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| Version | User | Scope of changes |
|---|---|---|
| Feb 4 2009, 12:29 PM EST (current) | Anonymous | 13 words added, 1 photo added |
| Jan 1 2009, 7:14 PM EST | Anonymous |
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So, when you "Google" your name, you want your website to be the top listing, right? How can you optimize your site so Google sees it better? Following are some best practices to adopt. Click the EasyEdit button to add tips and tricks that have worked for you.
A quick list of DOs and DON’Ts:
DO:
- Use words on your web page(s) that would be likely search terms someone might type into Google to find your site.
- Ask friends or other webmasters to link to your site. Google determines a site’s value by the number of other sites that link to it.
DON’T:
- Hide keywords in your website using the same color for text and background so viewers can’t see the words but search engine spiders can. Google’s spiders can identify this sort of unethical behavior and ban you from Google. That’s right—ban you—from Google. Then where will you be? The world is a cold place when you’re banished from Google.
- Put important words, names, or information only in graphics, images, or Flash- or Java-based applets. Google can’t see the words if they aren’t text.
Tools of the Trade
There are a few ways to help Google pull your information, but now Google offers a variety of ways to help you push your information into Google’s giant database of information.
Google Base
The Google Base will put information online and searchable. It’s a new way to share information, even if you don’t know how to reach your audience. Just type it into a form and boom!, it’s on Google. Google Base is a new opportunity to put content online—you don’t even need to maintain a web page that sources the information.Google Sitemaps
The Google Sitemaps service allows you to submit your URLs to the Google index and get detailed reports about the visibility of your pages on Google. You can automatically keep Google informed of all your web pages and update Google when you make changes. You get better crawl coverage and fresher search results to help people find more of your web pages, as well as detailed reports to learn more about how Google directs traffic to your site and how the Googlebot sees your pages.
Beyond these tools, Google offers other free services to help you optimize your web traffic:
AdSense
Google’s ad placement service, Google AdSense, will send you a check or electronic payment whenever you accumulate $100 from the ads placed on your site(s), which could take a while based on per-click rates. AdSense posts ads based on the content of your pages. If you have a site devoted to antique toasters, AdSense might place ads by online bakers or oven manufacturers. 
Google Analytics
Google Analytics gives you free for what other web hosting services charge a premium fee. Who goes to your site, and how often? How many viewers go to how many pages? What’s the average length of time per visit? Google Analytics answers these questions and more for free. See also:
