GazTheHat

OK, so i've done a site, uploaded it.

What are the best ways & techniques to get it in the search results for search engines like google. Towards to top would be nice.

Is it just Meta Keywords?

RichB

Welcome to the rather large world of Search Engine Optimisation.

It isn't straightforward but there are many things you can do quite easily to improve your rank. Alot depends on the quality of the content of your site and the number of quality sites that link to it. Meta tags can help but there is way more to it than that.

Start by making sure all your pages validate using World Wide Web Consortium XHTML and CSS validators.

Make sure all your pages have good titles using your keywords.
Try and name pages or sub-folders using the keywords.

Go to Google and add it.

Add your URL to Google

Don't expect miracles!

Simon C

Took my site about 7 months to get registered with search engines.

Now it is, all is well, as rich said, don't xpect miracles.

If people google my name, you wont find me as there is a rather prominant writer with the sam name, however I added key words that relate to me (and the business), and I'm usually in the top 20 globally! Add that to all the address lists for businesses like yahoo (their robot found me) and all in all, I'm not doing too badly in getting found.

edit:
This is my meta data

<meta name="Description" content="Freelance and press Music photography covering all aspects of music. Live and promotional artwork, album artwork, band photography&gt; " />
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" />
<meta name="Keywords" content="Simon Critchley, Music photography, Music, Photography, Live music, London, UK, Focuslive, Focus Live" />

GazTheHat

Did you put that on every page, or just on index??

If it's on every page, did you change it or just keep it the same?



@RichB: Validating now. 20 errors on first page.

Simon C

Its on most pages, but thats not suprising as all pages are built from the same template.

As the site develops then it will only be on the index.

GazTheHat

I have an error, with a tag <blah blah />, because it has the /

It is saying it's not true HTML, but should be saved for XHTML.

Which one would be best for my website to validate to, for the finding it the best??

GazTheHat

So you'll use the same tags, but different values?

If so, is that proven to improve results??

Sorry, i'm full of a million questions today, not just on this forum

Simon C

Nope, if you go onto my site and look at the page source, you will see the coding and on some pages the lack of it.


And before anyone says, yes it does record your ip address, along with referal links.

GazTheHat

Site is now:

W3C HTML 4.01 (Transitional) validated.

RichB

I regularly use the same meta data on every page, I will make the title relevant to the keywords on the page though, to be honest, I don't believe the meta data is that important any more, if at all.
PM me the site or post it here, Ill give you a few quick tips if you like.

GazTheHat

YHPM

RichB

Try to stay awake while you read the one I just sent you - lol

RichB

gaz your mailbox is full

pimmo2000

iTrader: (6)

I didnt do anything of this and if you search for my tag in google you get my site straight away

boxst

Unfortunately it takes time. I has a domain registered way before I wanted to use it properly and then put keywords on a holding page. By the time it launches we are second for a specific seach on Yahoo (Organic Crowborough), but still way down on Google.

Steve

GazTheHat

Not anymore.

GazTheHat

Not all the pages validate, is this a problem?

I have a photo-gallery script (.js) and it uses the ID tag to label the photo. The validator doesn't like this as it contains characters and tags. Apart from those 4 pages, the rest is validated and the CSS too.

Prasius

iTrader: (1)

I'm not web minded at all - and after submitting to google, and putting my URL around a little - I get a 1st place hit for "nutty engineering" and get traffic from all sorts of searches - mostly based on the various page titles.

It seems far easier than it used to be.

GazTheHat

How long did it take after registering the URL for it to show?

RichB

listing can be days weeks or months. One recent client took about 2 months but usually a few days to a couple of weeks...
YHPM too...

Prasius

iTrader: (1)

mine came up pretty quick.. a few days maybe.

GazTheHat

Got it Rich, will be in touch.