What Search Engines Want

[wrmineo]

What to know how to rank in Google, Yahoo! and MSN? Here's a thought - see what they tell you they're looking for. Granted, they don't all give up all their secrets and it's great to hear the actual experiences of others, but it's also wise to get the basics from the engines themselves.

Rather than undertake an exercise of tautology and regurgitate their information here in verbatim, check out these Webmaster Guidelines:

Yahoo! Site Guidelines

Yahoo! Ranking Basics

Google Webmasters FAQ

Google Webmaster Guidelines

MSN Site Owner Help

MSN Webmaster Guidelines

And finally, DMOZ Guidelines for Adding Sites

This list could go on, but it should be a good start for anyone serious about educating themselves and getting a solid start.

I love the peer power of WPW, but there's no substitute for the source.

~ Good Luck and Happy Ranking ~

w®m

[windy]

what search engine want is content, links

For more info about seo, see

See:
How to get huge traffic to your website in a short time?

100 best directories submissions

[wrmineo]

Windy, the intent here was to publish information from the search engine's themselves. Many people are seeking advice and the peer power of WPW is a great resource. However, there are too many websites with the sole intent of suckering in visitors trying to capture fast cash and potential buyers for the site.

I try to keep all of my comments constructive and postive, but your post is tacky.

These appear to be your websites launched last year with the sole intent of selling them.

I just don't find that you added to the quality of this post, forum or discussion by pushing your websites, vesus finding additional resources from actual search engines that might help someone from getting steered in the wrong direction.

I wish you luck in your endeavors nonetheless.

[KeithO]

I'll contribute worthwhile things ctabuk has shown me:
http://validator.w3.org/ W3C validator
http://www.websiteoptimization.com/s...yze/index.html Web Page Analyzer
http://www.sitereportcard.com/ Site Report Card (don't submit your site to directories or spiders until you score atleast an 8)

[wrmineo]

Originally Posted by KeithO

I'll contribute worthwhile things ctabuk has shown me:

Keith, great resources indeed. I would only add that at W3C, be sure to use the detailed validator as you can specify "show outline" of your web pages which can be very helpful too.

I love sitereportcard - found it on a sticky here at WPW the first day I began participating - use it on a very regular basis.

Thanks for sharing!
w®m

[wrmineo]

I've been using W3C since I started playing the web design game last year. What I failed to take advantage of, was the very valuable Link Checker they have on their site.

It will help you determine if you have any duplicate, empty anchor texts (which Google DOES NOT appreciate), bad links, errors and the like.

It is an investment of time, but one that will reap dividends for your site.

If nothing else, you can pat yourself on the back for "passing" if no problems are found.

I suggest running EVERY single page you have. It can find things easily overlooked, especially when pages of been changed, or used to edit/cut/paste for new pages.

[cspelts]

Originally Posted by wrmineo

I've been using W3C since I started playing the web design game last year. What I failed to take advantage of, was the very valuable Link Checker they have on their site.

How does a link checker like this interact with AdSense? If it can follow javascript links, then it will follow AdSense links, and that would be problematic. Just be careful is you have AdSense or something similar on your site!

[wrmineo]

Originally Posted by cspelts

How does a link checker like this interact with AdSense? If it can follow javascript links, then it will follow AdSense links, and that would be problematic. Just be careful is you have AdSense or something similar on your site!

Good question; great point.

In short, the W3C link checker will not "follow" the link due to a robot exclusion.

Here's what it'll show in the scenario you bring up:
http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js
What to do: The link was not checked due to robots exclusion rules. Check the link manually.

Response status code: (N/A)
Response message: Forbidden by robots.txt
Line: 27