Hi Corey ~
I can see you have asked other questions about this site and your
other site, Acton Vision before, and I understand your desire to have
your site indexed in Google, as it is the Internet's number one search
engine.
Before I attempt to answer your question, please remember that Google
Answers Researchers are independent contractors and we are not privy
to the inner workings of Google, nor do we have any special
information regarding Google's closely-guarded algorithm.
Based on experience and knowledge about search engine optimization, we
are able to give you some pretty good ideas on why you aren't ranked
or how to place better in search engine placement; but we cannot speak
for Google, other than presenting the information readily available.
================================
Google Search for
www.internet-advertising-ia.com
================================
I performed a search at 10:07 am this morning (August 6, 2003) for
www.internet-advertising-ia.com, and here are the results:
"Sorry, no information is available for the
URL www.internet-advertising-ia.com
* Find web pages that contain the term
"www.internet-advertising-ia.com""
[Google Search:
Clicking on the link to "find web pages that contain the term
"www.internet-advertising-ia.com" returned 12 external links - all
guestbooks, and one internal link.
Searching for the term "internet-advertising-ia.com" (without the
quotation marks) returned:
"Sorry, no information is available for the
URL internet-advertising-ia.com
* Find web pages that contain the term
"internet-advertising-ia.com""
[Google Search: ://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=internet-advertising-ia.com&btnG=Google+Search
]
Clicking on the link to "find web pages that contain the term
"internet-advertising-ia.com" returned 14 external links - all
guestbooks, and one internal link.
================================
Other Search Engine Listings
for internet-advertising-ia.com
================================
Here are the results for other search engines and directions using the
therm, www.internet-advertising-ia.com
* All the Web (http://www.alltheweb.com) -
"No entries for www.internet-advertising-ia.com in our index"
"Find all 1 external web pages that link to
"www.internet-advertising-ia.com"
- The external link is from Acton Vision.
* DMOZ (The Open Web Project) (http://www.dmoz.org) -
"Search: www.internet-advertising-ia.com No Open Directory Project
results found"
* Alta Vista (http://www.altavista.com/web/results?q=www.internet-advertising-ia.com)
"We couldn't find the site you searched for"
* HotBot (http://www.hotbot.com)
"Sorry, your search had no web results"
* Yahoo! (http://www.yahoo.com)
Yahoo returned 13 results, 12 guestbooks and your own site, which
wasn't even listed until the 12th listing!
Part of the problem is that your site is hardly visible - and I'll
address that issue further below.
===================
Google's Page Rank
===================
Google's explains that its PageRank "relies on the uniquely democratic
nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of
an individual page's value."
- ://www.google.com/technology/index.html
The second paragraph of Google's explanation is significant here:
"Important, high-quality sites receive a higher PageRank, which Google
remembers each time it conducts a search. Of course, important pages
mean nothing to you if they don't match your query. So, Google
combines PageRank with sophisticated text-matching techniques to find
pages that are both important and relevant to your search. Google goes
far beyond the number of times a term appears on a page and examines
all aspects of the page's content (and the content of the pages
linking to it) to determine if it's a good match for your query."
- ://www.google.com/technology/index.html
Please note that Google relies on "high-quality sites" and
"text-matching techniques". When we apply that to the links found for
internet-advertising-ia.com, the only links we can find are either
your own site's or guestbooks.
Simply put, at the present time, those "guestbook" links have little,
if any, effect to boost your PageRank.
=======================
Beware Linking Schemes
=======================
The fact that the links are mostly guestbook signings might even be
seen as a "link scheme" or "linking scheme", which Google will ban
your site for participating in.
In its Content Guidelines - Basic principles, Google specifically
says, "Don't participate in link schemes designed to increase your
site's ranking or PageRank. In particular, avoid links to web spammers
or "bad neighborhoods" on the web as your own ranking may be affected
adversely by those links."
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html
And explaining why your site may not be listed, Google says:
"* The contents of your page or the links pointing
to your page changed significantly and you no
longer have a sufficiently high PageRank, or your
page had low PageRank to begin with and a small
change caused you to be dropped from the Google index.
"... certain actions such as ... setting up pages/
links with the sole purpose of fooling search
engines may result in permanent removal from our index."
(See "Other Reasons)
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/2.html
At the present time, your guestbook links are listed without seeming
to penalize your site; but on the other hand, they certainly aren't
helping your site, either.
In the past, unscrupulous persons have picked up on such ways to get
linked and exploited them, often getting their sites banned from
search engines. If others start "spamming" guestbooks to obtain links
TO their sites, it could be determined those sites with nothing *but*
guestbook links are attempting to engage in "setting up pages/links
with the sole purpose of fooling search engines".
Ask yourself if you feel those guestbook links are really "important"
to your site. Or would links from other sites, who *are* listed in
Google with a good PageRank, whose sites are related to your site's
subject - Internet advertising - be better?
If you believe the latter would be more to your benefit, read on!
===================
Establishing Links
===================
To repeat, PageRank is based on the number of pages which link to your
site.
"The best way to ensure Google finds your site is for your page to be
linked from lots of pages on other sites. Google's robots jump from
page to page on the Web via hyperlinks, so the more sites that link to
you, the more likely it is that we'll find you quickly." (SEE Google's
" How Do I Get My Site Listed on Google? - 2. Submitting Your site")
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/1.html#A1
There are many practical ways of establishing links which are
beneficial to you in your endeavor to get respectable position
placement on search engines. These methods may take time, but they
also help in establishing credibility and help with your page rank.
Approach like-minded or complementary businesses about linking to your
site (with a reciprocal link from your own). This works without
harming search engine positioning or page rank.
A WORD OF WARNING:
==================
Google specifically warns "Don't participate in link schemes designed
to increase your site's ranking or PageRank. In particular, avoid
links to web spammers or "bad neighborhoods" on the web as your own
ranking may be affected adversely by those links." (See Google's
Quality Guidelines - Basic principles).
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html
In other words, establish better links than the current guestbook
links.
It stands that what's good for Google, currently ranked as the number
one search engine is good rule to follow for other search engines.
Articles on Link Popularity
===========================
A couple of excellent articles on how to establish the right kind of
links are available in Traffick's "Ten Steps to Building Links to Your
Site", Craig Fifield - 5/3/2002
- http://www.traffick.com/article.asp?aID=77
and "The Right Way to Improve Link Popularity", By Paul J. Bruemmer
-4/14/2002 -
- http://www.traffick.com/article.asp?aID=41
Notice both articles offer suggestions which can be easily adapted for
use on any website without resorting to link farms. They both point
out the differences and offer easy ways to get started to the kind of
linking search engines prefer.
The structure of your webpages is just as important, though, as your
links when it comes to search engines.
==================
The Basics - HTML
==================
Shari Thurow, one of the leading authorities in search engine
optimization, and author of the book "Search Engine Visibility",
recently observed the following about HTML:
"Clean HTML is absolutely imperative for search engine indexing.
Browsers are extremely forgiving when it comes to displaying pages
with "unclean" HTML (unclosed tags, no quotation marks, etc.). Search
engine spiders are not so forgiving. Even something as simple as a
missing quotation mark on the <.a href="page.html"> can cause a spider
to not index text or a link." (See: Link Exchange Digest, July 3,
2003, "Clean HTML") -
http://list.audettemedia.com/SCRIPTS/WA.EXE?A2=ind0307&L=led&D=1&T=0&H=1&O=D&F=&S=&P=282
Differentiating between search engine indexing and search engine
ranking, she explained how errors in HTML can affect your ability to
be indexed, and ultimately, ranked.
Below are some HTML elements which are often overlooked or omitted,
but which play an important part in your visitor's experience when he
visits your site. A good rule of thumb is always "what's good for the
visitor is good for search engines." The following, considered
"basics" for the best visitor experience are:
1. Navigation
-------------
Google recommends designing your site for your visitors, as opposed to
trying to design your site for PageRank. Among the recommendations are
to "[m]ake a site with a clear hierarchy and text links. Every page
should be reachable from at least one static text link."
Google also recommends providing a Site Map, which of course, provides
the search engine browsers a complete 'map' to your site for indexing
pages.
It is pretty common, almost customary, for sites to contain text links
at least at the bottom of every page. This enables your visitors to
get from one page to another within the site easily.
It is also customary for your navigation them to appear in the same
place on every page for the same ease of use for your visitors.
See Google's Design and Content Guidelines:
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html
Jakob Nielsen, considered by some as an expert on Website usability,
also recommends a consistant navigation scheme (which users have come
to expect on the left-hand side or across the top) on his website,
Useit.com.
- http://www.useit.com/
2. Accessibility
----------------
Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. 794
and 794d, set forth the minimum government standards for
accessibility.
Among these standards are such items as ALT and TITLE tags, and
website design which will enable those with special needs to be able
to access and understand your web site.
You might want to run each page of your site through Bobby, which will
give you a full context report of any portions of your site which do
not meet the minimum standards. If you make all the corrections
suggested, it will greatly enhance any search engine's ability to
crawl your website as well.
The Bobby analysis page can be found here:
- http://bobby.watchfire.com/bobby/html/en/index.jsp
3. Text Line Length
-------------------
The ideal line length for text layout is based on the physiology of
the human eye.
The area of the retina that is used for tasks requiring high visual
acuity is called the macula. The macula is small, typically less than
15 percent of the area of the retina. At normal reading distances the
arc of the visual field covered by the macula is only a few inches
wide — about the width of a well-designed column of text, or about
400-440 pixels in width.
Any wider, reader retention diminishes, fatique sets in, and your
viewer loses comprehension.
This should be particularly used with sites that have heavy text
content, such as yours.
An excellent resource for Webstyles is the WebStyle Guide
- http://www.webstyleguide.com/
and line length is discussed here
- http://www.webstyleguide.com/page/tables.html
4. Use of Fonts
---------------
You are using the Tahoma font for internet-advertising-ia.com.
Although Microsoft did offer this font from its free TrueType font
page at one time (the page is no longer offered by Microsoft), you
should be aware that Tahoma renders very differently in some browser
software and on some systems with defaults set differently than your
own. Then again, some users have not installed Tahoma at all, which
may leave your viewer to his default font and settings.
Microsoft discusses typography on the internet here:
- http://www.microsoft.com/typography/web/default.htm
For as much text as your site contains, I would recommend the use of
Verdana (which was designed specifically for the Internet at the
request of Microsoft), then Arial, Helvetica (for Mac users) and
sans-serif, which will utilize the Visitor's default sans-serif font
if he has none of those installed.
5. Aesthetics
-------------
* What's Above the Fold?
While not as important for search engine crawlers as it is for your
site's visitors, you should have your important content appear "above
the fold". "Above the fold" means that first screen full of
information.
Considered to be important things that should appear above the fold:
* Your logo or company slogan to help establish your “brand”.
* WIIFM (What's in it for me?). Describe the benefits your visitors
will enjoy by staying on your site. This should include keywords for
the search engines and should focus on the visitors.
What is the biggest benefit to your visitors?
* A navigation menu. Your visitor has come to your site for a purpose.
Don’t make them hunt for your links - on any page!
* Special Offers Promotions, etc.
And remember to try not to clutter this area.
Some good articles on effective Website design and discussion of
"above the fold" can be found here:
* NetLingo, The Internet Dictionary, "Above The Fold Defined"
- http://www.marketingterms.com/dictionary/above_the_fold/
* RMH Web Design: "Web Site Design: Designing Above the Fold"
- http://www.rmhwebdesign.com/articles/abovethefold.html
* SitePoint, "10 Tips to Building A Click-Ready Website"
- http://www.sitepoint.com/article/224
Other articles discussing the benefits of effective Website design can
be found by using the search terms:
- articles: web design + above the fold
or
- effective web design
======================
Translating The Above
To Your Site
======================
Let's take a look at how you can apply the above to
internet-advertising-ia.com.
1.) What is this site about?
----------------------------
The first "header" I see says this, "Internet Advertising
Consultants", and then "The State of Internet Advertising, Online
Advertising; A Market Research Analysis". There is also a graphic with
a black background (which your ALT text says is a logo), and a waving
US Flag under which are the words "United We Stand".
This is followed by a lot of hard-to-read bold text, which is
apparently the beginning of a rather lengthy website.
Let's face it ... there is nothing here to either tell me what your
site is about, nor why I, as a visitor, should care.
That first screenful of information should make it *VERY* clear what
this site is about.
Are you a "consultant" selling your services? Is that the "purpose" of
this site? Or is the 20+ treatise you have on the site the purppose of
the site?
If you don't tell your visitor, you'll lose him before he ever has a
chance to really delve into the site.
Your keyword metatags say, "Internet Advertising, eMarketing,
Branding", which is also meaningless to me, and I'm trying to help
you. You can bet your visitor or a search engine isn't going to make
any sense at all out of what you are presenting.
2.) Navigation
--------------
Imagine my surprise when I get to the bottom of the first page to find
links to a bunch of other pages, such as "Part 2", "Part 3", all the
way through to "Part 23".
There is nothing there to tell me, a visitor, what those "parts" are
about, and certainly nothing to describe to a search engine crawler
what those pages are about.
Move that navigation to the left with a real "description", other than
"Part 2".
3.) Page Titles
---------------
Put those title tags to work for you!
Just as "Part 2" is meaningless to your visitor or search engine
crawlers as a link, your page title tags - "Internet Advertising,
eMarketing, Branding Analysis Part 2" are meaningless to the search
engine crawlers.
You use a text header for those pages, such as "Branding Analysis" and
"CPMs; The Effective Price", etc.
Add those to your title tags. Search engine crawlers *do* pay
attention to your Title Tags, so give them something to chew on there.
4.) Page Names
--------------
The same can be said for your page naming scheme. The link is to
"Advertising_7.htm", "Advertising_8.htm", etc.
Name those pages with something meaningful, such as "cpm.html", or
"mediumtype.html", or anything which helps develop a "meaning" for the
content on that page.
4. Length of Text Line
----------------------
This is involved text, and is hard enough to follow and comprehend.
Shorten those lines to a reasonable length as mentioned above.
5. Who are you and why should this site matter to me?
-----------------------------------------------------
Who are you and what are your qualifications to present this
information? What are your sources?
People pay attention to those who present *credible* information and
whose sites have a certain structure which they have come to expect.
Among those are an "About Us", "Contact Information", Privacy Policy
and other matters which are more fully discussed in a study conducted
by Stanford University in conjunction with Consumer Web Watch.
You can read more about the study here:
- http://www.consumerwebwatch.org/news/report3_credibilityresearch/stanfordPTL_abstract.htm
Add that information to your own site and you may be pleasantly
surprised at how your Visitors will stay and do what it is you want
your Visitors to do on the site.
===========================
Google's Recommendation on
Visitor Friendly Sites
===========================
Remember, Google states, "Webmasters who spend their energies
upholding the spirit of the basic principles listed above will provide
a much better user experience and subsequently enjoy better ranking
than those who spend their time looking for loopholes they can
exploit." (from Google's Quality Guidelines - Specific
Recommendations")
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html
When you have done that, Google recommends:
"* Make sure all the sites that should know about your pages are aware
your site is online.
* Submit your site to relevant directories such as the Open Directory
Project and Yahoo!.
* Periodically review Google's webmaster section for more
information."
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html
==========================
Submit to Search Engines
==========================
Below are some of the top search engines as determined by Nielsen Net
Ratings to which you may want to consider submitting your website:
- http://www.nielsen-netratings.com/
* Google -
- ://www.google.com/addurl.html
* DMOZ -
- http://www.dmoz.com/
* All The Web -
- http://www.alltheweb.com/help/webmaster/submit_site.html
* Hotbot & Lycos InSite (requires registration)
- http://insite.lycos.com/searchservices/
* Yahoo! -
- http://docs.yahoo.com/info/suggest/
* Zeal -
- http://zeal.com/
There are other search engines, such as AOL, Netscape (owned by AOL),
and MSN. Some of them are "for pay", and most are powered by those
listed above.
A fuller discussion of other engines can be found on Search Engine
Watch's article, "The Major Search Engines and Directories", Danny
Sullivan, April 29,2003, here:
- http://searchenginewatch.com/links/article.php/2156221
You'll see that those listed above are generally considered the most
important for submission.
==================
Search Strategies
==================
- Google links
- Google PageRank
- website design + trust
- design + optimum text line length
In addition, I relied on personal bookmarks and knowledge of the
subject, including recent discussions on Webmaster World [
http://webmasterworld.com ] and formulated this answer based upon my
own experience as a web designer/developer, working with search engine
optimization specialists.
If you have any questions about the information, suggestions or links
provided herein, please, feel free to ask.
Serenata |
