1.) How do I use a Robots file or do you have an example of one?

A. You mean robots.txt. It’s a file in the main directory of a website which tells the search engine spiders where they are allowed to go.

A basic, spider can go anywhere file is:

User-agent: *

Disallow:

You can disallow folders or files by putting this into the file:

User-agent: *

Disallow: /foldername/

2.) Should I use a Site Map? and does anyone have an example of one?

A: Every site should have a sitemap of some sort. It provides a way for visitors to navigate your site, as well as a shortcut for bots to crawl all your pages. Google for “sitemap” and you’ll find nice examples, although it would be advisable to follow Google’s official guidelines and keep the number of links per page under 100.

3.) How do I tell how many people are searching for my keywords?

A: The Search Term Suggestion Tool here will show you number of searches per month on Overture’s network.

4.) What are SERPs?

A: Search Engine Result Pagesback

5.). I am number 5 in Yahoo, but not in the top 1,000 in Google. Why?

A. Yahoo and Google use two different algos to come up with their SERPs – Yahoo favors on- page optimization such as H1 tags, keyword density, etc while Google favors off page like in bound links. If you have done more on page then Yahoo will rank higher and vice versa. As part of this if you are now addressing your off page then you need more backlinks with anchor text and time for these links to age (Google lag).

6.) Is there a way I can find out where I rank?

A: There are two sites you can use if you are just checking a few keywords – www.googlerankings.com for Google and www.yahoosearchrankings.com/ for Yahoo. If you are looking to track multiple keywords over time then the best (and free) tool is Digital Points Keyword Monitor at http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/keywords (Google Only)

7.) What is an “ALGO” ?

A: An ‘Algo’ is an abbreviation of ‘Algorithm’. (In short, the mathematical formula or calculation that Google use in order to rank websites.)

8.) What is Hidden Text?

A: Text that is visible to the search engine spiders but not to site visitors. Hidden text is primarily used to add extra keywords in the page without actually adding content to a site which may mostly consist of images. Most search engines will penalize Web sites which use hidden text.

9.) What is cloaking?

A: Determining which search engine spider is visiting a web page and then giving each spider a page optimized for it’s particular algorithm. This method of search engine optimization can result in a website being removed from the major search engines.

10.) What is a doorway page?

A: A method of search engine optimization considered to be SPAM. These are pages created for nothing but the purpose of ranking first for a particular keyword phrase. These pages usually lack any significant content and do not reflect the tone of the rest of the website. If a search engine determines a website has used this tactic then the website will be removed from the search engine permanently.

11.) What is Geo Targeting?

A: The distribution of ads to a particular geographical area. For example, you can use a place name in your keyword, such as “Texas Web Design”. Some search engines allow you to target specific countries – and languages – without using keyword relevance.

12.) Do XHTML pages rank better than HTML-pages?

A: No. They have the same value. Google however puts more weight to well structured content, and thus XHMTL is in most cases more suitable option.

13.) Does using CSS affect my rankings?

A: Not directly. Googlebot does not (at the moment) read CSS-files. Using CSS makes pages lighter, and page structure more organized. Thus using CSS could lead to better rankings. When adding CSS styles to page, it is recommend to put them to external file (using link-tag).

14.)Should I use submission software to make sure all the search engines have me included?

A: Most submission programs that promise to “Submit Your Site to 1000′s of Search Engines” are used to harvest your email address for spammers. The truth is there are only a handful of Search Engines used by enough people to justify a submission and these can all be submitted by hand. Even better yet is to get other sites to link to you. Search Engine spiders follow these links and you will be indexed naturally. Submission programs are unnecessary and may actually hurt you.

15.) I submitted to DMOZ but didn’t hear anything. Should I resubmit?

A: You should only submit once as resubmitting only deletes your original request and lengthens your wait. Resubmitting too many times can have you classified as SPAM and blocked. You can also submit to a “normal” category and a “regional” one if it fits. You must be physically located somewhere to be able to also submit to regional and read their guidelines as certain sites like real estate are the exception. They have set up a forum as a way of letting you know your status and this is a much under posted and under used area of DMOZ – The address is http://www.resource-zone.com/forum/ . Just remember to take the time to follow the posted directions.