“Google Friendly” Solutions to Graphic-Intense Sites

Written by Robin Nobles


We all know thatrepparttar search engines can’t “see” or “read”repparttar 127910 graphics on our pages. We also know that we need to provide text on a page, sorepparttar 127911 spiders will have something to crawl and index.

After all, we have to prove torepparttar 127912 search engines without a shadow of a doubt that our pages are about what we say or claim they’re about if we want to achieve top rankings. That’s why I believe so strongly in focusing each page on one single keyword phrase only. As soon as a spider hits a page, I wantrepparttar 127913 spider to know exactly what that page is about.

But, many sites out there are graphic intense, often by virtue of their very nature. The sites may sell prints, wallpaper, pictures, graphics, or posters. Or,repparttar 127914 sites may sell hats, for example, so that each page is full of pictures of a particular type of hat.

Many Web site owners don’t want to add text to those pages, because they want to highlight exactly what they’re selling. They’ve createdrepparttar 127915 site with their audience in mind, which is as it should be. After all, when visitors stop by a wallpaper site, they want to see loads of pictures ofrepparttar 127916 different wallpaper samples. They don’t want to read about them!

So, being careful to adhere to Google’s Guidelines that prohibit hiding text, what options do we have with our graphic-intense site?

Let’s look at some possible solutions.

1. Can you put visible text above or belowrepparttar 127917 graphics onrepparttar 127918 page? If so, this is your best solution, because you’re givingrepparttar 127919 engines some content to crawl.

Simply add a paragraph of content aboverepparttar 127920 graphics, and then a paragraph or two of content belowrepparttar 127921 graphics. Make surerepparttar 127922 content focuses on your keyword phrase and that it describesrepparttar 127923 page accurately.

If you don’t want to add a full paragraph of content aboverepparttar 127924 graphics, try adding a heading tag containing your keyword phrase. Then, add content beneathrepparttar 127925 graphics.

The bottom line is: you want to startrepparttar 127926 page with text if at all possible, not graphics.

2. Be creative! Can you add descriptive text about each graphic under or besiderepparttar 127927 graphic? Can you add little “Tips” or “More Info” boxes onrepparttar 127928 page that contain valuable information for your users and keyword-containing text forrepparttar 127929 engines? Can you include testimonials from happy customers that will add valuable keyword-containing content to your page?

3. Leave your existing graphic-intense pagesrepparttar 127930 way they are, and create some new text-based interior pages that are full of valuable content related to your graphics. Pull in traffic through those pages, and provide text links to your pages full of graphics. Be sure to use your important keyword phrase inrepparttar 127931 link text that links torepparttar 127932 pages of graphics.

The Latest Innovation in Search Engine Algorithms . . . User Popularity

Written by Robin Nobles


For years,repparttar search engines have continued to introduce new factors into their algorithms to make their search results more relevant and to keep savvy search engine marketers from "crackingrepparttar 127909 system."

We've seen many ranking factors come and go in importance. For example, years ago, META tags wererepparttar 127910 key to success, or so we thought. Stick in META tags that were loaded with your keyword phrases, and you were sure to achieve top rankings.

Then, we had keyword weight as a ranking factor. We struggled to determinerepparttar 127911 keyword weight of our competitors' pages, then duplicate that weight in all ofrepparttar 127912 various areas of our pages.

Along came link popularity, and with it,repparttar 127913 massive link farms and link exchange programs. Web site owners joined as many as they could in an effort to boostrepparttar 127914 sheer number of incoming links pointing to their sites.

Inrepparttar 127915 midst of these evolving ranking factors came changes to page components likerepparttar 127916 title tag. Put your keyword atrepparttar 127917 beginning ofrepparttar 127918 tag for maximum ranking potential. Oops. Things have changed. Put your keyword asrepparttar 127919 3rd and 4th words inrepparttar 127920 title tag. Wait - let's tryrepparttar 127921 2nd and 3rd words.

These are just a few ofrepparttar 127922 ranking factors that have come into play overrepparttar 127923 last several years.

Can you seerepparttar 127924 potential for problems here?

After all, including keywords in your META tags doesn't mean thatrepparttar 127925 page is more relevant for those keywords. Just because you have 12,792 worthless links pointing to your site doesn't mean your site is relevant for your keyword phrase.

Now, we're inrepparttar 127926 middle of another "link popularity" or "link reputation" surge. Butrepparttar 127927 rules have changed. Now, we want sites that are related in content to our site, or authoritative, popular sites in our focus area.

Okay! Now we're beginning to get onrepparttar 127928 right track! After all, if an important, authoritative site in a particular topic area links to your site, it must mean that your site is important and popular for that subject too. Or, if other sites in your subject area link to you, it must mean that your site is truly about that subject as well.

Equally important, or even more so, comesrepparttar 127929 "link reputation" factor. If enough popular sites in your topic area use your important keyword phrase when linking to you, it's tellingrepparttar 127930 search engines that your site is relevant for that keyword phrase. After all,repparttar 127931 Web community has deemed to describe your site using that keyword phrase, which is a vote of confidence torepparttar 127932 search engines.

Makes sense, except for one small problem. I can have a site that's devoted to wireless Internet connections, and you can have a site that's devoted to kitchen utilities. I can link to your site from mine and userepparttar 127933 keyword phrase "kitchen utilities" inrepparttar 127934 link text. Some ofrepparttar 127935 engines appear to userepparttar 127936 link text asrepparttar 127937 determining factor when deciding link reputation, notrepparttar 127938 contents ofrepparttar 127939 page pointing torepparttar 127940 site. So, two sites that aren't related in content whatsoever could potentially help boostrepparttar 127941 link reputation of each other's sites. We may seerepparttar 127942 engines consider other factors inrepparttar 127943 near future, such asrepparttar 127944 contents ofrepparttar 127945 title tag onrepparttar 127946 page containingrepparttar 127947 link, which will help solve this potential problem to some degree.

However, when looking at all ofrepparttar 127948 factors listed here so far, do any of them truly prove thatrepparttar 127949 page is relevant to a particular keyword phrase?

With relevancy comes a much more stable, trustworthy search engine. When you search for a particular topic, you're assured of getting search results that contain pages with good, solid content related to that keyword phrase.

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