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SEO For MSN
MSN rankings are generally faster attained on this engine
and thus it is a good place to begin, especially if you have a
new site that is likely still in the sandbox on Google or are just
at the beginning stages of link building.
Like all of the major search engines, MSN builds their index of
sites using spiders to crawl the web finding new and
changed information. This information is then processed by
the MSN servers using complex algorithms to determine
which sites are most relevant to the search query entered.
This may seem like an extraordinarily complex process and it
is however the resulting environment is simple: all search
engine algorithms are mathematical and thus, there is a fixed
set of rules and factors which, if addressed correctly, will
result in a high ranking. In short, because it's math we have
the benefit of knowing that if we take action x and action y we
will get result z.
The Rules For MSN
Assuming that you are following the right rules, the results
you can achieve on MSN can be fast and solid. MSN does not
apply the same types of aging delays that the other two
engines do and thus, when you change your content the
change in results can be realized as quickly as they reindex
your site and as quickly as your incoming links get picked.
This differs greatly from Google and Yahoo! in that those two
engines age both domains and links requiring a longer
period of time before the full effects of your efforts are realized.
As an additional note on MSN, users of MSN are 48% more
likely to purchase a product or service online than the average
Internet user according to a comScore Media report.
So what are the rules for MSN that can help us get top
rankings? As with all the major engines, there are two
fundamental areas that need to be addressed to attain top
rankings. The first is the onsite factors, the second is the
offsite. Because they are fundamentally different we will
address them separately.
Onsite SEO Factors
The problem with writing an article about the onsite factors is
that by the time many of you read this some of the weight
these factors hold and the optimal levels noted may well be
out-of-date. Thus, rather than listing overly-specific-and-sure-
to-change factors we will focus on how to know what the
factors are, how to get a handle on what you need to adjust
and by how much, and how to predict what will be coming
down the road. And so we'll begin:
How To Know What The Factors Are:
Unfortunately there's no one over at MSN Search calling us up
weekly to let us know what the specifics of their algorithm are,
we have to figure it out for ourselves with research, reading
and playing with test sites. From all of this there is only one
conclusion that an SEO can make: the details matter. When
we're discussing onsite factors this includes:
• the content of the page including keyword density
• the internal linking structure of the site (how the pages of
your site are linked together)
• the number of pages in your site and the relevancy of
those pages to your main topic and phrases
• the use of titles, heading tags and special formats
There are a number of lower weight factors however the ones
noted above, if addressed correctly, will have very significant
results on your rankings if the offsite factors noted below are
also addressed.
Page Content:
The content of your page must be perfect. What I mean by this
is that the content must appeal to both the search engines
and the algorithms. In order to write properly for the visitors
you must be able to write clearly and in language that is both
appealing and understandable to your target market. While
there is much debate about whether the keyword density of
your page is important I am certainly one who believes that it
is. It only makes sense that a part of the algorithm takes into
account the use of the keywords on your page. Unfortunately
the optimal keyword density changes slightly with each
algorithm update and also by site type and field. For this
reason it would be virtually impossible for me to give you a
density that will work today and forevermore. For this reason
you will need a keyword density analysis tool which you will
want to run on your own site as well as the sites in the top 10
to assess what the optimal density is at this time. You may
notice a variation in the densities of the top 10. This is due to
the other factors including offsite which can give extra weight
to even a poorly optimized site. I recommend getting your site
to a keyword density close to the higher-end of the top 10 but
not excessive. Traditionally this percentage will fall
somewhere near 3.5 to 4% for MSN.
Internal Linking Structure:
The way your pages link together tells the search engines
what the page is about and also allows them to easily (or not-
so-easily) work their way to your internal pages. If your site
has an image or script-based navigation it is important to
also use text links either in your content, in a footer, or both.
The text links are easy to follow for a spider and perhaps
more importantly, the text links allow you the opportunity to tell
the spiders what a specific page is about though the anchor
text and, in the case of footers, allows you to add in more
instances of the targeted phrases outside of your general
content area.
The Number Of Pages & Their Relevancy:
MSN wants to please their visitors. For this reason they want
to insure that highest likelihood that a searcher will find what
they need once they get to your site. For this reason a larger
site with unified content will rank higher that a smaller site or
a site with varying content topics. (note: this assumes that all
else is equal in regards to the other ranking factors)
When you are optimizing your site for MSN be sure to take
some time to built quality content. Do a search on your major
competitors to see how large their sites are, over time you will
want to build yours to the same range through general
content creation or the addition of a blog or forum to your site.
Titles, Heading Tags & Special Formats:
Titles are the single most important piece of code our your
entire web page for two reasons. The first is that it holds a
very high level of weight in the algorithm. the second reason
is that it is your window to the world. When someone runs a
search the results will generally show your page title in the
search results. This means that a human visitor has to be
drawn to click on your title or rankings your site is a futile effort
(this isn't about bragging rights, it's about return on
investment).
Heading tags are used to specify significant portions of
content. The most commonly used is the H1 tag though there
are obviously others (or they wouldn't bother numbering them
would they). The H1 tag is given a significant amount of
weight in the algorithm provided that it is not abused though
overuse (it should only be used once per page). Try to keep
your headings short-and-sweet. They're there to tell your
visitor what the page is about, not your whole site.
Special formats are, for the purpose of this article, and text
formatting that distinguishes a set of characters or words
apart from the others. This includes such things as, anchor
text, bold, italic, different font colors, etc. When you set content
apart using special formats MSN will read this as a part of
your content that you want to draw attention to and which you
obviously want your visitors to see. This will increase the
weight of that content. Now don't go making all your keyword
bold or the such, simply make sure to use special formats
properly. Inline text links (links in the body content of your
page) is a great way to increase the weight of specific text
while actually helping your visitor by providing easy paths to
pages they may be interested in.
Offsite SEO Factors
With MSN, the offsite factors are much simpler to deal with
than either Google or Yahoo! MSN will give you full credit for a
link the day they pick it up so link building, while time
consuming, is reworded much quicker on MSN. When
dealing with MSN and offsite SEO there are two main factors
we must consider when finding links:
Relevancy. The site must be relevant to yours to hold any real
weight.
Quality is better than quantity. Because PageRank is Google-
specific we can't use it as the grading tool for MSN however
upon visiting a website it's generally fairly clear whether we're
visiting a good site or not. Spending extra time to find quality
is well rewarded. Also, finding one-way links as opposed to
reciprocal links is becoming increasingly important and I'd
recommend utilizing both in your link building strategies.
You will have to begin your offsite optimization by running link
checks on your competitors to see what you're up against.
This is also a good place to start for potential link partners
though those of you using a tool such as Total Optimizer Pro
or PR Prowler will find it far faster and more effective to use
these tools.
Conclusion
This entire article may seem fairly simplistic and there's a
reason for that, what we've noted above is a list of the more
important areas however to save you frustration and me from
receiving hundreds of emails a few months from now noting
that the keyword densities don't work, etc. I've tried to keep it
general. Below you'll find a list of recommended resources.
These are tools and SEO resources to help keep you updated
and on top of the rankings.
by Dave Davies
MSN rankings are generally faster attained on this engine
and thus it is a good place to begin, especially if you have a
new site that is likely still in the sandbox on Google or are just
at the beginning stages of link building.
Like all of the major search engines, MSN builds their index of
sites using spiders to crawl the web finding new and
changed information. This information is then processed by
the MSN servers using complex algorithms to determine
which sites are most relevant to the search query entered.
This may seem like an extraordinarily complex process and it
is however the resulting environment is simple: all search
engine algorithms are mathematical and thus, there is a fixed
set of rules and factors which, if addressed correctly, will
result in a high ranking. In short, because it's math we have
the benefit of knowing that if we take action x and action y we
will get result z.
The Rules For MSN
Assuming that you are following the right rules, the results
you can achieve on MSN can be fast and solid. MSN does not
apply the same types of aging delays that the other two
engines do and thus, when you change your content the
change in results can be realized as quickly as they reindex
your site and as quickly as your incoming links get picked.
This differs greatly from Google and Yahoo! in that those two
engines age both domains and links requiring a longer
period of time before the full effects of your efforts are realized.
As an additional note on MSN, users of MSN are 48% more
likely to purchase a product or service online than the average
Internet user according to a comScore Media report.
So what are the rules for MSN that can help us get top
rankings? As with all the major engines, there are two
fundamental areas that need to be addressed to attain top
rankings. The first is the onsite factors, the second is the
offsite. Because they are fundamentally different we will
address them separately.
Onsite SEO Factors
The problem with writing an article about the onsite factors is
that by the time many of you read this some of the weight
these factors hold and the optimal levels noted may well be
out-of-date. Thus, rather than listing overly-specific-and-sure-
to-change factors we will focus on how to know what the
factors are, how to get a handle on what you need to adjust
and by how much, and how to predict what will be coming
down the road. And so we'll begin:
How To Know What The Factors Are:
Unfortunately there's no one over at MSN Search calling us up
weekly to let us know what the specifics of their algorithm are,
we have to figure it out for ourselves with research, reading
and playing with test sites. From all of this there is only one
conclusion that an SEO can make: the details matter. When
we're discussing onsite factors this includes:
• the content of the page including keyword density
• the internal linking structure of the site (how the pages of
your site are linked together)
• the number of pages in your site and the relevancy of
those pages to your main topic and phrases
• the use of titles, heading tags and special formats
There are a number of lower weight factors however the ones
noted above, if addressed correctly, will have very significant
results on your rankings if the offsite factors noted below are
also addressed.
Page Content:
The content of your page must be perfect. What I mean by this
is that the content must appeal to both the search engines
and the algorithms. In order to write properly for the visitors
you must be able to write clearly and in language that is both
appealing and understandable to your target market. While
there is much debate about whether the keyword density of
your page is important I am certainly one who believes that it
is. It only makes sense that a part of the algorithm takes into
account the use of the keywords on your page. Unfortunately
the optimal keyword density changes slightly with each
algorithm update and also by site type and field. For this
reason it would be virtually impossible for me to give you a
density that will work today and forevermore. For this reason
you will need a keyword density analysis tool which you will
want to run on your own site as well as the sites in the top 10
to assess what the optimal density is at this time. You may
notice a variation in the densities of the top 10. This is due to
the other factors including offsite which can give extra weight
to even a poorly optimized site. I recommend getting your site
to a keyword density close to the higher-end of the top 10 but
not excessive. Traditionally this percentage will fall
somewhere near 3.5 to 4% for MSN.
Internal Linking Structure:
The way your pages link together tells the search engines
what the page is about and also allows them to easily (or not-
so-easily) work their way to your internal pages. If your site
has an image or script-based navigation it is important to
also use text links either in your content, in a footer, or both.
The text links are easy to follow for a spider and perhaps
more importantly, the text links allow you the opportunity to tell
the spiders what a specific page is about though the anchor
text and, in the case of footers, allows you to add in more
instances of the targeted phrases outside of your general
content area.
The Number Of Pages & Their Relevancy:
MSN wants to please their visitors. For this reason they want
to insure that highest likelihood that a searcher will find what
they need once they get to your site. For this reason a larger
site with unified content will rank higher that a smaller site or
a site with varying content topics. (note: this assumes that all
else is equal in regards to the other ranking factors)
When you are optimizing your site for MSN be sure to take
some time to built quality content. Do a search on your major
competitors to see how large their sites are, over time you will
want to build yours to the same range through general
content creation or the addition of a blog or forum to your site.
Titles, Heading Tags & Special Formats:
Titles are the single most important piece of code our your
entire web page for two reasons. The first is that it holds a
very high level of weight in the algorithm. the second reason
is that it is your window to the world. When someone runs a
search the results will generally show your page title in the
search results. This means that a human visitor has to be
drawn to click on your title or rankings your site is a futile effort
(this isn't about bragging rights, it's about return on
investment).
Heading tags are used to specify significant portions of
content. The most commonly used is the H1 tag though there
are obviously others (or they wouldn't bother numbering them
would they). The H1 tag is given a significant amount of
weight in the algorithm provided that it is not abused though
overuse (it should only be used once per page). Try to keep
your headings short-and-sweet. They're there to tell your
visitor what the page is about, not your whole site.
Special formats are, for the purpose of this article, and text
formatting that distinguishes a set of characters or words
apart from the others. This includes such things as, anchor
text, bold, italic, different font colors, etc. When you set content
apart using special formats MSN will read this as a part of
your content that you want to draw attention to and which you
obviously want your visitors to see. This will increase the
weight of that content. Now don't go making all your keyword
bold or the such, simply make sure to use special formats
properly. Inline text links (links in the body content of your
page) is a great way to increase the weight of specific text
while actually helping your visitor by providing easy paths to
pages they may be interested in.
Offsite SEO Factors
With MSN, the offsite factors are much simpler to deal with
than either Google or Yahoo! MSN will give you full credit for a
link the day they pick it up so link building, while time
consuming, is reworded much quicker on MSN. When
dealing with MSN and offsite SEO there are two main factors
we must consider when finding links:
Relevancy. The site must be relevant to yours to hold any real
weight.
Quality is better than quantity. Because PageRank is Google-
specific we can't use it as the grading tool for MSN however
upon visiting a website it's generally fairly clear whether we're
visiting a good site or not. Spending extra time to find quality
is well rewarded. Also, finding one-way links as opposed to
reciprocal links is becoming increasingly important and I'd
recommend utilizing both in your link building strategies.
You will have to begin your offsite optimization by running link
checks on your competitors to see what you're up against.
This is also a good place to start for potential link partners
though those of you using a tool such as Total Optimizer Pro
or PR Prowler will find it far faster and more effective to use
these tools.
Conclusion
This entire article may seem fairly simplistic and there's a
reason for that, what we've noted above is a list of the more
important areas however to save you frustration and me from
receiving hundreds of emails a few months from now noting
that the keyword densities don't work, etc. I've tried to keep it
general. Below you'll find a list of recommended resources.
These are tools and SEO resources to help keep you updated
and on top of the rankings.
by Dave Davies
Google SEO 101
