Answer: First, I'd set different keywords on different pages. On the shooting page focus on shooting and on action focus on action. You want to try to catch anyone looking for shooting games as well as those looking for your overall arcade site so maximize your chances of that by customizing the keywords for each section.

Also, try to use some of the tools to see what keywords are being searched for versus which keywords are overly used. For instance, if "shockwave shooting game" is searched for pretty often and there are only a very few sites with that as their keywords then you are set. You can use words like "game" but you'd probably be so far down the list it wouldn't be pretty. I face the same thing with charterboats here in Key West - there are a bazillion of them. Find your niche.

Also check the stuff here in this forum. There are some great pinned articles as well as other useful tidbits.

Remember, think like a user - go to google and pretend you're looking for some fun small flash games like yours and put in the search. There will be a bunch so again, think like a user and imagine how to narrow the search down to exactly the kinds of games you have and go for those keywords.

(Thanks to TCH-Jim for the answer to this question!)

"noindex" tells the spider to continue onto linked pages but do not index the current page.

"nofollow" tells the spider to index the current page but do not follow the links on the page.

Thus...

><meta name="robot" content="noindex, nofollow">

would tell the spider not to index this page and not to follow any links.

One more option (there are others but really these three are the only ones to use) would be:

><meta name="robots" content="noarchive">

which tells the spider not to cache the page.

(Thanks to TCH-Scott for the answer to this question.)

Answer: If you are going to submit to them, just send the index page. Google will spider the rest. The best way to be included is to have them come from an outside link to your site and spider if you can.

(Thanks to TCH-Rob for the answer to this question.)

Don't use automated site submission (like the one in cPanel). Most (if not all) search engines frown upon their use, much better to submit manually.

I have noticed that there are TONS more hits on the index page of my site than the rest of the site. This tells me I need links from index to the other pages to get them spidered, but it makes me wonder this:

 

Should I make sure the index has different/fresh spider food on it every time they crawl it that maybe points to different parts of my site or would this make it look like a doorway that would get rejected?

 

Just trying to understand all I know about Googlebot. Thanks for any help you can give on this issue.

I. AWStats

1. Log onto Cpanel

2. Under 'Stats', click AwStats Stats

3. From the menu located on the left side, click Full List (under Robots/Spiders visitors)

This will tell you what spiders have looked at your site. This is very generic information (i.e. no specific pages, no specifics of the actual spider, etc.). Also note, 'Hits' does not refer to the number of pages. One page generally involves many 'hits' (each graphic for instance counts as a hit). The amount of bandwidth gives you an idea of how much was 'taken' but again, be careful. What if the spider visited the same page multiple times (which is quite frequent). Again, I warn that this information is very generic.

II. Raw Logs - the 'Real Deal'

1. Log onto CPanel

2. Under FTP Section, click on Manage Accounts

At the bottom of the page, you will find how to download your logs.

Once you have your logs viewable, search for 'googlebot/2.1' this will show you all the actual pages that Google visited. A sample would look like this:

64.68.82.32 - - [03/Jun/2003:21:15:53 -0400]"GET /dried_flowers-whl.htm HTTP/1.0" 301 342 "-" "Googlebot/2.1 (+http://www.googlebot.com/bot.html)"

The IP address (64.68.*) indicates this was a fresh crawl.

You can see the date of the crawl (June 3)

The file crawled (dried_flowers-whl.htm)

Note: the 301 means that this particular page had a 301 redirect

Further comment:

Logs are reset at the end of each month, so the logs of today began on May 31.

Once you have selected the 'proper' keyword phrase(s), it is best to review how your site ranks today. Again, I will focus on Google for this discussion.

Go to Google and type in you search phrase. First note how many pages are within the index for that particular phrase (this give you some idea of the competitiveness).

Now see if you are listed in the top 50… not? Are you listed at all?

Type in your name (e.g. YourName.com)… are you listed?

If yes, see how many pages link back to you (remember these are called backlinks or inbound links).

To do this, type in

>link:http://www.YourName.com/

This shows the number of back links that point to your home page. In addition, it shows the number of pages from your own site that have been indexed. Now you can check on your actual Google PageRank by using the Google Toolbar.

Review Google PageRank here

Install Google Toolbar here

A word of caution, the Google Toolbar does collect 'information' about your Internet 'movements'.

Read their privacy policy; here is a brief overview:

Overview

Google is committed to helping its users ensure their privacy.

 

Google may collect information about web pages that you are viewing when the advanced functionality is enabled. However, this advanced functionality is optional, and can be easily disabled and re-enabled at any time (by selecting "Privacy Information..." in the Toolbar's "Google" menu.)

 

You will know the advanced functionality is enabled when the PageRank meter is visible on your Google Toolbar.

 

Google only collects the normal type of information that is already available to the websites you visit. This means, Google cannot collect, for example, your name, email address, telephone number, etc.

 

Google will not sell or provide personally identifiable information to any third parties.

 

Google will notify you if it changes these policies and will give you the opportunity to discontinue using the Google Toolbar.

By placing a cursor over the PageRank bar, you can get your actual PageRank score.

Not happy with your rank?

TotalChoice Hosting Search Engine Optimization guarantees top 20 listing

Want us to look at your search engine ranking? Look at this thread

Recently the topic of link structure has come up within our family forum.

Read Link Structure - Hyperlinks and the Importance of Link Structure for review.

Here I would like to discuss the ever-growing importance of inbound links. These are the links that other sites have which link back to your site (thus the name, backlinks). Inbound links affect all search engines but here I will focus on their influence to Google's PageRank.

Read Google's PageRank for review and more detail.

A large portion of PageRank (PR) is calculated by the number of inbound links and the corresponding PR of the linking page. Thus, not all pages contribute the same amount. It is more complicated then simply stating that a PR7 page contributes more then a PR5 page. Analysis of the equation reveals that the PR of the linking page is equally shared among all the outgoing links. Therefore, the ideal world would be a PR10 page with only one outbound link… the one pointing to you.

Side note: Understanding one's rank and PR score will be discussed in my next post.

Keep in mind that the text of the link and the surrounding text are involved in the analysis. Thus, one can accurately conclude that a text link would be more 'rewarding' then a graphical link.

For example, we ask all TCH clients to link to us using a text link that looks like this:

Web Hosting by TotalChoice Hosting

><a title="web hosting by TotalChoice Hosting" href="http://www.totalchoicehosting.com"> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1" color="#003366">Web Hosting by TotalChoice Hosting</font></a>

Note the use of words, we like 'web hosting'.

We also offer you to add a link to your site on our family member's page. This is in your very best interest. The requirements are that the site must be complete (e.g. no under construction sites) and you must have a link to us (as the one described above).

Side note #2: The best way to be included in Google's index is not by submitting your site to their index, rather by their spider (Googlebot) 'finding' you via a link found on a indexed page. Googlebot frequently visits TotalChoice Hosting; therefore, adding your link to our family page will insure a Google visit.

Create a list of potential keyword phrases. Take these and see how popular they are… How? Well, there are several ways. One, do searches using these words, do your competitors come up? How many pages are in the index with this phrase?

More accurate information can be gleamed from professional (i.e. you pay for it) services that offer 'real' numbers. Wordtracker is one example that can give you real data on the popularity of a term. Some people review the PPC rates (Pay Per Click) of individual phrases and assume that the higher the cost, the better the phrase.

The important thing is to spend the proper amount of time (i.e. research) to determine the ideal phrase.

It is not only the first step, but also one of the most important.

Real Story.

A client, on a TCH server, came to us and asked to optimize their site for 'barley straw'.

They offered a single product to fishpond owners, bags of barley straw. It turns out that if one places barley straw in a fishpond, it prevents algae (a continuously big problem for fishpond owners) from growing.

Well, the first step was what?

Yes, Keyword Analysis.

We found that 'Barley Straw' was not a real popular search phrase. Now we could have easily optimized their site for 'Barley Straw' but what would be the point? Through analysis, we found that 'Garden Pond Supply' or 'Pond Supply' would be the best phrases (also the most competitive). Through our optimization procedures, this site has top rankings among all the major search engines for these two phrases. Traffic to their site resulting from these rankings altered their entire business; they now offer all kinds of garden pond supply!

Morale of the story… Choose your keyword phrases wisely.

Read more:

Search Engine Optimization Specifics

We all have used a search engine… why? To find what we are looking for. We simply go to Google and type in 'pond supply' and find everything out we can about 'pond supply'. Now how many pages do you read of the 390,000 listed in the Google index? Do you read the 265,432nd? How about the 123rd?

No, we usually find what we are looking for by reviewing the top 50 (or 20) ranked sites. Aren't those top 50 sites lucky?

No, they are not. Those sites have certain inherent characteristics, which allow them to be ranked in those positions. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) deals with maximizing these 'characteristics' in order to obtain high rankings.

Read Search Engine Optimization - An Overview for more.