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out-of-date.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 also a
number of lower-weight factors, but the ones
noted above, if addressed correctly, will have a
significant effect on your rankings, especially
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.
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 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. 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. Text links are easy to follow
for a spider and, perhaps more importantly, text
links allow you the opportunity to tell the
spiders what a specific page is about through 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. They want to
ensure 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
than a smaller site or a site with varying
content topics. (note: this assumes that all else
is equal in regards to other ranking factors)
When you are optimizing your site for MSN be sure
to take some time to build 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 size 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 on 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 ranking 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 through overuse (it should only be used
once per page). Try to keep your headings
short-and-sweet. They are there to tell your
visitor what the page is about, not your whole
site.
Special formats are, for the purpose of this
article, text formatting that distinguishes a set
of characters or words apart from other text.
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 some such - simply make sure
to use special formats properly. Inline text
links (links in the body content of your page)
are 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
rewarded much quicker on MSN. When dealing with
MSN and offsite SEO, there are two main factors
to consider when acquiring links:
Relevancy. The site must be relevant to your site
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. Spending extra time to find quality
sites, however, is well rewarded. Also, obtaining
one-way links as opposed to reciprocal links is
becoming increasingly important, and I'd
recommend utilizing both in your link building
strategies.
You should 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 look 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.
Next week we will be covering Yahoo!
Resources
Total Optimizer Pro
A keyword density and backlink analysis tool.
This tool breaks down a variety of onsite and
offsite factors giving you a full snapshot of how
the top 10 got their positions.
Microsoft Press Room
Read the latest press releases from Microsoft.
This may not give you the algorithm but it will
tell you the direction they're going. Understand
this and you'll be better equipped to deal with
changes down the road.
SearchEngineWatch's MSN
Forums
Read the latest news, feedback and discussions on
the SearchEngineWatch forums. A great way to keep
updated but beware, not everyone in there is a
qualified opinion.
About The Author
Dave Davies is the CEO of the SEO firm Beanstalk Search Engine
Positioning, Inc. Beanstalk provides guaranteed search engine positioning
and SEO consulting services to clients from around the
world. If you're more interested in doing it
yourself, please visit our SEO news blog to keep updated on the
latest goings-on in the search engine world.
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