Frequently Asked Questions
| Q | My site has just recently dropped off Google. What happened? |
| Q | How important is it to have links to my site from other sites? |
| Q | How important really is it for my site to be on the first 3 pages of search results on the major search engines? |
| Q | Which are the most popular search engines for which I should optimize my site? |
| Q | How many pages of my site should be optimized? |
| Q | I had my site submitted to the search engines, but nothing's happened. How long does it take to show up? |
| Q | Can dynamic web site content be indexed into the search engines? |
| Q | My site is written in Java and hasn't been indexed. Could Java be the problem? |
| Q | Can the directory structure of my web site affect its performance on search engines? |
| Q | Should I re-submit my site to the search engines to try to get them to re-index and re-position my site? |
| Q | Will updating content on my site help or hurt the search engine positioning? |
| Q | Are there any automated tools I can use to self-optimize our site? |
| Q | I received an e-mail offering to submit my web site to thousands of search engines at a cost of $29.99 per month. Is that a good deal? |
| Q | How can I get search engines to index the important pages on my site and leave the unimportant pages alone? |
| Q | Can using a Content Management System (CMS) to create web pages hurt my search engine positioning? |
| Q | What is SEO copywriting? |
| Q | Do more search engine users select organic or earned listing over paid listings? |
| Q | How often should I submit my site to search engines to maintain top positioning? |
| Q | Is there such a thing as a bad link? |
| Q | My site has just recently dropped off Google. What happened? |
| A | Google's latest index update, which features much more aggressive anti-spam monitoring, may inadvertently snare legitimate sites that unintentionally have used methods Google doesn't condone. Contact an SEO expert for an evaluation of your site against the current Google standard. |
| Q | We have meta tags on our web pages but our site still doesn't perform well on search engines. Why not? |
| A | Several years ago, meta tags were the primary instrument by which search engines would index and rank sites. Today, they are just one component of a well-optimized site. Strong performing web sites are a result of well-written, optimized site content, proper site coding, effective keyword use and strong incoming links. With 3 billion sites populating the web, a higher degree of sophistication was required to determine web site ranking and allow search engines to remain relevant. And today, Internet users more than ever trust that search results will provide a useful and honest answer to their inquiries. |
| Q | How important is it to have links to my site from other sites? |
| A | It's not just the quantity of incoming links to your site that's helpful, it's the quality of the links. Sites that have related content and are themselves ranked well by search engines are the best on which to seek a link. A good example would be an industry portal site (like Polysort.com) that provides robust industry information (which, as a result, oftentimes ranks well on search engines). If you have many to choose from, review each site's Google Page Rank rating. Sites with a page rank of 5 or higher are more likely to have a positive impact on your search engine link popularity score. |
| Q | How important really is it for my site to be on the first 3 pages of search results on the major search engines? |
| A | Recent studies show that natural results are far more effective in converting site visitors than the pay-per-click ads that you can buy on search engines. Moreover, sites that appear on the first page of results on Google have shown an increase in conversion rate of 142% in the first month of their appearance on the first page, and the conversion rates jump to 194% in the second month. If you've gone to the expense of building a site, it's worth the extra effort to make sure your prospects are seeing it. |
| Q | Which are the most popular search engines for which I should optimize my site? |
| A | As of July 2005, Google dominates with 39.34% marketshare; Yahoo, while still at No. 2, has dropped to 18.16% share; MSN is No. 3 at 15.32%; Ask Jeeves is No. 4 at 2.09. From a practical standpoint, we would recommend optimizing for the top three: Google, Yahoo and MSN. |
| Q | How many pages of my site should be optimized? |
| A | It depends on how many different keywords for which you want your site positioned. We generally recommend a minimum of 5 pages so that search engines have the opportunity to rank your site well using several different types of content. If your site is very complex, touting many products or services, you'll need to devote a couple pages to each keyword for which you'd seek better placement. The best way to determine the number of pages needed is to first have SEO keyword research done for your site to discover the best set and number of keywords for your site. |
| Q | I had my site submitted to the search engines, but nothing's happened. How long does it take to show up? |
| A | It depends on how frequently the search engines choose to update their indexes. If they perform an update shortly after you've submitted your site, you may see results within a few weeks. But it can take as long as 3 to 6 months to see results. |
| Q | Can dynamic web site content be indexed into the search engines? |
| A | Yes, if the subdirectory layout and length of URL accommodate search engine robots spidering habits. You'll need to have an experienced SEO company evaluate your database structure to see if it's compatible with search engine indexing - many are not. |
| Q | My site is written in Java and hasn't been indexed. Could Java be the problem? |
| A | Yes. The search engines won't read Java. You can use Java in combination with other indexable content to get around this issue. |
| Q | Can the directory structure of my web site affect its performance on search engines? |
| A | Yes. Search engines generally don't like to dive too deep
to index web pages, so the flatter a directory structure you
have (with few subdirectories), the better. |
| Q | Should I re-submit my site to the search engines to try to get them to re-index and re-position my site? |
| A | No. The only time you need to submit your site to search engines is when it is a new site. Once the site has been indexed, search engines will naturally re-index it and rank it according to their specific algorithm. If the site is not performing as you'd like, it probably needs to be optimized. |
| Q | Will updating content on my site help or hurt the search engine positioning? |
| A | Depends. Search engines do give a premium to sites that have been online longest, but as of late, Google is rewarding sites that update their content frequently with better search engine position. How frequent? There's no way to tell - depends on what the sites that compete for your keywords are doing and the relevance of the content to the keywords. Any updated content needs to be relevant to the keywords that you seek to be positioned on in order to have the desired impact. |
| Q | Are there any automated tools I can use to self-optimize our site? |
| A | Yes, but the search engines by and large consider these tools to be conveyors of Internet spam and you risk your site being banned from the search engines for optimizing in this fashion. |
| Q | I received an e-mail offering to submit my web site to thousands of search engines at a cost of $29.99 per month. Is that a good deal? |
| A | Given that 95.6% of all search traffic is generated by the top 5 search engines, not only is such a program unnecessary, it actually can be harmful to your web site's position. Companies that claim to improve your position by regularly submitting you to these search engines only risk your company's web site submissions being labeled as spam and rejected entirely. To make sure your site is spidered and properly ranked by the top 5 search engines, your content must be written in a way that makes it search-engine friendly. |
| Q | How can I get search engines to index the important pages on my site and leave the unimportant pages alone? |
| A | Google's new Sitemap Protocol enables you to tell Google exactly which pages you want indexed and in what priority. For other search engines, like Yahoo, use a robots.txt file to limit the pages you'd like the search engines to index. |
| Q | Can using a Content Management System (CMS) to create web pages hurt my search engine positioning? |
| A | Yes. Content Management Systems are great for creating and updating web sites, particularly large, complex sites, but they can inhibit the search engines from successfully indexing your web pages. CMS systems that generate very lengthy page URLs, and URLs with session IDs in them seem to have the biggest issue with getting content indexed in the search engines. |
| Q | What is SEO copywriting? |
| A | SEO copywriting is the process of developing web site content that search engines value as being important enough to rank your sites among the top pages for a given keyword result. Read more about what's involved in SEO copywriting services. |
| Q | Do more search engine users select organic or earned listing over paid listings? |
| A | According to research, 72% of Google users and 60% of Yahoo users select organic listings. |
| Q | How often should I submit my site to search engines to maintain top positioning? |
| A | Once. After the search engines have indexed your site, they will automatically revisit your site periodically to update their index with any new content you've added. Companies that claim that frequent submissions will help are only looking out for their own pocketbook. |
| Q | Is there such a thing as a bad link? |
| A | Yes. In addition to giving incoming links higher priority when ranking sites, the search engines are weighing the value of those incoming links, and, sometimes, penalizing sites that have "bad" links. An example of a bad link would be one from link farms, or sites that offer to exchange links with you without having any relevancy to your site content. Search engines consider good links as those from trusted sites, particularly sites that feature strong content related to your business. Read more about how to obtain the right type of links for your site. |
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