A search engine's main job is to provide results which most satisfy
a user's query. If they present a result that the user visits and doesn't
agree that the document is about their query, there is a very good
chance that the user may not use that search engine again. Most
search engines pay no attention at all to the Meta description tags.
Meta description and keyword tags are hidden attributes that you can
add to the front of your document which are supposed to annotate and
describe the document. Since the users will never see this information,
they will be disappointed if you stick in invalid keywords or fail to keep
the description in line with the document's contents which usually is
the case.
Most Search Engine page-ranking algorithms rank pages based on
the following aspects:
-Content of the website
-Representation of content, keywords, and links on websites
-Location and number of inward and outward links on
websites
-Relevancy of search terms as compared to the websites
Given below is a brief description of the page-ranking algorithms
of some of the most popular search engines.
Google
You can submit your website to Google at the following URL:
www.google.com/addurl.html. Submitting your site will only make
Google aware that your page exists; it is quite possible that your
pages may get crawled even if you have not submitted. It is advisable
to submit the home page and some inside pages. Inside pages are
added to the submission, just in case the home page is found too slow
to load or crawl. The pages that are submitted should link to the rest
of the pages. Google indexes the full text that is visible on any page
that it crawls. It generally does not index the metatags – keywords or
descriptions.
When Google lists your page in the search results, the description
that is displayed is the extract of text that is around the first line
where the search word appears on the page. It may thus be a good
idea to write a good description of the page and build it around the
most likely search term(s) and place that near the top of your page.
You should remember that one sure way of getting your site listed and
indexed is if there are several links that point to your site and such
links appear on web pages that in turn have several other links
pointing to them. The term “link popularity” is used for this. It
analyzes links of the pages that it has visited and this “link analysis”
helps to determine the ranking of the page.
Google uses a proprietary PageRank algorithm for determining
relevance and ranking of pages in the search results. Location and
frequency of the search term on your web page are no doubt factors in
ranking; however, off-the-page factors such as link analysis are more
important. Generally, Google provides search results based on
relevancy, meaning that it returns a list of pages ranked by the
number of other web pages linking to each page, as well as other
mathematical algorithms
Yahoo!
Yahoo! offers a human-powered directory and offers its results to
visitors. The directory is supplemented by a web page index created
by crawling. The directory is an important channel in the area of
search engine marketing. It is popular and is used extensively by
people to locate sources of information. Moreover, the directory is a
valuable boost to your site for crawling and ranking in other search
engines, as the directory provides a high-quality link to your website.
When a visitor is looking for information on relevant sites, she
could either browse through the hierarchy of directories and sub-
directories or search for an appropriate directory through a search
interface. As your site can be listed in just one category, generally, the
choice of category is an important step. Choose the top category that
your target visitor who is making a search may select out of the
different categories offered to him/her.
Select your target keywords and find out which categories relate
to those keywords. For submission of non-commercial sites, the
Yahoo! Express submission is recommended rather than the Standard
submission option.
The results page in your chosen category will list your site in two
possible sections (for most categories). One section is called "Most
Popular Sites" and this is on top, while the second section contains the
remaining listings in Alphabetical order.
Yahoo! does not reveal how it includes certain sites in the “Most
Popular Sites” list. However, link analysis and click-throughs are likely
to be factors. You cannot pay to be included in this section. Certain
sites with sunglasses shown next to their name or an “@” symbol
shown at the end of the name reflect that Yahoo! considers those sites
to be excellent.
Inktomi (MSN Search, AOL Search, Hotbot)
Inktomi is a search engine that does not offer its search services
through its own site, but through Partner sites – prominent ones being
MSN Search, AOL Search, HotBot and others.
Inktomi, through its crawler, creates three different indexes. “Best
of the Web” index has around 110 million pages that it indexes on the
web and considers high in link analysis. The next set of around 390
million pages is indexed as “Rest of the Web”, considered as lower in
link analysis. The third index is of paid inclusion. It also offers
specialized regional indexes as well as targeted news, multimedia and
directory indexes. It avoids duplication of the same page in more than
one index. Link crawling and paid inclusion are the two most effective
ways to get covered by crawling. For bulk submissions to its paid
program, it offers IndexConnect (for 1000 or more pages). Again,
there is a cost-per-click basis with a monthly minimum.
Ranking at Inktomi is determined by a combination of factors
including HTML links, keywords and description tags near the top of
the page or in the title tag. If the search string matches with what is
found at these places on the page, the ranking is higher. Link analysis
and analysis of clickthroughs are other important criteria that it
adopts.
AltaVista
AltaVista will accept free listings through its “addurl” link, but it
also has paid inclusion features. Generally, their crawler may visit
every four weeks. Paid inclusion may be desirable if you have a new
website or web pages or if you alter your web pages frequently, and
you do not wish to wait until the next cycle of crawling. There is an
“Express Paid” inclusion service of self-service type for up to 500
pages at a time. This service will enable weekly crawling. Their bulk
program called “Trusted Feed” will enable the pages to be directly
linked to their index. Pricing for “Trusted Feed” is on a cost-per-click
model with a monthly minimum. In this program you can submit the
Meta data, descriptions and keywords directly to the index.
Nevertheless, the engine will check whether the destination page has
the same Meta data or not and could levy a penalty for spam.
AltaVista’s ranking policies are a combination of various factors.
The frequency and positioning of keywords and descriptions is
important, as are title tags or words that appear near the top of the
page. AltaVista applies link analysis to determine relevancy and page
ranking. It levies penalty on spamming and does not recognize
invisible or tiny text, keyword stuffing, identical pages, mirror sites, or
quick meta refresh tags.
Search Engine Page-Ranking Algorithms
