Hello Anamator. First of all it's important not to fall into the
common error of overemphasizing keywords and keyphrases in metatags
over keywords/phrases in the actual content of the page. Some search
engines still do weigh in metatags but usually only in relation to the
actual text. For example, if you have "maya training" in your metatag,
but not in your page text, a search engine spider might acutally think
you're trying to spam the search it and penalize you. Of course they
all work slightly differently.
As I understand it, Google current pays no attention at all to
metatags but only to the content of the page. The first thing I
noticed about your index page at mayatraining.com is that it has
virtually no text. All the text blocks are graphics. This explains
your nonexistence in the Google search engine: Google doesn't count
metatags and you have given it no text to analyze for keywords!
My advice to you would be to redesign your site replacing all of those
images with actual text. In your text put an emphasis on keyphrases
such as "maya training", "learn maya", "maya tutorial", "tampa", etc.
Especially important keyphrases such as "maya training" mention at
least 3 times in the page. Write copy that is good and makes sense,
but also with emphasizing the right keywords in mind.
When you have made these changes resubmit your URL to Google at:
://www.google.com/addurl.html. I also recommend
http://www.selfpromotion.com as an excellent free tool for other
search engine and web index submissions.
Also don't understimate the value of pay per click programs such as
Google Adwords (http://adwords.google.com) and Overture
(http://www.overture.com) where you can get targetted click throughs
for as little as $.05. I know several business that have successfully
used these.
Depending on how important you think it is, you may also want to hire
a 3rd party specialists such as http://www.highrankings.com/ to help
you get high rankings, but in my opinion, given that you have a
somewhat unique business don't have as much competition as other
companies, you shouldn't need to do this.
Here are some relevant links that you will find useful:
http://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=threadview&id=198772
http://www.internetmarketingwebsites.com/searching-gg.htm
http://www.bruceclay.com/web_rank.htm
http://www.pandia.com/optimization/SEO-guide.html
Good luck with your web site and business venture!
-shiva777 |
Request for Answer Clarification by
anamator-ga
on
07 May 2003 20:54 PDT
shiva777,
I don't understand... I have created the two site with the same
program. One gets ranked high and the other one not at all. I guess
I could add some more html text to training site. That will probably
do it like you said. Is there a way to add invisible text into the
html so that it will not show up on the page but, a search engine will
read it?
As far as the Google Ad words....you sound like a sales rep for
Google. I was using that until I got a bill for $675 for two weeks of
use. I got absolutely no business from that. Only inquiries it
seems. I am through with that until I can at least get listed in the
free listings.
So basically my meta tags are o.k.? I have added my listing to google
about 10 times in the last month along with yahoo, alta vista, msn,
dmoz, etc. trying to get listed. I think I might be band from them or
maybe its just the text that I need to add to the page.
What about the cached pages on google? Why is my site still cached
with the old information. It has been like that for over a month.
|
Clarification of Answer by
shiva777-ga
on
08 May 2003 04:13 PDT
Hello Anamator. Definitely add more html text. There is a way to add
invisible text, but it will get you banned from most search engines
fast! Basically if you look like your spamming the search engine
trying to get a higher rating than you deserve then you stand the
chance of getting penalized or even banned. One of these ways is to
have lots of keywords in your metatags that are not in your html text,
like you have now.
And no I'm not a Google Adwords rep and I don't get a cut for
referrals. :-)
I do recommend it because it is an excellent program. When people get
poor results with cpc programs I have found that often it is because
they did not target their ad enough. For example, if you are trying to
advertise your on-site classes, it is crucial that the word 'tampa'
(and/or surrounding towns) be in both your adwords and your
description. For a more ind-depth commentary on using adwords and
similar programs I'll refer you to two answers I gave a couple weeks
ago:
https://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=threadview&id=193878
https://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=threadview&id=194711
Your metatags are OK, but you definitely have room for more. Go
through the text of each page looking for more. For example, on your
main page I see Nurbs, Modeling and Maya Effects as three more that
could be added.
If you find that your page is cached for an inordinately long amount
of time resubmit it to the search engine. But do this only after you
have made changes. This way, if it is a problem with your site you
won't be repeating the problem, being penalized again and/or risk
getting banned.
Good luck!
-shiva777
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
anamator-ga
on
08 May 2003 20:24 PDT
Well I will definately take your advice and add some more keywords
into my text and meta keywords section.
I have another question... Can a search engine band you for sending
out a massive e-mail blast one time? I did this when I first launched
the site and it seem that might have something to do with my rankings.
I also found one foreign web site who listed me as spaming. Type in
the word "mayatraining.com" into the search line in google. About 6
listings appear and one of them is in Japenese and you can see where
they mention spamming for mayatraining.com. Will this effect my
rankings?
So to clarify you are telling me that the spiders for the search
engines look for the keywords in the text mostly and some in the meta
tags. So populate your site with the keywords necessary in the text
(but, not more than 3 times per page). What about the other pages?
Does the same apply to them?
Thank you,
anamator
|
Clarification of Answer by
shiva777-ga
on
09 May 2003 08:52 PDT
Hello again.
I don't believe that you're mass mailing incident would have an effect
on your search engine listings. I dont really see a connection. Search
engine rankings are pretty much automated by 'bots' that spider the
web and I doubt they would pick that up.
There are really no hard rules about optimization because each search
engine has different criteria of what's important. Some weigh meta
tags heavily, some ignore them. For some the title of the page is very
important. There is a piece of software called Web Position Gold
(http://www.web-positiongold.com/) that will analyze your pages and
tell you how good they are for each specific search engine. It will
also create 'doorway pages' optimized for each search engine, or at
least the major ones. The software is expensive, but may be worthwhile
for you. If you pay a company to promote your site, chances are they
are just using this program.
And you are right on about the text. Try to write the text throughout
your site with keywords in mind. Remember, that bots spider your
entire site and not just your front page. For example, if you have
page about nurbs make sure to mention that word several times
throughout the page. I wouldn't worry too much about repeating it more
than 3 times, I think you can even mention it 7-8 times or more, but I
wouldn't get too carried away. Just make sure the keyword is well
spaced through the page and of course makes logical sense in the
context of the page. People used to just write a keyword on a page
hundreds of times, but search bots are pretty wise about things like
that now. Also, in this example, make sure that nurbs is mentioned in
the meta tags, the meta description and the title for that particular
page. If you have images call them nurbs.jpg,etc. Do this and when
someone is searching for informaton on nurbs they will be much more
likely to come upon your site.
Good luck!
-shiva777
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