Is it still possible at all to
influence search engine rankings? Yes, by simply giving the
search engines what they want to see.
The vast majority of site designers have no idea how search
engines work or what their capabilities are. They have other
goals in mind when designing their sites, such as:
- Presenting the site in a interesting and unique way.
- Getting the maximum impact from the available screen real
estate.
- Using available design techniques to get their message
across.
- Handling content in an efficient manner.
All very important objectives, but often at cross purposes with
effective "search engine friendly" design.
Designers will often use Flash, java or DHTML navigation tools,
frames, dynamic content management or other techniques to get
the most out of their site design. Each of these presents a
challenge to search engine spiders. Over 95% of the sites we
look at have not even considered the basics in search engine
friendly design during their construction. Spiderable content
is completely hidden from search engines.
Ironically, the bigger the company and more well known the product
or service, the more likely it is that the site will use techniques
that will create problems for search engines. These are the
companies that are spending millions on advertising their products,
but are putting road blocks between motivated consumers and
the information they're looking for through search engines.
It's these sites that search engines typically want to rise
to the top of the listings. In these cases, a little search
engine expertise can go a long way.
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