Rule 2: Cheating (especially keyword stuffing) doesn’t work
Why isn’t my website showing up on page one of Google? Why is my competitor’s site ranking higher?
Let’s address these questions and related ones in this blog, the second installment in a series aimed at helping medical professionals master the basics of internet search marketing. Today’s topic is about the fundamentals of what search engines assess.
With all the bucks Google has sunk into its infrastructure (see previous blog), you can bet your last dollar that the internet goliath won’t let you game their system. In fact, the company employs the best minds in technology to stop it.
A common myth is that you can get a web page to rank highly in search-engine results pages (SERPs) for a search term merely by repeating that word over and over.
Not true. What kind of fool do you take Dr. Google for?
Here, in no particular order, are three important factors Google considers on a web page.
Visibility to the robot
A search-engine robot or spider depends on being able to read and understand text. The robot otherwise does not see, hear and think like humans. This is why video, still photographs and computer animations don’t impress Google. Rather, relevant words are what matter. Google can’t comprehend still or moving pictures, but it does understand the meaning of words.
Logical & clear website linking
Links are a critical SEO factor. Search engines weigh them heavily among the 200-plus signals about a web page’s content. Do the important pages on a website have links from other important pages? Does each link name clearly and accurately explain what that page is all about, and does it contain popular search terms (keywords)? Does the URL (web address) of each important page use relevant keywords?
Example: www.WebMD.com/cold-and-flu/default.htm is preferable for searchers of cold and flu information to an address such as http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story? section=news/food_coach&id=8944475.
Keyword usage, relevance & proximity
If you make a special mustard for hot dogs, you’d better be sure to use the words “hot dog mustard” in just the right way on your website. That is, you should have a web page with that exact title, a headline on that page with those words and a page all about how your mustard is carefully crafted to enhance the flavor of America’s favorite sausage. Otherwise, how do humans (and search engines, which try to mimic human interpretation) know your page is not about visiting the French city of Dijon or about the dangers of leaving your canine in a locked car in the summer?
SEO Basics Part 1
SEO Basics Part 1: SEO is about relevant information, not computers