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How To Be Search-Friendly
Here are some easy-to-follow tips for basic
Search Engine Optimization. Keep your website
search-friendly so the search engine's "spiders"
can easily navigate through and include all the
content on your site. If a spider can navigate
a website, then it can better assess its importance
when ranking organic search results for keywords
and phrases.
HTML Is King
Use HTML to display the contents of your website.
While some search engines are attempting to find
ways to spider javascript or flash content, they
have not made a lot of progress. Stick with using
HTML, which can be spidered easily by search engines
and viewed by all visitors.
Text Links
HTML text links should be used for website navigation
rather than images. It is easy for search engine
spiders to follow text links. Search engines also
use the text contained in the link as part of
their algorithm to determine what the linked page
pertains to.
Site Maps
Site maps can be a good tool to assist search
engine spiders in navigating your website's linking
scheme. Keep your website search-friendly by including
a site map.
Robots.txt
Use the robots.txt file to prevent search engines
from spidering content that is redundant or irrelevant.
Make sure that the robots.txt uses the proper
syntax so you do not inadvertently exclude important
pages.
Navigation Obstacles
Avoid placing any obstacles in the path of the
website visitor, or the search engine spider.
Requiring user registration or a login will often
prevent a spider from following and including
any links that are located behind the login.
URL Format
Avoid using complex urls with session IDs. Search
engines may have difficulty with complex URLs.
In particular, avoid using the syntax "ID=" in
the website's URLs.
Avoid Frames
Frames are the enemy of search engine spiders.
Avoid using frames at all costs.
Focus Optimization
Do not try to optimize a single page for too many
keywords or phrases. Keep the optimization very
focused for each page on a website.
A search-friendly website will help generate
targeted organic traffic from search engines.
Keep the design and navigation basic so the website
can easily be spidered and indexed by the search
engines.
Related Articles:
How
to Optimize for Organic Search
Search
Engine Optimization Guide
Search Engine Spider
Food
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