lynx"
(as soon as I find it).

More questions: If a page benefits from being linked to on other sites,
does that mean linked from other DOMAINS, or just other pages on the same
domain? I mean if a domain has a hundred pages, and they all have links
back to the main page, does that site have an advantage over a one-page
domain? And if it is true, here's a slightly underhanded thought - what if
a one page domain also had a hundred relatively blank pages, not linked to
from the main page, or meant to be read by anyone, and all linking to the
main page, and all marked with <META NAME="ROBOTS" CONTENT="NOINDEX,
FOLLOW"> would this improve the page's standing with google?

Also, does making use of google's page http://www.google.com/addurl.html
really help? And do the comments written about the page in their form get
read by a human being?

Thanks again,
Steve

 

[Beauregard T. Shagnasty]

Quoth the raven named Steve:

I know that there are for-pay services that sort this stuff out,
but something tells me I could do it as well or better myself,
armed with the current best thinking.

Consider this: your site sells widgets. Ten thousand other sites sell
widgets. A thousand "for-pay services" each contact all those
webmasters offering to put you - yes, you - in the top ten.

What are the chances?

 

[Steve]

Fortunately in my case, I am helping a relative of mine, a realtor, build a
webpage that describes her services. She sells real estate in a defined
area, which is a fairly unique position relative to selling widgets to the
world. There are several national sites that dominate any search that
include the words "real estate homes sale" and the names of the towns she
works in. THIS is the clutter I am trying to bust through. There is
nothing very secretive or special about the meta info on THEIR sites; why
then are they on top?

Steve

 

[Steve R.]

Steve wrote in message ...

There is nothing very secretive or special about the meta info on THEIR
sites; why then are they on top?

Study their source code for the title information, content and metatags.

Also look to see if they have many reciprocal links to their website from
other websites.

 

[Beauregard T. Shagnasty]

Quoth the raven named Steve:

Fortunately in my case, I am helping a relative of mine, a realtor,
build a webpage that describes her services. She sells real
estate in a defined area, which is a fairly unique position
relative to selling widgets to the world.

There are several national sites that dominate any search that
include the words "real estate homes sale"

Googling for those four words:
Results 1 - 10 of about 3,560,000

and the names of the towns she works in.

Adding my small village and state (upstate NY)
<mylittlevillage> ny real estate homes sale:
Results 1 - 10 of about 322

Using nearest city (Rochester NY)
rochester ny real estate homes sale:
Results 1 - 10 of about 24,900

THIS is the clutter I am trying to bust through. There is nothing
very secretive or special about the meta info on THEIR sites; why
then are they on top?

Most of the links that google produced seem to be large professional
realty companies. Perhaps a call to the main office of a couple of
them could get you an answer?

Maybe they pay google large sums of cash?

 

[Steve]

I just read http://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html and feel a bit
queasy about my idea below. I guess I was about the millionth person to
have THAT bright idea.

 

[Kris]

I will try out "Lynx"
(as soon as I find it).

<http://http://browsers.evolt.org/?lynx/>

 

[Kris]

I guess I was about the millionth person to
have THAT bright idea.

Please reply under the relevant quotation, not above it.

 

[Toby A Inkster]

<http://http://browsers.evolt.org/?lynx/>

That's an interesting URL.

http://browsers.evolt.org/?lynx/ might give you better luck, although
the latest version that site has is 2.8.1 (which came out in 1998!). More
modern editions of Lynx can be found at the official Lynx website at
http://lynx.browser.org/

 

[Kris]

<http://http://browsers.evolt.org/?lynx/>

That's an interesting URL.

http://browsers.evolt.org/?lynx/ might give you better luck, although
the latest version that site has is 2.8.1 (which came out in 1998!). More
modern editions of Lynx can be found at the official Lynx website at
http://lynx.browser.org/[/QUOTE]

Sloppy pasting on my side. Sorry for any confusion, though I think
people will have little trouble finding out why the link won't work.