PC Doctor+ Guide 11 Search Engines

Search Engine Optimisation: Overview

Word stemming

Word stemming is a concept used by some search engines to return search results that include keywords that extend beyond what you searched for.

For example, a search with the keyword "optimize" might return results for, "optimizes," "optimizer," and "optimizers." In general, always try to use the longer version of a keyword, especially plurals.

Stop words

Stop words are common words and characters ignored by most search engines.

For example:

a and are as at be for from he his I in is it of on that the they this to was

 

Ignoring stop words helps to reduce the amount of storage needed to index the billions of pages of data, and enhance the speed and relevancy of the search results. Only full-text search engines, such as AltaVista, index every single word on a Web page.

As such, always try to use keywords instead of stop words as much as possible. Admittedly, it maybe a bit more difficult to read, but I think it is worth the sacrifice, in the cause of trying to achieve higher search engine rankings.

You'll find a huge list of almost 300 stop words in my Search Engine Optimisation Strategies e-book.

Keywords in domain names

Keywords in domain names can help to improve search engine rankings.

Keywords separated by hyphens

Did you also notice that the domain name used a hyphen to separate the keywords?

I have yet to find conclusive proof that separating keywords in a domain name improves rankings. But I do suggest that you do use this format, just to be on the safe side. After all, you wouldn't want a search engine to index the wrong keywords.

For example, what are the keywords in this domain name, "newshut.com?" Are they "news" and "hut," or "new" and "shut?"

You can see how a search engine can easily index different keywords from those you had in mind. If the domain name is, "news-hut.com," it would be clear to a search engine exactly what the keywords are.

Keywords in directories and file names

Take a look at the No. 2 ranked listings in the above illustration. Notice how they named the directory part of the Web site address with the keywords I searched for, as highlighted in bold?

So not only is it a good idea to register keyword rich domain names, it's also a good idea to name directories and file names after the keywords you're targeting.

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