Article of
the week; Search Engine Optimization For MSN Search;
A great article By: Robert McCourty
Although most of the search engine optimization (SEO) guidelines
presented here may be similar to other engine requirements
and may not come as a surprise to most online marketing professionals,
it's important to note some of the subtle differences in SEO
requirements unique to MSNBot as the engine strives to have
its own identity.
Buried within the help files of the site, there are several
wonderful clues to assist web site owners, web site marketing
and promotion firms and search engine optimization (SEO) professionals
in gaining visibility within MSN search, for themselves or
for their clients.
It's quite refreshing to note that Microsoft has documented
recognition of the importance of a well designed and optimized
site. They even went so far as to state that, if you want
a better chance of being indexed properly within this engine,
then perhaps you should look into hiring a reputable SEO firm
to assist you.
This makes complete sense from MSN's point of view. A professionally
optimized site will allow their aptly named spider, MSNbot,
to easily read, navigate through and thus relevantly index
the web site properly. By optimizing your web site in accordance
with MSN's guidelines, you stand a much better chance of being
found when it counts the most - when someone is searching
for your goods and services.
Here are a few guidelines suggested by MSN to help you out.
First and foremost, MSN readily admits that MSNbot will actively
be using Meta tags for part of its web site analysis. Yes,
meta tags are still relevant pieces of code (despite all the
nay sayers out there), and with this new Bot they seem to
play a very important role within the indexing algorithm.
Similar to other search engines, the 'title tag' again appears
to be the most heavily weighted within the algorithm, followed
closely by the Meta Description Tag and if you read between
the lines, it is suggested that your best 'keywords' should
be included in both places. MSN does not come straight out
and say that the "keywords meta tag" will be utilized,
but by reading between the guidelines it strongly suggests
the keywords in all areas (title, description and keyword
tag and content) should adhere to each other.
Content of course is still king when it comes to MSNbot's
ability to put the entire puzzle together. Apparently, at
this stage, the Bot does not read text within a graphic, so
if you have important keywords contained within a graphic
(especially on your main page), they strongly suggest you
move those keywords into plain old text format. And here's
a tip; the closer to the top of the page, the better.
MSN Search calls for pages to be under 150K in size, suggesting
the Bot will either simply stop reading after this point or
in a worse case scenario, may measure/weigh the page size
before reading and simply skip the page all together. This
point is not made entirely clear, but it should be of enough
concern to have every SEO firm scampering to measure their
clients web site's index pages, just in case. In actuality,
a page size of 150k could contain a lot of relevant text content,
but add a few fancy graphics in there and the total can add
up quickly.
An interesting point within the guidelines suggests that
words (even keywords) within headers, footers and tables will
not be read. Again, simple text is the rule of thumb. This
may cause some web sites to need a complete redesign. Graphics
with long or non-content supported ALT tags will also be dismissed.
This is very similar to the rules from other major search
engines, as it provides somewhat of a safeguard against sites
that stuff keywords in an attempt to fool or "spam"
the engines into thinking they are something they are not.
Redirects will not be read either.
Linking, as per usual, will be an important part of MSNBot's
equation. They offer two suggestions as to which links will
be deemed the most important: links from the main page and
links no more than three levels deep. This means all hyperlinks
on your site should be accessible within three clicks or less
from each other for maximum effectiveness. Very interesting.
Larger web sites may have a problem adhering to this rule,
but it should be kept in mind that the MSNBot is still feeling
its way through the web. A three deep scenario is probably
the beginning of the parameter. It will surely offer a deeper
crawl as it becomes more sophisticated.
Submitting Your Site
Good news! Submission to MSN Search is offered freely by Microsoft
but two rules must be followed. First, search to see if your
web site is already contained within their database. There
is no need to resubmit if they already have you indexed. Second,
the submission procedure is manual and is not accepting automated
submissions at this time. Therefore you must enter a presented
code into the appropriate field along with your URL before
being allowed to submit (http://search.msn.com/docs/submit.aspx).
According to MSN Search online documentation, some sites
may have been deleted from the old index. Web site owners,
SEO firms and other online marketing professionals take note:
It would be time well spent to double-check your inclusion
status or run through your entire client roster to ensure
each client is contained within the MSN Search database. They
may have been ranking high in there before but completely
absent now. Resubmit where necessary.
This engine is already a major player and if the search industry
rumors are true, MSN Search will be taking on the Google and
Yahoo!'s of the world for dominance within the marketplace.
By following a few simple guidelines and MSN specific SEO
procedures, your web site will be showing up with the best
of them.
Robert McCourty is a founding partner and the Marketing Director
of Metamend
Software and Design Ltd., a cutting edge search engine
optimization (SEO) and web site promotion and marketing company.
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