Telescope: Everything You Need to Know About Search
Welcome to this edition of Telescope on Search, our monthly newsletter devoted to search. Our goal is to
offer a regular, quick-browse e-newsletter with useful information, tips, and news of the latest developments
on Site Search, Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Marketing, and site usability. If you have any
feedback or questions please direct them
to newsletter@sli-systems.com.
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Feature: Search Engine Optimization 101
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Shaun Ryan
CEO, SLI Systems
At SLI we have gained significant experience with Search Engine Optimization (SEO), particularly through our Site
Champion service. As a search technology provider we have a unique prospective and are often asked for SEO advice
from our customers. SEO consulting isn’t our core business but we have a range of expert partners that we will
happily refer you to. However I thought I would share with you some of the SEO basics:
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1. Allow your Pages to be Crawled
Ensure your pages can be found by using search engine friendly URLs. Problems can arise with using URL parameters
especially session IDs, and having links in JavaScript or Flash. The ideal URL contains a relevant keyword for the
page, is short, contains no parameters and is unique.
2. Good Titles
Page titles should describe the content of the page. When deciding on page titles consider how they look in the
search engines. A page title doesn’t have to be short, adding information to your page titles may make them more
likely to rank in the search engines and be clicked on more. As an example “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows”
would be a better page title than “Harry Potter” as users will be better able to decide this is the page that more
specifically suits their needs.
3. Content is Still King
Good quality content that provides site visitors with the information they need will not only improve your
rankings in search engines but will also allow the excerpts that are shown to be more informative.
4. Good Link and Image Tags
Ensure text links and images on your site have good anchor text – e.g. don't link from "click here", link from
"shipping options," and use alt tags for images. You should encourage other sites to link to your pages – not just
your home page.
5. Keyword Research
Don't just optimize for keywords and phrases that you know, research what your visitors use and utilize those
terms. Site Search activity is a great source of this information and some web analytics programs can also provide
useful keyword data. There are a number of other
keyword research tools you can use.
6. Consider the Verticals
There are lots of different search engines – even within Google there are engines for different types of content
(video, blogs, images, products, news, books, local).
7. Continuous Process
SEO is not a one off process. You need to monitor the results and continuously improve your site. As the search
engines are continuously changing their algorithms you shouldn't obsess about an individual ranking.
8. Resources
The Internet contains many resources that can assist you in your SEO. Google webmaster guidelines, Yahoo
guidelines, Search Engine Watch, Search Engine Land, Search Engine Strategies conference (we’re exhibiting at next
week’s show in San Jose), Search Marketing Expo, SEMPO.org.
If you have any comments you'd like to share, email us at
newsletter@sli-systems.com.
SLI Systems & Customers in the News
Below are links to recent news articles highlighting our Learning Search service:
Labsafe and SLI Systems Put Critical Medical
Information in Customers' Hands More Quickly
DM Review Magazine - July, 2007
FTD.com's Site Search Solution Helps Customers Quickly
Find Just the Right Flowers
Marketwire - July 10, 2007
Visit SLI Systems Booths at:
If you have any comments or suggestions for future issues please email us at
newsletter@sli-systems.com.
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