If code is not clean, spiders stop indexing pages. If pages are not indexed, they do not appear in search engine results. What stops spiders? Following are most common problems:

1. Frames – Don’t use them. 2. Dynamic Pages – Your pages need to be static. If they are dynamic, spiders often will not index them because they aren’t sure of content. 3. Bottlenecks – Make sure each page of your site links to every primary page at a minimum. You do not want a spider to get stuck on a page and miss key pages.

4. Bad URLs – A huge mistake is to put database parameters in URL. The URL should contain only domain name and keywords for page. A good URL reads: http://www.marketingtitan.com/internet_marketing_services. A bad URL with parameters would read: http://www.marketingtitan.com/id#us57486&095783

5. Images – Don’t overuse images and don’t put text in images. Images slow down your site, so make them small and optimized. Robots do not read text inside of images, thus text needs to go outside of images.

Evaluating The Layout

Once site is designed, TEST IT! Surf pages and see if you are able to flow through site. Add internal links wherever possible. Finally, test load times of your site on a 56k dial-up modem. If site loads in under 20 seconds, you are headed in correct direction.

Your site layout is important. Make sure it caters to needs of visitors, whether human or spider.

Much like meaning of life, best keyword density percentage is a hotly debated topic. Theories and opinions ranged from 1.5 to as high as 20 percent. We recently ran a test with a page that only had a keyword phrase on it, thus representing a 100% keyword density. The only search engine that reacted was Yahoo, which listed it at number 1 for 25 days before dropping it. Notwithstanding this test, simple fact is that nobody really knows optimal density, except for programmers at search engines. Rumor has it that programmers are permanently hidden in secret labs in Himalayas, so there isn’t much hope of getting any information from them.

Our experience is keyword density really doesn’t matter if you have flowing text on page. The point of your site is to sell, so write copy that accomplishes that goal. Once you have completed copy, modify it to make sure important keywords appear at least once in first paragraph. Do not force keywords into sentences; just make sure they appear at least once. We have clients with number 1 rankings on Google, Yahoo and MSN that have keyword densities ranging from .5 to 18.5 percent. Yes, these rankings are on keywords with lots of competition and traffic.

In Closing

In my opinion, meta tags and keyword density are mystified far too much. They are important factors, but content on your pages is far more so. Be judicious with your content, pursue a targeted linking campaign and rankings will follow.