High weighting given to file and directory names?

[Gary Allman]

I've done some quick initial checks, and on the whole our results are well down on those returned on both Google and Yahoo, where we get on the first results page for most of our keywords / phrases.

Checking the results I noticed a common thread among most of those pushing our site off the first page - They were using descriptive file names and directory structures. A quick check on terms used in my personal site confirmed that the MSN engine puts a lot of weighting on the file / path names. I found items which don't show in Google / Yahoo appear in MSN just because of the directory and file naming used. This possibly explains why some newer sites are fairing better than older ones.

I guess I'll just have to bring forward our planned major site restructure...

[The above is a re-post, as this seems a more appropriate place for this message – apologies for any feelings of déjà vu]

Gary
Portsmouth UK

[incrediblehelp]

I think Google came back to weighting keywords in the domain name about 2 algorithm changes ago.

As far as keywords in the file names and directory structures I would recommend doing this because it just makes sense to do it. Why use coded numbers or some other ordering/naming system if you can help it?

[Amitkrathi]

I think every search engine should follow a common set of rules as it directly affect every body.

[easytrader]

I agree.

Seems like Msn is also placing a lot of emphasis on keywords in the URL. However sometimes it is not possible to place keywords in the page url, for instance if one is using a PHP Script etc.

Anyhow best of luck with the update and do inform us of the changes in your rankings.

[cbp]

I think every search engine should follow a common set of rules as it directly affect every body.

Why?

Seach engines want to differertiate themselves from each other and provide what they perceive as the better results. Why would they want to be the same?

CBP

[brian.mark]

The only reason I could think of that you would want them the same is that you're doing well in the one you're saying they should all be like and not showing up in the rest.

By having each one with a unique personality and rewarding different things, I would think this will help get rid of some of the spam problem. If you can't spam all 3 the same way, then they won't all show the same spam, which will be a huge win for the end user.

I like my Subaru, but that doesn't mean everyone should drive one. Nor does the fact that a rotary engine sounds cool mean that all cars should use those. Having them unique makes sense for people that truly want a choice. It'd be like the old saying that you can have any color you want, as long as you want black.

Brian.