NONE: ONLINE-ADS>> Why it is a *HUGE* mistake to try and trick search engines...
ONLINE-ADS>> Why it is a *HUGE* mistake to try and trick search engines...
Eric R. Ward /NetPOST & NetWIRE/ (netpost_at_netpost.com)
Sun, 20 Oct 1996 20:34:07 -0400 (EDT)
Now this is the one topic that will get me to de-lurk anytime...
Here is my perspective on search-engine results tweaking,
from an article finished a couple weeks ago.
-Eric Ward
The WardGroup / NetPOST & NetWIRE /
Internet Press & Publicity -- http://www.netpost.com
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Tuning HTML for search engines...Fair or Foul???
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The various search engines each use their own collection of
algorithms for indexing pages. Each can tweak these algorithms
anytime they want. Each can have completely different results
for the same exact search term. While some webmasters try to make
html changes to their pages to improve where they come up, the truth
is it is impossible to create a long-term method for improving your
position with each and every one of them. Any company or service
that tells you different is full of baloney. The concept is
something I call html "tuning", and the flaws in the strategy can
be summed up by discussing a couple key concepts.
First, any "tuning" of a Web page to improve its position in a
search result is attempting to affect the accuracy of that engine in
their own favor. In the long run, as more people do this, the
result is innacurate results for everyone, and an innefective search
tool. Any "tuning" made to a site should conform to the
instructions given for such action by each individual search engine,
should they provide them. Keyword loading, title packing,
meta-stacking, and other techniques are NOT ethical. They hurt
everyone, especially the end-users of the search engines.
Second, you must also realize that anything you do to your page
that DOES result in some kind of artificial ranking is not exactly a
secret. The html on your page is what determines the ranking, and
this same html is viewable to anyone who wants to see it. Want to
come up first? Just see who comes up first on the term you want,
and then look at the source code for that site. The answer you
seek is right dad-gum in front of you! And this is why this
technique will never work in the long haul. Anything you do that
gets you ranked high will last only as long as it takes for someone
to view your source.
So, unless all you want to do with your time all day is look at
your competitors html and tweak your own, and then resubmit your
site to each and every true engine, please forget it. Go to each
search engine's homepage, and follow the directions. And don't
forget that some search engines actually penalize cheaters by
looking for certain abuses and dis-including them completely.
Be a friend to the Internet, don't screw with the search engines
results.
(c) 1996 Eric R. Ward The WardGroup / NetPOST & NetWIRE
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