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| SEO For MSN |
| Posted: 4-05-2006 |
| Author: Dave Davies |
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This is article
one of a four part series on optimizing your website
for the "Big Three". Part two will focus on Yahoo!,
Part three will focus on Google and part four of this
series will explain how to perform SEO on your website
to attain high rankings across all three major engines.
We are beginning with MSN as rankings are generally
faster attained on this engine and thus it is a good
place to begin, especially if you have a new site that
is likely still in the sandbox on Google or are just
at the beginning stages of link building.
Like all of the
major search engines, MSN builds their index of sites
using search engine spiders to crawl the web finding
new and changed information. This information is then
processed by the MSN servers using complex algorithms
to determine which sites are most relevant to the search
query entered. This may seem like an extraordinarily
complex process and it is however the resulting environment
is simple: all search engine algorithms are mathematical
and thus, there is a fixed set of rules and factors
which, if addressed correctly, will result in a high
ranking. In short, because it's math we have the benefit
of knowing that if we take action x and action y we
will get result z.
The Rules For
MSN
Assuming that
you are following the right rules the results you can
achieve on MSN can be fast and solid. MSN does not apply
the same types of aging delays that the other two engines
do and thus, when you change your content the change
in results can be realized as quickly as they reindex
your site and as quickly as your incoming links get
picked up you are given credit for them. This differs
greatly from Google and Yahoo! in that those two engines
age both domains and links requiring a longer period
of time before the full effects of your efforts are
realized.
As an additional
note on MSN, users of MSN are 48% more likely to purchase
a product or service online than the average Internet
user according to a comScore Media report.
So what are the
rules for MSN that can help us get top rankings? As
with all the major engines, there are two fundamental
areas that need to be addressed to attain top rankings.
The first is the onsite factors, the second is the offsite.
Because they are fundamentally different we will address
them separately.
Onsite SEO Factors
The problem with
writing an article about the onsite factors is that
by the time many of you read this some of the weight
these factors hold and the optimal levels noted may
well be out-of-date. Thus, rather than listing overly-specific-and-sure-to-change
factors we will focus on how to know what the factors
are, how to get a handle on what you need to adjust
and by how much, and how to predict what will be coming
down the road. And so we'll begin:
How To Know What
The Factors Are:
Unfortunately
there's no one over at MSN Search calling us up weekly
to let us know what the specifics of their algorithm
are, we have to figure it out for ourselves with research,
reading and playing with test sites. From all of this
there is only one assumption that an SEO can make: everything
matters. When we're discussing onsite factors this includes:
the content of the page including keyword density
the internal linking structure of the site (how the pages
of your site are linked together)
the number of pages in your site and the relevancy of
those pages to your main topic and phrases
the use of titles, heading tags and special formats
There are a number
of lower weight factors however the ones noted above,
if addressed correctly, will have very significant results
on your rankings if the offsite factors noted below
are also addressed.
Page Content:
The content of
your page must be perfect. What I mean by this is that
the content must appeal to both the search engines and
the algorithms. In order to write properly for the visitors
you must be able to write clearly and in language that
is both appealing and understandable to your target
market. While there is much debate about whether the
keyword density of your page is important I am certain
one who believes that it is. It only makes sense that
a part of the algorithm takes into account the use of
the keywords on your page. Unfortunately the optimal
keyword density changes slightly with each algorithm
update and also by site type and field. For this reason
it would be virtually impossible for me to give you
a density that will work today and forevermore. For
this reason you will need a keyword density analysis
tool which you will want to run on your own site as
well as the sites in the top 10 to assess what the optimal
density is at this time. You may notice a variation
in the densities of the top 10. This is due to the other
factors including offsite which can give extra weight
to even a poorly optimized site. I recommend getting
your site to a keyword density close to the higher-end
of the top 10 but not excessive. Traditionally this
percentage will fall somewhere near 3.5 to 4% for MSN.
Internal Linking
Structure:
The way your pages
link together tells the search engines what the page
is about and also allows them to easily (or not-so-easily)
work their way to your internal pages. If your site
has an image-based navigation it is important to also
use text links either in your content, in a footer,
or both. The text links are easy to follow for a spider
and perhaps more importantly, the text links allow you
the opportunity to tell the spiders what a specific
page is about though the anchor text and, in the case
of footers, allows you to add in more instances of the
targeted phrases outside of your general content area.
The Number Of
Pages & Their Relevancy:
MSN wants to please
their visitors. For this reason they want to insure
that highest likelihood that a searcher will find what
they need once they get to your site. for this reason
a larger site with unified content will rank higher
that a smaller site or a site with varying content topics.
(note: this assumes that all else is equal in regards
to the other ranking factors)
When you are optimizing
your site for MSN be sure to take some time to built
quality content. Do a search on your major competitors
to see how large their sites are, over time you will
want to build yours to the same range through general
content creation or the addition of a blog or forum
to your site.
Titles, Heading
Tags & Special Formats:
Titles are the
single most important piece of code our your entire
web page for two reasons. The first is that it holds
a very high level of weight in the algorithm. the second
reason is that it is your window to the world. When
someone runs a search the results will generally show
your page title in the search results. This means that
a human visitor has to be drawn to click on your title
or rankings your site is a futile effort (this isn't
about bragging rights, it's about return on investment).
Heading tags are
used to specify significant portions of content. The
most commonly used is the H1 tag though there are obviously
others (or they wouldn't bother numbering them would
they). The H1 tag is given a significant amount of weight
in the algorithm provided that it is not abused though
overuse (it should only be used once per page). Try
to keep your headings short-and-sweet. They're there
to tell your visitor what the page is about, not your
whole site.
Special formats
are, for the purpose of this article, and text formatting
that distinguishes a set of characters or words apart
from the others. This includes such things as, anchor
text, bold, italic, different font colors, etc. When
you set content apart using special formats MSN will
read this as a part of your content that you want to
draw attention to and which you obviously want your
visitors to see. This will increase the weight of that
content. Now don't go making all your keyword bold or
the such, simply make sure to use special formats properly.
Inline text links (links in the body content of your
page) is a great way to increase the weight of specific
text while actually helping your visitor by providing
easy paths to pages they may be interested in.
Offsite SEO Factors
With MSN, the
offsite factors are much simpler to deal with than either
Google or Yahoo! MSN will give you full credit for a
link the day they pick it up so link building, while
time consuming, is reworded much quicker on MSN. When
dealing with MSN and offsite SEO there are two main
factors we must consider when finding links:
Relevancy. The
site must be relevant to yours to hold any real weight.
Quality is better
than quantity. Because PageRank is Google-specific we
can't use it as the grading tool for MSN however upon
visiting a website it's generally fairly clear whether
we're visiting a good site or not. Spending extra time
to find quality is well rewarded. Also, finding one-way
links as opposed to reciprocal links is becoming increasingly
important and I'd recommend utilizing both in your link
building strategies.
Conclusion
This entire article
may seem fairly simplistic and there's a reason for
that, what we've noted above is a list of the more important
areas however to save you frustration and me from receiving
hundreds of emails a few months from now noting that
the keyword densities don't work, etc. I've tried to
keep it general. Below you'll find a list of recommended
resources. These are tools and SEO resources to help
keep you updated and on top of the rankings.
Next week we will
be covering Yahoo!
Resources
Total Optimizer
Pro> - A keyword density and backlink analysis
tool. This tool breaks down a variety of onsite and
offsite factors giving you a full snapshot of how the
top 10 got their positions.
Microsoft
Press Room> - Read the latest press releases from
Microsoft. This may not give you the algorithm but it
will tell you the direction they're going. Understand
this and you'll be better equipped to deal with changes
down the road.
SearchEngineWatch's
MSN Forums> - Read the latest news, feedback and
discussions on the SearchEngineWatch forums. A great
way to keep updated but beware, not everyone in there
is a qualified opinion.
Bio
Dave Davies
is the CEO of the SEO firm> Beanstalk Search Engine
Positioning, Inc. Beanstalk provides guaranteed
search engine positioning and SEO consulting services>
to clients from around the world.< If you're more
interested in doing it yourself please visit our SEO
news blog> to keep updated on the latest goings-on
in the search engine world.
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