Hi lwm-ga ...
We get a lot of questions about how to get listed on Google and how to
place higher in search engine results placements (SERPs). Please
remember that Google Answers Researchers are independent contractors.
We are not employees of Google and do not have any insider information
about Google's carefully-guarded algorithms.
I can answer your questions from what is known about getting listed in
Google's index and placing well in SERPs. The information, when
followed, works. With that in mind, I can discuss problems you may be
having. When you design a site which is search-engine friendly (or
more correctly put, "crawler-friendly"), you can place higher in all
search engine results.
======================================
Metatags - Do You 'Really' Need Them?
======================================
As my colleague, Journalist-ga, pointed out below, your keyword
metatags are missing the quotation marks around them. These should be
added, because it is proper HTML coding.
Your keyword metatags should read as follows to conform to standards
and protocol:
<meta name=keywords content="alarm alarms central connecticut
free jfcsecurity products security surveillance systems">
However, since Google ignores both the keyword and description
metatags (or applies so little weight to them in their algorithms),
the incorrect coding isn't the answer to your Google SERPs.
Most of the major search engines no longer give much weight to either
the keyword or description metatags, because it became too easy to
tweak (or 'spam', if you will) the metatags to an unfair advantage.
While it is true that some directories (as opposed to search engines)
and smaller search engines may rely on metatags to some extent, the
major search engines give them little notice or ignore them
altogether.
In a nutshell, it doesn't hurt to have them, but it doesn't help you
much, if at all, either.
=============================
So, What About JFC Security?
=============================
The good news is that www.jfcsecurity.com is listed in Google's data
centers. I determined this by entering "www.jfcsecurity.com" (without
the quotation marks) in Google's search bar. With the exception of the
San Jose data center, which appears to be unavailable at the present
time, you were listed in all of them, being:
www-ex.google.com
www-va.google.com
www-dc.google.com
www-fi.google.com
www-ab.google.com
www-in.google.com
www-zu.google.com
www-cw.google.com
www-gv.google.com
The bad news is that jfcsecurity.com's PageRank (PR) is 0/10. Google's
PageRank is one of the measures in its algorithms it uses to deliver
RELEVANT content when a search query is submitted to Google.
As a rule, you will seldom see a page delivered in SERPs unless it has
a PageRank of at least 4.
===========================================
What Is Page Rank & How Do You Get Listed?
===========================================
Google explains the best way to get listed in its "Webmaster
Information":
"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."
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/1.html#A2
and explains how pages are ranked in search results in "The Basics"
"The method by which we find pages and rank them as
search results is determined by the PageRank technology
developed by our founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin."
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/1.html#A1
Google's technology is explained in its technology in "Our Search:
Google Technology":
"The heart of our software is PageRank™, a system for
ranking web pages developed by our founders Larry Page
and Sergey Brin at Stanford University. And while we
have dozens of engineers working to improve every aspect
of Google on a daily basis, PageRank continues to provide
the basis for all of our web search tools."
and its PageRank in "PageRank Explained"
"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. In essence, Google interprets
a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for
page B. But, Google looks at more than the sheer volume
of votes, or links a page receives; it also analyzes the
page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are
themselves "important" weigh more heavily and help to make
other pages "important."
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
Obviously, one of the things you need to do to increase your chances
in being found under the search terms you want is to make sure there
are links TO your pages from relevant sources.
The key word is "relevant", and Google specifically warns about using
link schemes and link farms in its "Quality Guidelines - Basic
principles":
"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 more strongly in its "Quality Guidelines - Specific
recommendations":
"Avoid hidden text or hidden links"
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html
===========================
Establishing Links
===========================
As stated, Google's 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." (Google's " How
Do I Get My Site Listed on Google? Submitting Your site")
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/1.html#A1
There are many practical ways of establishing links which are
beneficial to you to get respectable position placement on search
engines. These methods may take time, but they also help in
establishing credibility and trust among visitors, 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
It stands to reason 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.
"Link Building Is Important", which discusses link building from A to
Z and also provides a good reference page with linking resources.
- http://www.linkingmatters.com/WhyLinkingIsImportant.html
The information contained in the above articles offer suggestions
which can be easily adapted for use on any website without resorting
to link farms. The differences in "good links" and those which may be
harmful are discussed, and the articles offer simple ways to get
started to the kind of linking search engines prefer.
==========================================
What Else You Can Do To Improve Placement
==========================================
Here's what Google suggests in its Design and Content Guidelines:
"* Make a site with a clear hierarchy and text links.
Every page should be reachable from at least one static
text link.
* Offer a site map to your users with links that point to
the important parts of your site. If the site map is
larger than 100 or so links, you may want to break the
site map into separate pages.
* Create a useful, information-rich site and write pages
that clearly and accurately describe your content.
* Think about the words users would type to find your pages,
and make sure that your site actually includes those
words within it.
* Try to use text instead of images to display important
names, content, or links. The Google crawler doesn't
recognize text contained in images.
* Make sure that your TITLE and ALT tags are descriptive
and accurate.
* Check for broken links and correct HTML...
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html
=======================
HTML - The Basics
=======================
Shari Thurow, one of the leading authorities in web design and search
engine optimization (and author of the book "Search Engine
Visibility"), made the following observation with regard to 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
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. DOCTYPE Declaration
----------------------
DOCTYPES are essential to the proper rendering and functioning of web
documents in compliant browsers. It is also essential for the search
engines to understand and follow the coding contained on your pages.
DOCTYPE is explained and discussed further in "A List Apart",
- http://www.alistapart.com/stories/doctype/
and in Web Design Group's article, "Choosing a DOCtype",
- http://www.htmlhelp.com/tools/validator/doctype.html
You do not have a DOCTYPE Declaration and you should add one to every
page on your site.
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 (as
discussed above), 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. Excess Proprietary Code
===========================
I see your page has been created using Microsoft's Front Page 6.0.
There are several hundred lines of coding the crawler has to wade
through before it ever gets to the CONTENT, which as explained above,
is what it will index.
My advice is to run your site through the HTML validator and to delete
and fix the errors you find there.
You can find Web Design Group's HTML validator here:
- http://www.htmlhelp.com/tools/validator/
====================================
Beyond The Basics - The Aesthetics
====================================
Without being hypercritical, your site's purpose should be available
"above the fold" (read: first screenful). When your SERPs deliver
visitors to your site, they expect a quick download, and to
immediately be able to find the information they came there for.
They did not come to see your animated graphic with an airplane, flags
and fireworks, they will come to find out about security services.
Get rid of the first screenful of graphics and save it for a personal
site. This really has no place at all for a commerce site. Give your
visitor, as quickly and uncomplicated as possible, the information he
is there to see.
To build credibility and trust, you should also have the company logo,
an "about us" section, a privacy policy available from every page on
the site. You're talking 'security' here, yet you are not discussing
the most important item your visitor is concerned about. What are you
doing with his information?
You are selling 'security', but there is nothing about the company,
length of time in business, testimonials, etc. How can you expect to
turn visitors into customers if you won't use those items to build
credibility and trust?
There is a lot of information available on research from the Stanford
University Web Credibility Research group. You should incorporate as
much of this information as you can into this website, especially in
light of the fact you are dealing with such a sensitive issue as
"security".
You can find that information here:
- http://www.webcredibility.org/guidelines/
=============================
About those search terms
=============================
Assuming your key word metatags are the words and/or terms under which
you want searchers to find you. I found the following returns for
these terms:
* alarm - about 8,850,000 results
* alarms - about 2.780,000 results
* central - about 114,000,000 results
* central connecticut - about 3,470,000 results
* security surveillance systems - about 1,530,000
No matter how you look at it, that is a powerful lot of competition
for the terms you want your site to be found under. I suspect you
aren't even sure what the terms your potential customers are looking
for - most people don't, unless they spend a great deal of time
researching that subject.
I would really suggest spending some time at Wordtracker
-http://www.wordtracker.com - to seek out all the related phrases you
can, then write copy based around the best, most relevant terms.
Include those words in your Title tags and within the content of your
website accordingly. That will certainly help.
If nothing else, by visiting Wordtracker, you'll get an idea of what
search terms they are *really* using when it comes to security and
security systems.
=============================
Submitting to Search Engines
=============================
After you have established some links from relevant sites and worked
on the HTML to make the site more search-engine friendly, you may want
to submit to the important search engines and directories.
Google recommends, " ... you may want to consider submitting your site
to either or both of these directories. You can submit to Yahoo! by
visiting http://docs.yahoo.com/info/suggest/. You can submit your site
to Netscape's Open Directory Project (DMOZ) by visiting www.dmoz.org.
Once your site is included in either of these directories, Google will
often index your site within six to eight weeks."
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/1.html#B2
For DMOZ.org, you will want to dig down deep enough to get where you
more appropriately should be.
Some search engines gather their own listings for the main results
they display. For example, Google crawls the web itself for the main
results it shows.
Other search engines use third-party search providers for their
results. For instance, the main search results at AOL come from
Google's crawler-based listings, rather than from work inside AOL.
Below are the top search engines as determined by Nielsen Net Ratings:
- 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/
* Teoma -
- http://www.teoma.com/
MSN's search submit is located here:
- http://search.msn.com/
which takes you to LookSmart, a "for-pay" listing, and can be found
here:
- http://listings.looksmart.com/?synd=zdd&sid=prt100933&chan=zddresults
If you are listed on other important engines, it is pretty certain you
will also be listed on MSN.com, or you can use the LookSmart
submission.
===============================
Further Sources of Information
===============================
There is good information from many of the top search engine
optimization experts, such as
* Detlev Johnson, Search Engine Guide
- http://www.searchengineguide.com/detlev/
* Danny Sullivan, Search Engine Watch
- http://www.searchenginewatch.com/
* Jill Whalen, High Rankings
- http://www.highrankings.com/
* Shari Thurow, Web Pro News (and quoted all over the Internet)
- www.webpronews.com/
who all have columns or newsletters to which you can subscribe and
keep abreast of the best way to use good content for better
positioning in search engine results.
In addition, Webmaster World - http://www.webmasterworld.com/ - has
discussion boards on most of the search engines. While some of the
discussions are anecdotal and/or questions for information, there is
usually enough discussion to keep abreast of what seems to be
happening.
There is an entire section devoted to Google at:
- http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/
It never hurts to keep track among these discussions, but remember,
trying to optimize for search engines only is like trying to hit a
moving target. You'll notice among the more experienced contributors
to the discussions - plus the SEO experts listed above - that there
really is no substitute for content, relevant links and good HTML.
Search strategies ~
Searches on all search engines and directories were for your domain,
www.jfcsecurity.com, and the other information is from bookmarks and
information I rely on daily in the course of my work.
I know that the above is a great deal of information to digest and put
into effect; however, the information is there, and if followed, it
will help your site place better in SERPs, just as surely as adding
relevant links to your site will increase your PageRank.
Good luck in your search engine optimization!
Serenata
Google Answers Researcher |
