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I've just redesigned my website and was wondering what is done nowadays for

submission to search engines and optimisation? I can do all the HTML,

Javascrips, CSS, etc but I'm not a web programmer by profession so I don't know

what is the norm at present. When I was doing this professionally some 11 years

ago metadata tags and physical submission to search engines was needed. Can

anyone give me an update for modern websites?

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It seems some search engines like meta tags with the information, some frown on 'hiding words' by making them the same color as the background, some sites prefer you have links to/from your site for better ranking.

 

Personally, I try to put in keywords, meta tags and information on the pages themselves and seem to rank pretty good. Of course you can do Googles Adwords(adsense?) for higher rankings.

 

Bob

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Search engines love blogs.<p>

I think a lot of the sites you see come up first on Google when you search for things like

"wedding photographer" or "{your location} photographer" are people who are paying, as

with the Adwords thing already mentioned.

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Content, content, content. And, grammar counts: fully formed, well-written sentences. Good page titles. Good alt text in image tags. Don't rely on flash or too much JS to simply navigate the site. Avoid superlatives in meta data ("best" "finest" "only" etc). Essentially, the search engines (especially Google) are getting good at visiting your web site and evaluating it not unlike and observant, jaded human would. Never try to game the system with anything too clever - that can land you in Google Hell, and it can take months or forever to climb out.

 

Secondly, part of what makes a site credible is the reality (not just the appearance) of other people finding it to be credible. Google is getting better and better at noticing when other sites link to yours, but they're also getting more and more annoyed at people who set up link farms (or who charge you to place you on link farms). Organic-looking mentions of you in people's blogs, rather than bot-generated bogus ones, are helpful - but nothing beats a link to your site from within the body of an article in a credible publication's online presence. Get interviewed, but insist on links to your site, etc.

 

When it comes to search engine placement (not to be confused with buying ads that show up on search engines), the good guy finishes first. People who try quick tricks are easily detected, and it backfires very badly, these days. Make sure you don't repeat your meta data on different pages, and that each page on your site can stand, on its own, as a destination from elsewhere on the web. Avoid frames at all costs. Make sure that your domain registration isn't about to expire, and when you do renew it, do it for multiple years... things like that actually do contribute to your "score" in the engines. Good luck!

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All good advice Matt. Each search engine uses a different algorithm which weighs things differently, and they change them all the time, so what works today..may not necessarily work next week. It can drive you crazy but it keeps people from exploiting the algos. There is no "magic bullet". The best advice for a good foundation is to have good content, good site structure/navigation, and quality inbound links. Good luck!
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There is one very obvious magic bullet, but it will cost you. You can pay per click to have your name at the very top of Google.

 

This is Not Necessarily A Good Thing. Oftentimes the company with their name at the top is the WORST company out there. But people will generally click on the link anyway to satisfy their curiosity.

 

I Googled Manchester UK Wedding Photography, and nobody had a pay-per-click, so perhaps it would be worth your while.

 

Later,

 

Paulsky

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Here's a link that I've found to be extremely valueable, it's a massive unofficial listing of things that hurt and help your site's rankings... <a href:http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/internet/google-ranking-factors.htm>google ranking factors</a> very good stuff
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