| LED Digest 2532: Coding a Search Engine |
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================================================== The LED Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997" Data > Information > Knowledge > Wisdom www.GetWebContent.com/LED : the LED's Key Sponsor The Web's Most Experienced SEO Content Providers. www.SEOToolSet.com/training/ : the LED's Premier Sponsor Bruce Clay's Search Engine Optimization Training & Certification ================================================== List Moderator: Published by: Adam Audette LED Digest adam, led-digest.com http://www.led-digest.com .............................................. November 9, 2007 Issue no. 2532 .............................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ==== CONTINUING ================= --== Creating a Search Engine ==-- ~ Martyn Gay "At present you appear to be considering all of the text as equal." --== What Came First? Usability & SEO ==-- ~ Terry Bailey "Optimization must be towards improving conversion..." <Moderator Comment> --== Stop Supporting IE 6? ==-- ~ Bruce Snipes "...there is an option to design a style sheet that is to be used only for printing..." --== Are there Secrets in SEO? ==-- ~ Jeremy Weiss "...how much information should a SEO consultant provide in a proposal?" ~ Nathan Holley "The fact is, there ARE secrets in this game." --== Content Copied by Another Designer ==-- ~ Sarah Hayes "...the site has gone offline." ======== CONTINUING =============================== From: Martyn Gay Subject: Programming search engines > Okay, obviously, the Google databases are not this simplistic, > but (in general terms) probably work in a similar way... Which > leads to - what words should be dropped? And what should > be weighted differently... - John Smart, LED Digest 2531 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1946/190/ John, We developed a similar search algorithm for our job board software. Many software packages just do simple AND/OR searches. We wanted something that ranked how relevant each job was to a candidate's search criteria, and returned the most relevant first - just like Google tries to do. At present you appear to be considering all of the text as equal. But its much better to try to break each DVD (or in our case each job vacancy) down into different fields, for a DVD this might be Title, Cast List, Description, Director, etc. You can then weight each field slightly differently. In our case (for job searching) we use a points scoring system along these lines: Initially we query the database to find all the jobs that match the search - we exclude jobs outside the locations and categories that the candidate requires (this isn't based on text search... jobs are linked to locations and categories), and ones that include none of the candidate's keywords. For all of the jobs that match, we then endeavour to give each a score for how closely it matches the candidate's search. Each field of the job is weighted... so a keyword hit in a job title is worth more than a hit just in the description of the job (in the same way Google ranks a keyword hit in a page title higher than standard text on a page). We allocate (eg) 5 points for the first time a keyword is found in a field of the job, but only 2 points for the next occurence, and then only 1 point (or even zero) thereafter. In this way jobs that repeat the same word many times don't over rank. We then have a list of all matching jobs, and a numeric score - the highest scoring being the closest matches. We then sort the results by this score and return them to the candidate. If it isn't done efficiently then this can take far too long - so you might well have to spend a bit of time tweaking your code to make it as efficient as possible. Good luck! Martyn Gay Job Board Software www.parodia.net -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Terry Bailey Subject: Usability SEO > ... for the professional search marketer, usability > should come first, and SEO should come second. - Grant Crowell, LED Digest 2527 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1941/190/ You both missed! Let me ask you, which is better, a race car with a fast engine and no fuel tank or a race car with a full fuel tank and no engine. It's better to have a average engine and a half a tank of fuel, at least your going somewhere. You have to go around the track to win the race. The only thing that matters in web optimization is conversions! Optimization must be towards improving conversion, it means you have to get visitors AND prompt them to action. Anything short of that is a failure. Terry Bailey GrandRiverSupply.com <Moderator Comment> Terry, if the only thing that matters is conversions as you say... then you seem to be in agreement with Grant that usability is more important than SEO? Improving conversions usually means improving the interface first, and the messaging in advertisements that lead visitors to the interface second. That would put improving conversions on the usability side of the equation. Can you give a bit more detail into your argument please? I don't want to put words in your mouth (or on your keyboard as it were). Thanks for the post, -Adam -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Bruce Snipes Subject: Browsers > ... what would you guys do? Demand an IE6 work-around from > the programmer? Tell the clients to get out of the '90s and come > to terms with today's Internet? Continue creating printer-friendly > pages and just charge clients more in the future, if they want their > pages printable? - Beth Ann Earle, LED Digest 2528 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1942/190/ I am just an amateur at building web pages so this might not be relevant to the discussion of printing CSS pages in browsers, but there is an option to design a style sheet that is to be used only for printing and the browser selects that style sheet automatically when a web page is printed. So, it should be relatively easy to allow users to print a proper looking page. The book I am using for this information was printed in 2003 so it should apply to IE6, shouldn't it? The code to activate the print stylesheet looks like this: link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="print" Bruce Snipes ========= Begin Sponsor Message ========= Who *DID* Put The Jolly In Ol' St Nick? Santa's copywriter, of course! How incredible has that person's work been for the past four or five centuries? For SEO'd web content that's fresh as a Christmas rose and relevant as a reindeer, visit http://www.GetWebContent.com/LED today! ========== End Sponsor Message ========== -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Jeremy Weiss Subject: Pricing SEO I believe we need some clarification here (or at least I do). Dirk quoted the following statement of mine: > You don't need step by step instructions (and I doubt > many would give them to you), but just a general overview > of what you're really paying for. But then said -- > Again, it comes down to keyword research, competitive > research, content development, optimization editing, > links, and skilled staff. Which, to me, really sounds like a general overview, like I suggested. But Dirk seemed to disagree with my statement. So the question, I guess, is how much information should a SEO Consultant provide in a proposal? Should we provide step-by-step instructions? Keyword Research 1. Choose one page from your site to work on. 2. Go to Wordtracker / Keyword Discovery / NicheBOT / Tool of Your Choice 3. Type in search phrase relevant to page you're working on 4. View results comparing search traffic to competition 5. Compile list of search phrases that with high traffic and low competition 6. Rinse, lather, repeat for every page in your site. (this is off the top of my head and could be made to sound much better) Or just an overview of the tasks involved? Keyword Research We will analyze search engine traffic and competition to find the best search phrases for each of your pages. These phrases will be used in the Optimization Editing portion of our work. (again, off the top of my head) And please realize, I'm not saying those of us in the SEO industry should hide things or claim to have a secret formula. Personally, I just don't think most people really want to receive a proposal with step by step instructions on how we are going to accomplish each and every task. It's bound to confuse and/or overwhelm people. I think using an overview with each service properly defined, would be sufficient in most cases. For those of you who are looking (or have in the past) for an SEO Consultant to go with, if you received a proposal that gave step-by-step instructions and a proposal that listed each task with an explanation of those tasks, which would be more likely to earn your business? Oh, and Dirk, if I misunderstood your statements please let me know. Sincerely, Jeremy Weiss http://www.BluePhoenixConsulting.com -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Nathan Holley Subject: Pricing SEO > The whole concept of SEOs "protecting themselves" > by being evasive is patently hollow... At the end of their > work, I should be able to go into any SEO client's site > and see exactly what was done with respect to > content, optimization, and keyword development. - Dirk Johnson, LED Digest 2531 Wrong. You're mistaking basic, on-page semantic search optimization with ALL search marketing practices. Sorry, but for awhile now success in the hyper-competitive markets I do SEO for daily has been about MUCH MORE than basic on-page work. And now with Universal Search rolling out, definitions of what optimizing a "web page" means is changing rapidly. We still need to cover the basics of optimizing a page. They are generally: - Title tags w/ well-researched keywords; - Description meta tag nicely worded for users; - H1-Hx header tags where appropriate; - Use of bolding, bullet lists, other emphasis on keywords; - Descriptive, well-written copy that isn't keyword heavy; - Variation of keywords in key influential spots; - Strong internal linking; - Quality out-bound linking. And we still need to cover the basics of off-page, quite simply: - Links from closely related sites; - Links from high-authority domains; - Links, links and more links; - Usability issues (notably bounce rates with Google) There, we've just covered the basics. There's so much more. Such as: - Online PR - Social Media - Contextual PPC (can be timed with PR to great effect) - Search PPC (can be used for pure link building too) - Influencers - getting key bloggers to notice you - Usability - a site that sucks doesn't have a future - Key ad buys (I use many, and no I won't tell you what sites they are) The fact is, there ARE secrets in this game. Those who know, know. And those who don't know, complain about it! All the best, Nathan Holley -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Sarah Hayes Subject: Copied content Hi, I'd like to say thank you to everyone that responded to my post [issue 2523 http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1936/190/ ] and give you an update. I gathered all the evidence to prove the content was mine and prepared a letter to post recorded delivery but the site has gone offline. I've been checking for a few days now and a DNS lookup shows no name servers or DNS entries for the domain. I'm not sure if this is temporary or not so I will keep checking his site to see if it comes back online. A large number of LED readers took an interest so it's not impossible that he became aware or perhaps he took someone else's content too and they beat me to it. All the best Sarah Hayes http://www.sarahhayes.co.uk/ (c) Copyright 1995-2007 Orange Wheel, LLC. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension - a dimension of sound, of sight, of mind. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You've just crossed over into the Twilight Zone." - Intro to the original Twilight Zone |
