Dreamweaver - search engines and keywords

Author

search engines and keywords

pattimo

2004-08-26, 12:21 pm

I've had my website up for over 2 years now, and need some advice on how to get
my it seen by search engines. i've been advised to put my key word descriptions
on every page of my site. where do i put those descriptions? is there a place
in dreamweaver where i can insert these decriptive phrases without literally
posting them on each page (that will look a bit strange, unless i type them in
the same color as the backround color so that the words don't show up). I
bought the book "dreamweaver, the missing manual" which is missing this key
information. it lists nothing about keywords. thanks, anyone who can tell me
how to do this!

Mark Orbit

2004-08-26, 12:21 pm

Keywords are largely a waste of time these days and you have to be very smart
if you want to try and fool the search engines. Title your pages up
accordingly and use your keywords in the visible copy on the page especially
headings. You have to make your pages genuinely relevant to what is being
searched.

Murray *TMM*

2004-08-26, 12:21 pm

http://www.dreamweaverresources.com/seo/

--
Murray --- ICQ 71997575
Team Macromedia Volunteer for Dreamweaver
(If you *MUST* email me, don't LAUGH when you do so!)
==================
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==================

"pattimo" <webforumsuser@macromedia.com> wrote in message
news:cgickb$5j9$1@forums.macromedia.com...
> I've had my website up for over 2 years now, and need some advice on how
> to get
> my it seen by search engines. i've been advised to put my key word
> descriptions
> on every page of my site. where do i put those descriptions? is there a
> place
> in dreamweaver where i can insert these decriptive phrases without
> literally
> posting them on each page (that will look a bit strange, unless i type
> them in
> the same color as the backround color so that the words don't show up). I
> bought the book "dreamweaver, the missing manual" which is missing this
> key
> information. it lists nothing about keywords. thanks, anyone who can tell
> me
> how to do this!
>

pattimo

2004-08-26, 12:21 pm

thanks for your response. i'm really not trying to fool anyone, i just want to
be searchable for what i do (artist/painter). some of my pages just show
paintings and no words at all, do i need to type in all the decriptions on each
page even tho i don't want any type on the page? unfortunately, i can't use
just one or two words to describe my work, so i need to list a series of
descriptive phrases..should i type the descriptions in all of the page titles?
thanks!
patti

Dan Vendel *GOF*

2004-08-26, 12:21 pm

pattimo wrote:

> I went to the site you suggested, and came across this sentance: Did you make
> sure that your meta tags contained the words you wanted your page to be found
> under? I looked up "metatags" in the dreaweaver manual, nothing. looked it up
> in the missing manual, nothing. what are metatags and how do i get to them???
> sorry to be so clueless, but if i can't find the answers in the manuals, i must
> ask someone who can tell me
> thankyou,
> patti
>

Somewhere under Insert -> head content or something, you'll find "meta
tags", which is a name used for e.g. keywords tag, description tag, etc.

The common, present opinion is that meta tags with keywords is useless.
Well, they're not *completely* useless. If you give eachh page keywords
that actually exists on the page (and quite frequent), you might be able
to push up the site a few notches.

--
Dan Vendel - *GOF*
Contact: http://www.proformica.com/en/contact.shtml
Formmail tutorial: http://www.proformica.com/en/formmail_tutorial.shtml
Nested tables: http://www.proformica.com/en/nested_table_demo.shtml
SEO: http://www.proformica.com/en/search...imization.shtml
SE Utility: http://www.proformica.com/en/advanced_web_ranking.shtml
Search Dreamweaver newsgroup: http://www.proformica.com/google.html

Murray *TMM*

2004-08-26, 12:21 pm

Look for "meta" in both those sources....

--
Murray --- ICQ 71997575
Team Macromedia Volunteer for Dreamweaver
(If you *MUST* email me, don't LAUGH when you do so!)
==================
http://www.dreamweavermx-templates.com - Template Triage!
http://www.projectseven.com/go - DW FAQs, Tutorials & Resources
http://www.dwfaq.com - DW FAQs, Tutorials & Resources
http://www.macromedia.com/support/search/ - Macromedia (MM) Technotes
==================

"pattimo" <webforumsuser@macromedia.com> wrote in message
news:cgiffa$8v6$1@forums.macromedia.com...
>I went to the site you suggested, and came across this sentance: Did you
>make
> sure that your meta tags contained the words you wanted your page to be
> found
> under? I looked up "metatags" in the dreaweaver manual, nothing. looked it
> up
> in the missing manual, nothing. what are metatags and how do i get to
> them???
> sorry to be so clueless, but if i can't find the answers in the manuals, i
> must
> ask someone who can tell me
> thankyou,
> patti
>

pattimo

2004-08-26, 12:21 pm

OK, I found "meta" under Insert, as well as "keywords" and "description". Do i type in my decriptive phrases in all three of these categories or just "meta"?
thanks,
patti

darrel

2004-08-26, 12:21 pm

> The common, present opinion is that meta tags with keywords is useless.

Useless for Google ranking. They're certainly useful in internal indexing
and searching if you use them right. ;o)

-Darrel

Dan Vendel *GOF*

2004-08-26, 12:21 pm

darrel wrote:

> Useless for Google ranking.

No. If your site ranks as 40-50 for a certain search phrase, it'll show
up a couple of notches higher if the words in the phrase (or the phrase
itself) is found in both content and keywords. Not much, but they're not
"useless".

--
Dan Vendel - *GOF*
Contact: http://www.proformica.com/en/contact.shtml
Formmail tutorial: http://www.proformica.com/en/formmail_tutorial.shtml
Nested tables: http://www.proformica.com/en/nested_table_demo.shtml
SEO: http://www.proformica.com/en/search...imization.shtml
SE Utility: http://www.proformica.com/en/advanced_web_ranking.shtml
Search Dreamweaver newsgroup: http://www.proformica.com/google.html

darrel

2004-08-26, 12:21 pm

> You type them in "keywords" wihtout any comma or other character between
> them.

Really? I've always done/seen then as comma delimited:

http://searchenginewatch.com/webmas...cle.php/2167931

As for google, this article seems to state that Inktomi is the only one that
still support it:

http://searchenginewatch.com/serepo...cle.php/2165061

But, as always, google is a bit of a mystery so I don't doubt your findings
at all either.

-Darrel

Dan Vendel *GOF*

2004-08-26, 12:21 pm

pattimo wrote:

> I'm definately not expecting to be way up on the search engine list, i just
> want to be there - somewhere! and i can't get listed if i dont know where
> exactly to put the words. do i type them in meta description, keyword, or
> description? or all three? thanks
>

You type them in "keywords" wihtout any comma or other character between
them. TRy arrange them in phrases if possible, and don't repeat a word
since the SEs will index about 120-150 characters only. Use them well.

In the "description" you ....describe (!) your site.

Here's a SEO in a nutshell:
SEO: http://www.proformica.com/en/search...imization.shtml

--
Dan Vendel - *GOF*
Contact: http://www.proformica.com/en/contact.shtml
Formmail tutorial: http://www.proformica.com/en/formmail_tutorial.shtml
Nested tables: http://www.proformica.com/en/nested_table_demo.shtml
SEO: http://www.proformica.com/en/search...imization.shtml
SE Utility: http://www.proformica.com/en/advanced_web_ranking.shtml
Search Dreamweaver newsgroup: http://www.proformica.com/google.html

pattimo

2004-08-26, 12:21 pm

I'm definately not expecting to be way up on the search engine list, i just
want to be there - somewhere! and i can't get listed if i dont know where
exactly to put the words. do i type them in meta description, keyword, or
description? or all three? thanks

Dan Vendel *GOF*

2004-08-26, 12:21 pm

darrel wrote:

>
>
> Really? I've always done/seen then as comma delimited:
>
> http://searchenginewatch.com/webmas...cle.php/2167931

No, with commas, they won't work as phrases. Besides, that article is
two years old, and the guy who wrote it might have an impression based
on stuff he read long time before that.

>
> As for google, this article seems to state that Inktomi is the only one that
> still support it:
>
> http://searchenginewatch.com/serepo...cle.php/2165061

Same dude, even older article.

--
Dan Vendel - *GOF*
Contact: http://www.proformica.com/en/contact.shtml
Formmail tutorial: http://www.proformica.com/en/formmail_tutorial.shtml
Nested tables: http://www.proformica.com/en/nested_table_demo.shtml
SEO: http://www.proformica.com/en/search...imization.shtml
SE Utility: http://www.proformica.com/en/advanced_web_ranking.shtml
Search Dreamweaver newsgroup: http://www.proformica.com/google.html

JLove

2004-08-26, 12:21 pm

First question I ask customers is "what is your marketing plan?". If they
answer "people will find me on search engines" and that is their ONLY marketing
goal, I tell them to prepare for the worst. There is no free ride anymore.
You can get seen, but it will cost you. It will cost you in time, money, or
both.

Gary White

2004-08-26, 12:21 pm

pattimo wrote:

>thanks for your response. i'm really not trying to fool anyone, i just want to
>be searchable for what i do (artist/painter). some of my pages just show
>paintings and no words at all, do i need to type in all the decriptions on each
>page even tho i don't want any type on the page? unfortunately, i can't use
>just one or two words to describe my work, so i need to list a series of
>descriptive phrases..should i type the descriptions in all of the page titles?

I did a little test a while back on a site of mine. This particular site
has a <title> on each page. At the top of the content portion of the
page is that same title wrapped in an <h1> tag. The content of the page
actually contains information that relates to that title. This is as it
*should* be. There are no games played, or tricks tried.

I found that if I searched Google for those titles, my pages would
almost always turn up in the top 10 and, in most cases, would be number
one. Of course, generic titles like "Site Map" or "Contact Us" won't
often turn up high in the rankings simply because they are too generic.

You need to think about the search terms people would use to find your
site. Assuming that your site, or pages within your site actually
contain information relevant to those terms, use them in page titles and
in heading tags. Pages that contain only images, without ALT text, will
be viewed as empty be search engines. If a page contains an image of a
painting, include a short description, preferably with <h1> or other
heading tags used to title the page.

Gary

Charles Angelich

2004-08-26, 12:21 pm

On Wed, 25 Aug 2004 16:41:15 +0000 (UTC), "pattimo"
<webforumsuser@macromedia.com> wrote:

> I went to the site you suggested, and came across this sentance: Did you make
> sure that your meta tags contained the words you wanted your page to be found
> under? I looked up "metatags" in the dreaweaver manual, nothing. looked it up
> in the missing manual, nothing. what are metatags and how do i get to them???
> sorry to be so clueless, but if i can't find the answers in the manuals, i must
> ask someone who can tell me
> thankyou,
> patti

Here is a snippet of code to demonstrate how a few of the meta-tags
may be used for your pages begining with the very first line of HTML
code to demonstrate the placement of the meta-tags.

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<head>
<title>Entertainment</title>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="en-us">
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type"
content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1">
<meta name="robots" content="INDEX,FOLLOW">
<meta name="revisit-after" content="5 days">
<meta name="description" content="Creative use of graphics, sound,
animation">
<meta name="keywords"
content="stories,music,midi,mp3,wma,drawings,photography,
photos,graphics,online games">
</head>

Note that the meta-tags are positioned between the <head></head> tags
along with the <title></title> tags.

The line <meta name="keywords" content= ... is where the keywords or
phrases would be listed that you hope users will use when they search
for webpages such as yours.

Keywords that you expect people to use for a search should be listed
in the appropriate meta-tag line _and_ should appear as often as
possible within the text of the same page. If a page has little/no
text then include the keywords in the "alt" descriptions of images
that display on that page and in "title"s used within <a href=></a>
links on that page. Keywords can also be used as directory names to
increase your 'count' for the search engine crawlers.

Charles.Angelich

MP3/WMA streaming:
http://www.undercoverdesign.com/dosghost/samples.asp

DOS & W31:
http://www.undercoverdesign.com/dosghost/

Entertainment:
http://www.undercoverdesign.com/dosghost/faf

pattimo

2004-08-26, 12:22 pm

thanks for all the good feedback - i'll try your suggestions.
patti