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Search engine rankings
Question
Why isn't my site at the top of Google (or other search engine)?
Answer
Everyone wants to be top of Google! Obviously this leads to intense competition, and no one but Google can actually guarantee you inclusion. These are some issues to note about Google and other search engines
1. Google DOES index ASP pages, including those with parameters passed via querystrings in the URL. However, to get your site indexed more completely, it helps to present Google with static-looking non-parametrized URLs. To do this, you can use the static HTML page generator in the back end of CactuShop, or in v6 'Pro', the SEO friendly URLs feature.
2. Google ranking is based largely on how many other people link to your site. No matter what you do on your site, if other people don't link to you, your ranking will be poor. Aim to get good quality links from related sites and directories. Avoid the temptation to join link farms or other exchanges designed purely to create pagerank. Google will penalize you for this if it finds out.
3. Getting a good ranking takes time. Google also likes to see sites being updated regularly (to avoid stale content), regular updates to front page specials and news items will help your ranking.
4. Don't cheat. Some search engine "experts" sell optimization services or recommend tricks like white keyword text on a white background. This is cheating, Google will find you out and you face complete exclusion. We've known of people who this has happened to and who ended up changing their domain since Google would not reinstate them. Focus on writing good descriptive text that includes your keywords.
5. Do some research. Sites like www.searchenginewatch.com provide a wealth of information. Search engines change their algorithms all the time and it pays to keep on top of things.
6. Experiment. Top sites are often closely ranked by Google. Small changes to your site may make bigger changes to your position in searches.
7. Be realistic. The chance of you ranking number 1 for "jobs" is remote. So focus your attention on more realistic and specific targets e.g. "london construction jobs"
8. Focus on the major search engines. Most traffic comes from Google, Yahoo, MSNSearch; although you can get traffic from elsewhere, optimizing with the big ones will probably improve performance in the smaller ones anyway. Focus on these sites and ignore people or services that offer inclusion in "900 search engines", most of these sites will be little visited. The exception is any popular industry related sites, e.g. a specialist medical search engine may be worth featuring in if it is well used in the your field, and you sell medical equipment.