Wed, 20 Aug 2003 -- Media Matters No. 34
How will the world find your website? Getting search engines to work for you

Before users reach your site, they must first know that it exists. Search engine visibility is a must for organizations who wish to communicate via the internet.

There are a number of search engines in use -- altavista, excite, lycos, yahoo -- but far and away the most popular is now google.com. Search engines use robots known as 'spiders' to crawl the web on a regular basis and find sites for inclusion in their indexes. Google's spiders crawl the web monthly.

If the spider can't find you, you won't be listed.

Here are six simple do's and don't's to keep in mind when designing your pages so spiders will find them:

1. DO MAKE YOUR TITLE DESCRIPTIVE. Every HTML page has a < TITLE > tag -- this is the name of the page; you can see it at the top of the browser screen. If you run a project concerning inclusion of children with disabilities in public schools, don't title your page "NIDRR Project": that tells the search engine spiders nothing about the content. The title "School Inclusion for Kids with Disabilities" will ensure you'll show up in search engines when someone searches for "inclusion"; "kids with disabilities"; "school inclusion" and so on. If your website has more than one page, make sure each individual page has an appropriate and explanatory title. And make sure every page is linked to every other page (see below).

2. DO USE KEYWORDS. HTML coding also allows for "meta tags". Be sure your web page designer puts in appropriate keywords in the meta tags rather than leaving them empty. For your web page on school Inclusion, some keywords might include "P.L. 94-142"; "mainstreaming" and "special education." "If you pick a keyword that is not used by the people hunting for your product, you won't get traffic," says NetMechanic. "You must pick popular keywords to be found." You can use as many keywords as you want; the more the better! A typo in a keyword -- or a incorrectly placed keyword (they belong in the < HEAD > part of the HTML code) -- will mean the spider overlooks that keyword entirely. So be sure you're meticulous.

3. DO MAKE YOUR LINKS DESCRIPTIVE. Spiders search for links on your site -- the more links to your site, the higher your ranking in the search engines. What will a spider do when it finds a link called "click here?" Links need to tell about the content to be useful. A link called "inclusion in middle school education" gives the spider something to put in the search engine. Google follows links from one page to the next, so pages that are not linked to by others may be missed. If your site's internal link structure does not provide a path to all your pages, Google's robot may not see all the pages on your site.

4. DON'T CREATE DYNAMIC SITES. Sites that are database generated ("dynamic"), rather than HTML-based, are harder for spiders to handle. At this time Google only reliably indexes HTML-based sites. For the best search engine visibility, stick with HTML.

5. DON'T CREATE SCREENS. Make your first page a page full of content, not merely an "entry page" with no information.

6. DON'T USE FRAMES. "Frames tend to cause problems with search engines, bookmarks, emailing links and so on, because frames don't fit the conceptual model of the web (every page corresponds to a single URL," says Google in explaining to web designers how to maximize pages for inclusion on its search engine. Frames should also be avoided due to continuing access problems. If your university's website uses frames, and your project is on that website, ask the web designers for a "no frames" option -- or ask them to check Google's and other search engines' caveats about frames.

More search engine tips from NetMechanic.

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