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The Search Light Newsletter - Vol. 1 Issue #1

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THE SEARCH LIGHT

Guiding your web site to the

top of the search engines...

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1 July 2001 Vol 1 Issue # 1
Editor : Kalena Jordan, CEO, Web Rank Ltd
  

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Welcome to the very first issue of "THE SEARCH LIGHT".
You are receiving this monthly newsletter because you
are one of our clients, you've subscribed, requested
a free ranking report via our site, sent us an FAQ to
be answered or someone has forwarded it to you.
UNSUBSCRIBE instructions are at the end of this
newsletter. (Replying to this email WILL NOT unsubscribe you).
If you like this newsletter, please forward a copy of it to any
friend or colleague who is responsible for a web site and
would like to improve their ranking in the search engines.

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IN THIS ISSUE
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=> Sponsorship Notice

=> Feature Article - What Your Web Designer Isn't Telling You

=> Industry News - AltaVista Introduces Paid Inclusion Service

                           - LookSmart Introduces LookListings

=> Search Engine FAQ's – Title Tag Content

=> Site Spotlight - Free Ranking Report

=> Customer Feedback

=> Subscribe / Unsubscribe information

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SPONSORSHIP NOTICE
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Ever wondered how compatible your site
is with search engines? Want to optimize
your own site but not sure where to start?
Are you restricted by a small budget?
Web Rank has SEO packages ranging from
Self Help to Advanced, starting at USD $250.

Check them out at :
http://www.high-search-engine-ranking.com/ 


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FEATURE ARTICLE

What Your Web Designer Isn't Telling You
by Kalena Jordan
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If I was to ask you right now "Is your web site is optimized for high
search engine rankings?", what would you say?

What if I was to ask "How many search engines has your site been
registered with?" Or how about "Does your site have tailored title and
META Tags?"

If you would answer "no" or "I don't know" to any of these questions,
you would be amongst the 70% of web site owners whose web sites
are missing out on search engine traffic because they are not designed
for high rankings.

Has your web designer optimized YOUR site? Have they submitted it
to the top ten search engines and directories? More than likely, you
don't know because they haven't told you. Ask them TODAY!
But what exactly is search engine optimization?

Simply explained, it is the technique of attaining a high ranking in
search engines and directories via changes to your site code to make
it more search engine compatible.

Did you know that key search words and phrases in your "title tag" and
"META tags" (in the HTML script of your site) and body text are often
very important references that search engines use when ranking web
sites for search relevancy? Optimizing your site meta tags (your site's 
invisible content) and your body text (the visible content) for search engines 
ensures that it ranks highly for particular words or phrases that you would 
expect potential visitors to type in to search engines to find your site.

For example, if you are a Miami florist, you should have logical search
phrases such as "send flowers", "Miami florists", "bouquets Miami" and
even target search terms such as "Miami weddings", "Valentine’s Day gifts"
etc integrated in your title and meta tags, as well as in the visible text
of your site. That way, if anyone types in those phrases in a search
engine, your site is more likely to appear higher in the search results.

So why wasn't your site optimized for search engines when it was built?
Depending on who developed your site and how it was built, you’ll find a
million different reasons for this. Many web developers believe it is the site
marketer’s job to ensure the site is found in search engines and vice versa.
Most don’t bother submitting your site to the important search engines,
assuming you or your marketing department will do it. Or perhaps it
wasn’t in your original development budget.

Not many web design firms have the time or know how to optimize a site
successfully, no matter what they tell you. They might feel it is outside
their core business, or they might believe it is not part of the "design
process". Consequently, your site can be launched for many months
without the search engines having any idea it exists. Some web
development firms don’t include even the most basic META tags in
your site code when building it. Or those that do include META tags
without close consultation with you, resulting in the wrong search terms
used and poor performance. This is quite typical! Remember that
search engine optimization is a relatively new science and requires
both client interaction and constant monitoring to be successful.

The bottom line? If your designer can’t show you the high rankings
they’ve achieved for other clients, they won’t be able to optimize your
site properly. Luckily, search engine optimization (SEO) specialists
have sprung up to fill the need for these services. Many SEO's will
work either directly with you or with your web site designer to ensure
your site gets the exposure it deserves in the most popular search
engines and directories. Find a specialist with a good track record
and you'll reap the results of their knowledge.

Remember, search engine users generally only explore the first 10 or
20 sites in the search results. If you site isn't in the top 20, you won't be
found, it's as simple as that. Always include search engine optimization
into your marketing budget or your site could be as effective as a billboard
at the end of a dead end street.

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The above article may be re-published as long as the following paragraph
and URL link are included at the end of the article :

[Kalena Jordan, CEO of Web Rank Ltd, was among the first
search engine optimization experts in Australasia and is
well known and respected in her field. For more of her tips
on search engine ranking and online marketing, please visit:
 
www.high-search-engine-ranking.com]

 

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SEARCH ENGINE INDUSTRY NEWS
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AltaVista Introduces "Paid Inclusion" Service

Search engine AltaVista has started an "Express Inclusion" service
that allows users to submit between 1 to 500 URLs at a time. Once
indexed, the URL's will be refreshed weekly and maintained for a
period of 6 months. The system is likened to that of Inktomi's "paid
spidering" service. Costs are :

Price for 6 months (USD)

1st URL $39.00

URLs #2-10 $24.00 each

URLs #11-100 $19.00 each

URLs #101-500 $12.00 each


Probably the most beneficial aspect of the new service is the rapid
entry into AltaVista's global database, providing your URL conforms
to AltaVista's submission policy. Whether you need to pay again at
the end of 6 months (in order to keep your URL in their database)
remains to be seen. More : http://www.altavista.com/sites/search/express_incl 

 

LookSmart Adds "Cost Per Click" Listings

In a move sure to raise eyebrows, search engine LookSmart has
added a "GoTo" type paid prominence model to their listings range.
Called "LookListings", the service is designed to work in conjunction
with LookSmart's existing paid inclusion program. It builds on a for-fee
service LookSmart launched earlier this year called Subsite Listings,
through which companies could pay for links to specific pages on their
sites, rather than be limited by the maximum of five directory entries
available via the $199 paid inclusion program.

LookSmart's existing Subsite Listings will be folded into LookListings
and include a "paid prominence" facet that guarantees the appearance
of listings in the top three positions on search-results pages. The "paid
prominence" offering - called "Featured Listings" - will be based on the
purchase of keywords. Confused? So are we! 

More : http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/167233.html 


*-----------------HOT TIP------------------*

To check if you site has META tags

Click View, Source from your browser

menu and look for <meta name>

*-----------------HOT TIP------------------*

 


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SEARCH ENGINE FAQ'S : Title Tag Content
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Web Rank answers your search engine questions.

Please submit your FAQ's
 

From: Sophie Jenkins

I am in charge of my employer's web site design
and I have been careful to ensure it is search engine
friendly. I recently heard that it was better to use
keywords or phrases in the title tag than to use the
company name, so I did this and removed our
name in the process.

The problem is that now I am getting criticism from
our Marketing Manager because she says site visitors
can't see our company name across the top of their
browser and it is ruining the "brand experience" for
the viewer, as well as the bookmark text. What
should I do?

Thanks
Sophie

 

~~~~~~~~~~ Kalena's Response ~~~~~~~~~~

Hi Sophie - I was in your situation with a client a while back
and it was very frustrating! I could understand my client's
concern that his company name didn't appear in the browser
bar or Favourite's list (when the site was bookmarked), but
I had carefully constructed his title tag so that it contained
all his important search phrases and didn't waste any space.

[For our readers who aren't familiar with a title tag, it is essentially
a piece of HTML code that creates the words that appear across
the top of your Web browser when looking at a site. For example,
it might read "My Home Page" or "Welcome to Widgets Inc"]

When I showed my client just how important the title tag is to
search engine ranking relevancy, he soon realised where I was
coming from. You see, when a search engine robot comes to
index your site, it will usually give more "weight" to the content
of your body text and title tag than it will to any other elements,
even your META tags. If the search terms in your title tag and
body text match the terms entered by a search engine user,
your site is more likely to appear at the top of the results. I'm
sure you'll agree that this is worth sacrificing aesthetic principles!

You should save your most important search phrases for your
title tag. Unless your company name is one of your targeted
search phrases, I recommend leaving it out. If you can't avoid
including it, put it at the end, because the words towards the
start of your tag are given more ranking relevancy "weight" than
those at the end. Explain this to your Manager and hopefully
she'll understand that sacrificing a little could benefit a lot.

Kalena


Please submit your FAQ. We can't give a
personal reply, but we will do our best to answer as many
questions as possible via our newsletter.

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SITE SPOTLIGHT: Free Ranking Report
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Would you like to know how well your site
ranks in the search engines? Web Rank
offers a FREE report to show you how your
site ranks on 10 major search engines for
search terms of your choice. No catch!

Click Here to request:
http://www.high-search-engine-ranking.com/
free_ranking_report_request.htm

 

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CUSTOMER FEEDBACK OF THE MONTH:
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"At all times Web Rank staff have been extremely professional and
helpful. Always on the 'look out' for research related to my industry
and forwarding this on simply for my own information / advice, or
alternatively only too happy to offer advice / answers on questions
my colleagues or I have had from time to time".

Heather Grenville
Manager Dot Com
L.J. Hooker Real Estate (www.ljhooker.com.au)

 

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COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
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The information presented in The Search Light has been compiled from
various sources for the benefit of our clients. You should not rely on
the information contained within this newsletter as detailed advice.
No part of this newsletter may be copied without permission from
Web Rank Ltd, the copyright owners 2001. You may forward this
newsletter, as long as it's kept in its entirety.


 


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Web Rank Ltd, Search Engine Ranking Specialists
Visit our web sites : www.high-search-engine-ranking.com,
www.webrank.biz 


 

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