Search Engine Placement Secrets

"Tutorials to Improve Search Engine Placements and Achieve Top listings"

Links to Specific Search Engine Tutorials

Excite | Lycos | Yahoo | InfoSeek | AltaVista  WebCrawler | Hotbot | Secrets Update

Use this search engine placement information to raise or improve your search engine positions at Excite, Lycos and Yahoo! The ordered list at the beginning is meant as a reference for the keys to relevance and your ability to achieve matches for several queries. If the importance of a key is known it will be noted for order of importance using numbers. First a short definition of what each means:

Keys To Unlock the Door to Higher Search Engine Positions

1. Title is it used to determine positions?
2. Using keywords frequently and close together in the first 200 words of text: Is it a key?
3. How is the summary of a result generated?
4. Meta Tags Utilized: Yes or No simple isn't it?
5. Case Sensitivity: Will Capital Letters change the matches to a query?
6. Plural sensitivity: Will plurals change the matches to a query?
7. Variables to words required: Does the search engine find promote for promoting or promotion if yes is marked you need to use as many of the variables as possible in the meta tags, title and the first 200 characters of text including the "alt" in images.
8. Certain types of words ignored: Some disregard words like web, internet, web site, and, or, adjectives etc.
9. Known Relevancy Boosters: Some use site reviews by the search engine, links to a page and of course the wonderful meta tags. We're all using them right?

This update to the search engine secrets directory reflects the changes at the majors since the original was written. Although the information for manipulating the engines has changed little the way results are presented has changed significantly. Of even greater importance is the information on the reference page.

The alliances between the majors and smaller engines/directories has made these even more important than the majors. For this reason this update is actually adding new engines/directories to the list. Where and how you spend your time  marketing your site should make allowances for and be based upon the information on the reference page.

Excite | Lycos | Yahoo | InfoSeek | AltaVista  
Hotbot  

Alliances in the Secrets Index
ODP | LookSmart | Google |  GOTO
Direct Hit & Ask Jeeves

Excite Update

Original Summary

Of special note here is that Excite is now using meta tags! The summary uses the title and meta tag description which IMHO improves the summaries. They also seem to be using Ask Jeeves (AJ) for some searches. I found that plural searches were easiest to manipulate results quite possibly because AJ isn't plural sensitive they seemed to return the same results for plural or singular. LookSmart is also in the mix for a search using singular and plural to some extent but not near as much. 

Titles are more important now as well. If you are optimizing for plural sensitivity use the same sensitivity in the title, meta etc. Excite is also using link relevance (number and quality of links to a site) possibly because of the WebCrawler factor. This has been a known booster on WebCrawler for quite some time. 

To summarize I have found that this engine is now easier to manipulate especially if you are listed on Ask Jeeves and LookSmart. IMHO excite should be low on your priorities because where it once was being accessed by a few other engines for results these engines are not very important anymore. WebCrawler once was important but a stale database has led to it being used far less than in the past. Excite owns WebCrawler and Magellan (an early engine). It looks like they may have bought them just to kill them!

Important Notice

WebCrawler once a major engine has reportedly ceased indexing and its traffic has dwindled  significantly. I have wondered if it would end up like Magellan after its purchase by Excite. This seems to be the case. Do not even bother submitting there until you hear otherwise.

Lycos

Original Summary

Lycos has changed considerably since the first article. It is one of the major search engines which seems to be trying to re-invent itself as a directory. As I mentioned in the update of excite one of the ways to get around this is to optimize for plurals. All the original summary techniques still work and well I might add if you figure out how to sidestep the directory listings. Optimizing plurals sometimes works. If you do a search a few ways see the results and concentrate on avoiding competition with the directory listings you can manipulate it.

Of special note here for choosing keywords is the area at the top right under the search box. There is a list of phrases that were also used by people making this search. These also provide clues to avoiding competition with the directory.

One of the major changes is the way the results are presented. They are divided into distinct areas Popular which is almost exclusively Direct Hit listings, Lycos Properties and articles which have been reviewed usually from a major site like ZDNET. The Websites area has bulleted listings from the directory. Followed by the results which are also in many cases coming from the directory. Third is an area for News Articles. Once you ask for the next set of listings the Popular and News articles areas are gone.

Lycos is using a technology by Fast to put this altogether. If you look at the bottom of the page it lists the resources used to deliver the results. This same company is partnered with Lycos on another project which is trying to index all of the web. A noble thought but I don't believe it will ever happen!

In conclusion it is business as usual if you can get around competition with the directory listings. The other alternative is to slowly add to the categories you are listed on in the ODP. A good listing on Direct hit is also extremely important here! IMHO spending your time on these activities may be a better use of your time. The times they are a changin' and if you are smart you will change your outlook on optimization to meet the changin' times. 

Yahoo!

Original Summary

Yahoo! has changed very little but here are a few new tips for getting listed:

• Look at listings in the category you want to be included in to see what is being allowed as far as description goes.

• Watch that you don't use anything like the caption in the original some of the suggested description would be frowned on.

• Use the express service if you can it is well worth the costs

The biggest change to Yahoo is the the provider of secondary results. They have switched from Inktomi to Google. Secondary results are those which appear when it doesn't find a match in the Yahoo! index.

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