[...]... Chapter 1: Surveying the Search Engine Landscape ߜ Search results: The information returned to you (the results of your search) when you go to a search site and search for something Remember that in many cases, the search results don’t come from the search site you’re using, but from some other search system Why bother with search engines? Why bother using search engines? Because search engines represent... popular search sites aren’t on the list This chapter explains why What Are Search Engines and Directories? The term search engine has become the predominant term for search system or search site, but before reading any further, you need to understand the dif­ ferent types of search, um, thingies, you’re going to run across Basically, you need to know about four thingies: ߜ Search indexes or search engines:... Introduction W elcome to Search Engine Optimization For Dummies What on earth would you want this book for? After all, can’t you just build a Web site, and then pay someone $25 to register the site with thousands of search engines? I’m sure you’ve seen the advertising: “We guarantee top-ten place­ ment in a gazillion search engines!” “We’ll register you in 5,000 search engines today!” Well, unfortunately, it’s... quick fixes to your site Part II: Building Search- Engine- Friendly Sites Do you have any idea how many sites are invisible to the search engines? Or that, if they’re not invisible, are built in such a way that search engines won’t see the information they need in order to index the site in the way the site owners would like? 3 4 Search Engine Optimization For Dummies Well, I don’t know an exact number,... Don’t forget to visit the Web sites associated with this book At www .dummies com/go/seo, you find all the links in this book (so you don’t have to type them!), as well as a Bonus Chapter on how to power up your search engine skills At www.SearchEngineBulletin.com, you find the aforementioned links along with additional useful information that didn’t make it into the book 5 6 Search Engine Optimization For. .. site with the search engines, but if your pages aren’t optimized for the search engines, you may be wasting your time! You can create pages the search engines can read, but if you don’t pick the right keywords, it’s a total waste of time So I recommend that you read everything in this book; it will make a huge difference in how well your pages are ranked in the search engines Part I: Search Engine Basics... your site is invisible 31 Picking Good Keywords 32 xii Search Engine Optimization For Dummies Examining Your Pages 34 Are you using frames? 34 Look at the TITLE tags 35 Examine the DESCRIPTION tag 36 Can the search engines get through? .37 Do the pages have anything for search engines to read? 38 Getting Your Site Indexed 40 Chapter 3:... I: Search Engine Basics In this part, I provide, yep, the basics — the foundation on which you can build your search- engine- optimization skills Which search engines are impor­ tant, for instance? In fact, what is a search engine? And what’s a search direc­ tory? And why am I using the term search system? In this part, you find out the basics of sensible site creation, discover how to pick the keywords... Text formatting .98 Creating links 99 Using other company and product names 100 Preparing for local search 101 Creating navigation structures that search engines can read 103 Blocking searchbots 103 Chapter 6: Avoiding Things That Search Engines Hate 105 Dealing with Frames 105 The HTML Nitty-Gritty of Frames .107 Providing search engines... 1 Part I: Search Engine Basics 7 Chapter 1: Surveying the Search Engine Landscape .9 Chapter 2: Your One-Hour Search- Engine- Friendly Web Site Makeover 27 Chapter 3: Making Your Site Useful and Telling People about It 43 Chapter 4: Picking Powerful Keywords 53 Part II: Building Search- Engine- Friendly Sites 77 Chapter 5: Creating Pages That Search Engines Love . Page iii Optimization FOR DUMmIES ‰ Search Engine by Peter Kent 01 567586 FM.qxd 3/22/04 3:54 PM Page ii 01 567586 FM.qxd 3/22/04 3:54 PM Page i Optimization FOR DUMmIES ‰ Search Engine. FM.qxd 3/22/04 3:54 PM Page iii Optimization FOR DUMmIES ‰ Search Engine by Peter Kent 01 567586 FM.qxd 3/22/04 3:54 PM Page iv Search Engine Optimization For Dummies ® Published by Wiley. Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies. com, and related trade dress