Search Engines and Directories

Too Much Information

Yes, this article is eight pages long. And some of those pages are really long. So here's a hint: I've put the information in order of importance. More or less. I'll let you know if there are things that you can skip. Take as much of this as you can use. For the best results, though, you should at least read all of it. I'll do my best to keep it moving along.

Getting Organized

You'll find this task a lot easier if you do a few simple steps first. An organized approach can save hours of fumbling for words, or redoing things that weren't done right the first time. So here's the key to an organized approach to search engines.

Make a List

What does this have to do with search engines and directories? Well, if you want to be found, you have to know what your visitors will be looking for. What is your site about? What do you have to offer?

Make a list of words and phrases that people might use to find your site. If it's genealogy, then your surname(s) should definitely be on the list. So should the word "genealogy." Some people may not know that word, so how about "family history", and maybe "ancestors". Get the idea? If you want, you can ask friends and family members to help with this part.

If you have your pages already built, you can use the Keyword Extractor to generate a list of possible keywords. Just save the list that it generates, then edit out everything that's not important to your site.

Otherwise, open up your favorite word processor or text editor, and start typing these words in. You can also use an HTML editor, if you write your own code that way. You'll need these words on your computer later, so you might as well put them there now.

Use Phrases

Many people use phrases in their searches, rather than single words. It helps to keep the number of results down, and makes the results more relevant. Try to think of phrases that people might use to find your site. Keep these to no more than three or four words, since most people won't type more than that.

It may help to read through your pages again. If you read something that you think somebody out there may be interested in finding, put it on your list.

To save time, I'm going to refer to these words and phrases as keywords. This is only to save me some time; I still mean phrases as well as words.

The (Un)Importance of Plurals and Misspelling

When I first wrote this page, search engines were barely capable of understanding the plural form of simple words. Now Google understands most of the variants of the root form of most English words, and other search engines are not far behind. It's probably not worth your time to be concerned about this anymore. So, if you have family, families, and family's on your list, pare it down to just family.

Google now corrects misspelled words as well, so it's not worth bothering with those anymore. This just makes the job a lot easier.

Putting it in Order

Now it's time to take a hard look at your list. Which of these keywords are the most important to you? Which do you think most people will use to find your site? Try to put them in order, with the most important at the top.

I realize that this is a guessing game, but it's really the only way to start. If you want to, you can spend hours researching other Web sites to refine your list. Unless you're running a large commercial website, it's really not worth that much effort.

Now that you have your list in order, go put a blank line under the fourth keyword on your list. Well, OK, mark it any way that you want to. I just want you to set those first four keywords apart. We're going to give those four special treatment later on.

If you only have two or three terms on your list that are important to you, then you should have only those at the top. I recognize that some pages may be so focused that you really don't have four important keywords. There's nothing wrong with that.

However, in most cases there will be more than four. If you really are having a hard time selecting only four, it's time to make more than one list. If your site is that complex, you probably have several pages dedicated to several different areas. Try making a different list for each of your main pages. For example, if you have a genealogy site that features four family names, each having its own set of pages, then make four lists. This is another good reason for using a word processor.

OK, enough on the lists. Now that you know what your Web site is really about, we can start making use of this information.

Write a Description

Your first task is to write a short description of your Web site. I know, I'm sounding just like your English teacher giving out a class assignment. Pay attention anyway, because this is really important. This description, along with your page title, is what some search engines -- and most directories -- will display to your prospective visitors. Consider it an advertisement for your site.

If you are unsure about this, go do a search on one of your top keywords. Look at what the search engine returns. Are some of the results just gibberish? Would you be likely to want to visit that site? Probably not. Look for ones that have a short description of what the site is really about. If it makes you want to go take a look, then it's done right. No, don't run off following a new research trail - you can do that later. Finish your homework first.

Your description doesn't need to be fancy, and it doesn't need to be perfect. It does, however, need to be short. One or two simple sentences will do. It also does need to contain those keywords at the top of your list - the ones that you just set aside. After all, you did say that they are important to you, didn't you?

You can put this description in the same word processor file as your keyword list(s) - we're going to be using both of them quite a bit.

Next:

Let's find some more uses for what you've just created.