The key to successful website optimization lies in understanding the intricacies of search engines. This article delves into the importance of studying search engines, the nuances of their algorithms, and how to leverage this knowledge to improve your website's visibility and ranking.
We were quite satisfied with the progress our website was making in terms of search engine rankings. We were ranked third on Excite, receiving a decent number of hits, and seventh on Northern Light, although it didn't generate any traffic. Google and Fast were also starting to bring in some traffic. Then, unexpectedly, we appeared at the top of Lycos' rankings for the keyword 'barnsley accountants'. However, when we tried 'barnsley accountant', we were nowhere to be found.
We were puzzled. Why couldn't Lycos recognize that 'accountant' is part of 'accountants'? Why was 'Business Start Up' not ranking on Lycos? To solve these mysteries, we had to go back to the basics. We needed to understand what Lycos was reading, which words were highlighted in the listing, and how Lycos' algorithm worked.
Lycos is one of the major search engines, and understanding its algorithm is crucial for website optimization. We knew from experience that Google prioritizes the title and the first paragraph of the body, while AltaVista focuses on keywords. However, Lycos seemed to be a different beast altogether.
The key to mastering search engine optimization lies in becoming a student of search engines. This involves spending hours studying them and trying to optimize your site to reach all of them without alienating any of the major ones.
Lycos seems to prioritize the title, but the rest of its algorithm is driven by the description contained in the meta description tags. We had neglected to write descriptions for most of the 603 pages on our site, assuming they were only for human reviewers.
We decided to write descriptions for each page, ensuring that we included both singular and plural forms of keywords in all the meta description tags. After submitting them to Lycos and waiting for a while, our site started ranking first for all our targeted keywords.
This implies that any business-related phrase or keyword that is typed into Lycos can be anticipated and optimized for, leading to a top ranking.
Imagine having a yellow pages directory where your business is always at the top of the list. This would significantly increase your website traffic. However, with 2.3 billion websites competing for your customers, understanding and studying search engines is crucial to stand out from the crowd.
Make your meta descriptions and titles compelling, as some search engines, like Excite, rank websites based on click-through rates. Also, ensure your spelling is correct. A simple spelling mistake can significantly affect your ranking, as demonstrated by the UK's top producer of car valeting products, who ranks 35th on Google due to a spelling error.
In conclusion, understanding search engines and their algorithms is crucial for successful website optimization. By studying them and optimizing your website accordingly, you can significantly improve your website's visibility and ranking.
Google, Excite, AltaVista, and Lycos are some of the major search engines that you should focus on.
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