26 January 2010
Google likes sites that are good for people - it's not a black art, just common sense. Nick Bowles of Webcraft UK Ltd looks at a few basics that will keep you on the right side of the search giant.

What Does Google Like?

Google likes useful and interesting websites. Many companies specialise in trying to 'trick' Google into listing their sites higher, and often charge highly for it. Google's spiders and algorithms are designed to rank sites using criteria based on content, structure and popularity. If a website is useful, easy to use, interesting and well-visited it will almost certainly rank well in Google for relevant search terms. So - what features of your web page is Googlge looking at?

What Does Google Look At?

Title tag
This is the page title that comes up in the blue bar at the very top of the browser window. It is the single most important meta tag. The ideal length is a maximum of 63 characters (including spaces) with all major keywords /phrases included if possible. Don't repeat any single word more than twice.

META content tag
This shouls consist of one or two readable sentences containing the main key phrases. Some search engignes use this as the listing text. (Don't worry about any other META tags, they are not important)

Keyword rich text
Mmake sure your major keywords/phrases come up regularly in the text on your home page but don't overstuff the text with keywords. Apart from anything else it needs to read OK for humans too.

Use H1 and H2 header tags
with key words for section headings but don't over-use these. Use appropriate ALT and TITLE tags for images (but don't stuff these with keywords)

Navigation
Make sure that whichever navigation system you use can be easily followed by search engine spiders. If you are using a non search engine friendly system you must have text links as well, or at least a site map with a link to it on the home page. Good navigation should mean that you never more than 2 clicks from any page to any other page. Do not use frames for navigation.

What Does Google Hate?

‘Black Hat’ SEO
Some companies use dubious techniques to try to get Google to see a different website to the one human visitors see. If you employ this type of technique there is a very real risk that Google will penalise you heavily for this, possibly even dropping your site completely. These techniques include:

Hidden keywork-rich text that is the same colour as the background

Duplicate pages or obvious 'doorway' pages that are written purely for search engines

Stuffing' pages with keywords and phrases or using phrases out of context. Keywords/phrases should be between 5% and 20% (max) of content

Misuse of ALT text when Flash or JAvascript is used (Flash should be used sparingly - Google cannot read any Flash content)

Inappropriate or paid for links - don't link to 'link farms or FFA (free for all) sites