Still Room At The Top! (AltaVista search engine ranking)

There are millions of web sites, with more being added daily. Guess what! A great many of them fail to use proper meta tags or keyword frequency. They will never get a high ranking.

What does this mean for you? There is room at the top!

Over the next several weeks I will be discussing some suggested guide lines for submitting to the major search engines. A different one each week. Any feedback you may have will be
greatly appreciated.

Based on the comparison of the top 20 pages and the current submission rules, here are my suggestions for improving the ranking of your pages on AltaVista, when utilizing a 2-3 word
search phrase.

In short... make your pages conform closer to the statistical averages for the top ranking pages:

1. A word count from 3 to 10 is suggested for the Title area.

I am constantly ask to submit websites for clients. Invariably, I check out there home page to see if it is ready to be submitted and find no title, or maybe just the company name.
* Use your main keyword phrase there.

2. A keyword frequency of 1 is suggested for the Meta Keywords area.

For best results try using the same phrase or words in (lower case), (ALL CAPS), and the (Proper Version)

3. A word count from 4 to 18 is suggested for the Meta Keywords area.

You would be amazed at how many people stick dozens of words, even hundreds in the Meta Keywords area. All that does is reduce the relevancy.

4. A word count from 2 to 9 is suggested for the Meta Description area.

A generic example of proper meta tags can be viewed at http://www.powerpub.com/searchsecrets.htm This is a "how to" article, so feel free to change the specific words to fit your criteria.

5. A word count from 1 to 12 is suggested for the Heading area.

<h1><font size="3">email software, internet marketing course, advertising, web promotion</font></h1>

This is usually found at the top of the page, just inside the body text. Not in the title area.

6. A keyword frequency from 1 to 4 is suggested for the Link Text area.

Do you have other links to sub pages with the keywords in the hyperlinked text or in the URL? It makes a big difference.

7. A keyword frequency of 1 is suggested for the Alt area.

This is the tag that shows the name of the image when you hold your mouse over it.

<CENTER><P><IMG SRC="bluelinenew.gif" ALT="free software, shareware" width="640" height="20"></P></CENTER>

8. A word count from 1 to 31 is suggested for the Alt area.

However, keep in mind that the more words you use... the less density they will carry.

9. A keyword frequency from 3 to 6 is suggested for the Body Text area.

Start your first sentence with your keyword phrase and be sure to sprinkle it though out the body. End the page with it as well, if possible. Be sure to use the upper and lower case
variations to match your keyword relevancy.

10. A total frequency from 6 to 23 is suggested for the page as a whole.

This depends on how long your body text is, of course.

11. A total word count from 515 to 545 is suggested for the page as a whole.

If you have Microsoft Word, it has a feature that it will tell you the total "word count" for a page with just a few clicks (pull down menu: tools, word count).

If you are looking for an additional advantage, you might consider purchasing additional domains named after the most i mportant Keywords you wish to optimize, and then optimize the home page for each domain for a different Keyword. For example, an ideal Url would be "http://www.mykeyword.com"

IMPORTANT: As of December 4th, 1999 up to 67 character domain names can now be purchased versus 23 character domains. This can significantly increase the number of Keywords you can include in a domain name and thereby increase your rankings for
those Keywords.

If you would like to do some research on these keyword stuffed domain names. You can perform searches and park your domain name for free at http://www.abcHosting.net/whois1.htm And save yourself $10.00.

Also, try their keyword generator to find other highly targeted keywords and phrases. It will also give you an idea of how often they are used in a search. A very valuable tool.