Ethnical Search Engine Optimization
Filter Words And Stop Words
Google and other big search engines ignore common words such as 'the', 'of', 'where', as well as certain single digits and single letters. These words are called "filter words". They are ignored because they tend to slow down a search without improving the results.
Of course, every search engine has its own list of filter words. We've found out that the following words seem to be ignored by most search engines:
a, about, an, and, are, as, at, be, by, from, how, i, in, is, it, of, on, or, that, the, this, to, was, we, what, when, where, which, with |
What does this mean to your site?
Search engines consider keywords in the title, in the body text and in link texts of a web page as an important ranking criteria.
Be careful when you choose your keywords for the title and the rest of your web page. If your web page title contains a list of filter words you won't get any results. You might also dilute the effectiveness of your other keywords if you include too many filter words in the title.
Many search engines recommend limiting the number of letters in the title and in the meta tags. If your web page title or the meta tags contain too many filter words, you might reach the character limit before your important keywords begin.
Some words can get you banned on search engines
While filter words might dilute the effectiveness of your other keywords, some words might get your web page banned on search engines. These words are called stop words.
Adult words and phrases that contain sexual content are the most common stop words. However, some search engines build custom stop word lists to penalize web sites that use "keyword stuffing". Some sites use the same keyword over and over on their pages to get a high rank for that keyword on search engines, even if it is not related to their content.
Of course, search engines try to find those sites and they penalize web pages that use keyword stuffing. Unfortunately, some sites are penalized although their webmasters didn't try to spam the search engines just because they use a keyword too many times.
That's why keyword analysis and the right keyword density is very important for a successful web site. If the keyword density is too low, you won't get a good ranking, if it's too high, your site might get accused of keyword stuffing.
Summary
- Use your most important keywords at the beginning of the title, meta tags, link texts and body text.
- Avoid using filter words to increase the effectiveness of your keywords.
- Make sure that your web pages have the right keyword density and don't contain stop words.
The right keyword mix on your web pages will help you to improve your ranking on all important search engines. To find the perfect keyword density for your web site, use IBP's Top 10 Optimizer.
Keep customers on your site with custom 404 error pages
You've probably seen many "404 not found" pages when surfing the web. A "404 not found" page is the page that comes up when someone tries to access a web page that doesn't exist.
This usually happens when someone types a wrong URL or follows a link to a page that does not exist. A typical 404 error page looks like this:
HTTP 404 Not Found
The requested URL was not found on this server.
The exact wording of this error may vary, but it is normally unintuitive and unfriendly. It is unlikely that the person explores your site further.
People who come to a "404 not found" web page are usually lost visitors. These visitors don't see your web site information and they cannot buy your products.
A custom 404 error page keeps visitors on your web site
Most web hosts allow you to create a custom "404 not found" page. If you haven't done it yet, you should create a custom 404 error page now.
A custom 404 error page is an easy way to keep visitors on your web site. It also allows you to redirect your visitors to the pages of your choice.
For example, you could use the following HTML code for your own 404 error page:
<html>
<head>
<TITLE>Sorry</TITLE>
<meta http-equiv=refresh content="2;URL=http://www.YourWebsiteName.com">
</head>
<body>
Sorry, this page doesn't exist. You'll be redirected to our index page.
</body>
</html>
This HTML code simply redirects people to the index page of your web site so that they can find what they're looking for (replace "www.YourWebSiteName.com with the URL of your own web site).
You could also create a custom 404 page that tells your visitors that the page is not available anymore. It also makes sense to give your visitors some choices.
A custom 404 error page is important to the success of your web site
People often mistype URLs and some web sites have links to non-existent pages. This can happen when redesigning a web site or just through typographical errors.
With a custom 404 error page, you make it easier for end users to find where they want to go on your web site.
Most web space providers allow custom 404 error pages. Ask your web space provider how you can create a 404 error page for your web site. If your web host doesn't allow this, you might find a new good host here.
|
