The Changing Face of Search Engines

--by Aaron Howard, Senior Web Designer

The search engine frontier is constantly changing

Search engines are the tools used to locate information on the Internet. The goal of any website relative to search engines is to "optimize," in order to become one of the top ranking websites in its category, appearing near the top of the list.  Search engine optimization has become a vital part of any organization's web strategy.

Recent changes at Google and Yahoo have eliminated previous ways of "cheating" the system, which places a greater emphasis on honesty and integrity in your online presence.  Key items to remember when developing or redesigning your website are:

Code use good, clean, html code (your service provider should do this for you).

Text content develop content that is relevant and descriptive to your goals.  Each page should focus on a subject matter, and 5 - 7 percent of the text on that page should directly describe your subject matter using relevant keywords and phrases.

Linking linking should be relevant, with no more than 40-50 links per page.  False links created to boost page can now be detected, and search engines will penalize your ranking because of it.

Keywords keywords should be included in headings, tags, and the body of your pages to facilitate optimization.

These new developments in search engines are positive

The goal of search engines is to provide users with the best, most relevant information for their search...so the search engine policies outlined above are designed to penalize mis-users, while enabling honest entities to receive the page ranking they deserve. 

Caresource is committed to your goal of making your website the best marketing and communications tool it can be.  Search engine optimization is one of the necessary steps to reaching that goal.  We consistently monitor new developments in the field, and bring this knowledge into the service we provide to you.  If you have any questions about your current website or future development projects, please call 1-800-448-5213 or visit www.caresource.com for consultation.