ask Richard, free advice -- Web design and marketing questions and "expert" answers by Richard Seltzer

Ask Richard: free advice on Web design and marketing --

questions and "expert" answers

by Richard Seltzer, seltzer@samizdat.com, www.samizdat.com

The following Q&As come from my participation as an "expert" at AllExperts (which is now owned by About.com). I update this page as soo as I answer these questions at AllExperts, in reverse order, so the most recent ones appear at the top. If you'd like to ask a question of this kind, please do so by way of www.allexperts.com

My Internet: a Personal View of Internet Business Opportunities by Richard Seltzer, on CD, includes four books, 162 articles, and 49 newsletter issues that will inspire you and provide the practical information you need to build your own personal Web site or Internet-based business, helping you to become a player in this new business environment.

Dialogue about metatags with important information about Google ranking

Prompted by advice seen here, Karen, karen998877@canada.com, wrote on November 7, 2002:

"Metatags are useless. It's much better to make the full text of your pages visible to the search engines."

I can't agree with you on this. The reason is that while content is certainly the MOST important factor, almost every single search engine (specially robots) use the META Description Tag in their search results. Even though some don't realize it, but Google does too under certain circumstances (I'm not talking about their DMOZ results). I personally like the benefit of
this as I can write a very compelling description that I know will be seen by the searcher which will promote a click-through rather than trying to write an HTML document that will perfectly fit the excerpt that would be displayed if no META Tag was available.

Search engines such as Inktomi (who reach more than 80% of the Internet population) uses the META Description Tag in all their partner results. This includes sites like MSN, Overture, About and so on. In addition to Inktomi you have AltaVista who also uses this. While there are hundreds if not thousands of META search engines out there like Excite and Metacrawler and the Terra Network, I think it would be foolish to conclude that META Tags are "useless".

Even if the META Description Tag was not used in the ranking calculations of the results, it is certainly used to describe the content of the page. I will continue to use this as I have found this to be very beneficial.

Reply from Richard:

Please note the language in the question that I was answering: "I have meta tags for keywords on my website."

I was saying that keyword metatags are useless, and they certainly are. Of the major search engines, only Inktomi pays any attention at all to them.

Description metatags are a useful crutch if the words at the top of your page don't clearly reflect your content. Yes, what you have in the description metatag will show in in the results lists of search engines. But by using that metatag instead of putting your most important information at the top of your page you give up an opportunity to improve your ranking. Most search engines give priority to content in the HTML title and at the very beginning of the page. Content in Metatags typically gets no priority at all.

So yes, your description metatags are used by search engines.

But, you would be better off focusing on the actual content of your page, and putting the most important information at the very beginning of the page.

Reply from Karen:

You said: "But by using that metatag instead of putting your most important information at the top of your page you give
up an opportunity to improve your ranking."

I'm not saying that content at the top of the page should be omitted or "replaced" by the META Description. In fact I agree with you 100% that the content at the top of the page is VERY important as is the HTML elements that surround this text (ie, font size, headings, bold and so on). What I'm saying is that "in addition to" this highly relevant content at the top of the page you should certainly also provide a very informative/targeted META Description. As you know having the META Description will in no way hurt your rankings, but it certainly can increase a click-through.

If search engine optimization is what you want then providing all avenues to increase a click-through is what you need to do. Content and the placement of that content in the HTML is what "ranking" the page is all about, but there's more to search engine optimization and "marketing" than just content. That's like writing a book without a description on the back cover. The
TITLE of the book obviously is important, but people often flip that book over to see if the description of that book has what they are looking for.

When I go to a search engine and search on the following keywords "tax preparation" the below is what I get back (real listings). What would you click on?

Listing 1: Phone: 800 206-7495. 570 296-2848. Fax: 973 529-0205. Tax Preparation / Accounting Services Coupon.
$25.00 off Tax Preparation* Stone Financial / AAA Taxes...

Listing 2: How Would You Like To Know The Secrets The Wealthy Use To Reduce Their Taxes? This revealing
report exposes how the rich get richer..

If you're like most people you would click on listing #2 even though listing #1 came up first in the results. Listing #1 gave no reason for a click-through and it was content extracted from the page.

That's the power of the META Description and without it listing #1 failed to promote a click-through. And to think all he had to do was provide a META Description.

I hope this clears up my comment on the importance of the META Description Tag. I could care less if it helps
in the rankings because that's what good HTML planning and content is all about. My concern with SEO and Internet marketing is about ranking and focusing on ways to the click-through.

Reply from Richard:

1) the HTML elements that surround this text (ie, font size, headings, bold and so on)" are irrelevant. The search crawlers ignore markup.
2) most sites that use description metatags misuse them, placing the same metatag on multiple pages, which really hurts. If you choose to use description metatags, make sure that each page has a different one, distinctly suited to its content
3) the metatag gains you absolutely nothing in terms of ranking. It won't hurt you, but it's not worth your time and effort. Focus on the text on the page.

I have no metatags at my site. I do nothing to promote my pages (my advertising or marketing expense); and I get about 2000 visits per day. About half of those visits come by way of search engines, and by far the vast majority of those come by way of Google, which sends its crawler by and looks at all my pages about once every 2-3 days, without me doing anything -- simply because lot of sites have linked to me. You can check my current stats at http://samizdat.com/logs/

Reply from Karen with important information about Google:

I hate to say it, but you are grosely incorrect in your first statement saying that "crawlers ignore markup". Everyone knows Google puts a lot of weight on markup. Have you read the white papers on Google? I have. As stated by Larry Page himself:

"Google keeps track of some visual presentation details such as font size of words. Words in a larger or bolder font are weighted higher than other words. Third, full raw HTML of pages is available in a repository."

I can get a #1 ranking in Google every time I try simply by taking advantage of knowing how it works. Most of my traffic comes from Google too, but I realize Google isn't the only player out there so I optimize my Web pages for all.

Here's a couple links you may find useful:

Have you ever considered that adding some powerful META Description Tags to your Web pages might get you more traffic on those "other" engines that display this in their results? Maybe that's why you don't get as much traffic from these others?

Just because some people misuse META Tags doens't mean they aren't important. If people are stupid enough to use the same META Description then they are probably stupid enough to use the same TITLE too, but that doesn't prevent me for capitalizing on their mistakes.

Traffic? I know you won't believe it, but I deliver more than 30 million "page views" not hits a month so I guess I'm doing something right and all my pages have the META Description Tag. I agree the META Keywords Tag is a waste of time and AltaVista recently announce they have stopped using this in their calculations.

Reply from Richard:

"Google keeps track of some visual presentation details such as font size of words. Words in a larger or bolder font are weighted higher than other words."

That's interesting. I hadn't seen that before. I do know that AltaVista ignores markup, but these days AltaVista isn't that important. Thanks. I've learned something.
I probably didn't notice the effect because the first words on my pages (the words that I want to appear as the description, without using a description metatag) are the Head, typically H2, bold.

"full raw HTML of pages is available in a repository."

Yes, Google archives the pages it fetches and makes those available to searchers when the original pages are no longer available. That's useful service, but has no effect on ranking.

"Have you ever considered that adding some powerful META Description Tags to your Web pages might get you more
traffic on those "other" engines that display this in their results? Maybe that's why you don't get as much traffic from these others?"

Description tags have no effect on traffic. They simply force what will appear in the listings. And I already have constructed my pages so the first words on each page are the words that I want to appear as the description (that's the default).

"Traffic? I know you won't believe it, but I deliver more than 30 million "page views" not hits a month so I guess I'm doing something right and all my pages have the META Description Tag. I agree the META Keywords Tag is a waste of time and AltaVista recently announce they have stopped using this in their calculations.

Congratulations. Well done. If I had results like that, I wouldn't change anything either.
As for my stats, take into account:
1) this is a one-person operation, and only a small piece of my time goes into maintaining the site.
2) I have never spent a penny on marketing or advertising
3) I have about 1300 content-heavy, graphic-light, search-engine friendly pages, and some of those pages consitute entire books
4) About 2000 other sites link to my pages.
You are doing very well in the big leagues with tens of millions of page views per month. And I'm doing in my realm, with about 100,000 page views per month.

Thanks very much for the info about Google and the pointers.

Reply from Karen:

I just wanted to make one more comment before I leave you alone.

Your Web pages are perfectly done in regards to ranking high in Google. I did a quick analysis of several pages and found that you "by mistake" it seems, were using HTML elements to best rank you in Google. Doing what you are doing by providing a fairly good description would be much harder to teach to your readers. Most as you know have no clue how a search engine renders a Web page and the majority have never looked at the HTML.

If you were to tell people to make sure their most important and most descriptive content appears at the top of the Web page and formatted so it makes sense in the search results, that would mean nothing to them. Why? Because what they "see" and what is rendered are two totally different things. Consider tables for example (probably the most used by HTML editors). If
you are using tables as a way to provide a menu on the left of the screen and then on right you have the content right up there at the top of the page, that content would not be at the top in regards to how search engines render the page. Instead that content
would be at the bottom because the search engine found your menu on the left first.

People rarely look at the source code these days. Everyone's using some crappy HTML markup program that 1st writes terrible code and 2nd, doesn't consider search engines. I personally write all my code using a text editor. I was writing HTML when it was still considered experimental.

Your Web pages are simple (I mean that as a compliment) and will do well in search engines. People who don't understand how things work are also those people using Java, Flash and every HTML element they can muster up. I always tell people that simple markup is more effective than flashy crap. It makes no sense to have a flashy Web page that no one will ever visit. Provide valuable content and you'll become popular. Introduce that content in a manner that gives you a high ranking in search engine and you'll be found in the search engines. Mix all that with popularity and there you go, a high ranking Web site that will stay in the rankings for a long time to come.

Reply from Richard:

I agree 100%. I create my pages using Netscape Composer. When I need to do anything fancy (like add a FreeFind search box) , I use WordPad and just add the HTML code. Amen that fancy design techniques, encouraged by the standard authoring
packages just mess you up as far as search engines are concerned.

I try to emphasize that Web pages should have two design goals:
1) bring traffic to your site by making your pages very search-engine friendly.
2) provide a good experience for the visitor.

If you don't take care of #1, you don't have any visitors.

Thanks very much for the informative and stimulating discussion. I'll try to path the pieces together in some sort of coherent way and add them to that "experts" page

Subject: META name contents
Saturday, November 02, 2002

Question -
I use MET name=keyword and content=about 50 surnames that I want robots to find. How do I know they can do it? When I Google on "surname family" or "surname genealogy" I don't hit my web page.

Please tell me if I'm using them correctly. Thanks.

Answer -
Keywords are totally useless. The major search engines have abandoned them mainly because of misuse by spammers -- companies trying to trick people into thinking that the content of their pages is different from what it actually is. Of the majors, I understand that only Inktomi pays any attention at all to keyword metatags.

What does matter is the actual content of your pages, in particular the HTML tite (what is between <title> and </title> in your head) and the first few lines of text. And, of course, you need to design your pages so search engine crawlers can "see" that content (avoid java script and pdf and frames, etc. etc. -- keep it simple).

See my articles at http://www.samizdat.com/report.html and http://www.samizdat.com/brandandtraffic.html and related articles linked to from http://www.samizdat.com/search.html or check my book "Web Business Bootcamp" at Amazon or "My Internet" (on CD) at my online store http://store.yahoo.com/samizdat

Subject: US Free Grant
Tuesday, October 29, 2002

Question -
I received e-mail stating that US Government is giving out free grants with the sum of tens to hundreds of thousand dollars each year, and I was offered the same grant, by submitting my application and paying a small sum of $49.95. Is it true that free grant does exist? If I pay, is it worth the money (no risk, I mean)? Thank you in advance.

Answer -
There are many scams out there. This sound like one of them. If you actually were entitled to a goverment grant, there would be no application fee, and it would be the government itself that was contacting you, not some third party. Beware.

Subject: Web Site Content
Sunday, October 27, 2002

Question -
I have never designed a web page so am starting from scratch and learning about HMTL. I am not certain what topic I will cover but am concerned about copyright. I gather this is a complex area but anyone 'writing' a web page probably has to rely on information he has read about or learnt about in the past from various sources. Is there a general rule of thumb that I can apply?

Answer -
I discuss how to build Web pages and also the copyright issue in my book Web Business Bootcamp, published by Wiley and available from Amazon.

Regarding copyright, there are two pieces: text and images. For text, if you write it, you own it. If you didn't write it, you need
permission from the person who did or the person who own the copyright to it if you want to include that text on your page. For images, you will be tempted to pick up pictures from other Web sites. If the images are from a US government site (like NASA) or were originally published in the US before 1923 (like an illustration from an early Oz edition), the image
should be in the public domain -- but always double-check the site for restrictions or claims of copyright or procedures to obtain permission for reuse of material posted there.

Also, if you scan it in from a book that is clearly in the public domain (US before 1923), for a collection of images (at a Web site or on CD) that is clearly labelled as public domain or copyright free -- in all those cases, you can do what you want with the image. Otherwise, presume that someone owns it; and it you want to use it, try to identify the owner and ask for permission. Best is if you create the image yourself. If you pay someone to make an image for you, make sure you have a written agreement assigning all the rights to that image to you (you could hire someone to do a photo or drawing for you primarily for use in a brochure or magazine, and if you didn't have a written agreement, you could wind up having to pay again to use that same image on your Web site).

followup question:

Thanks for your reply.

From your explanation it seems that if I wish to use specific pictures or text belonging to someone else then I need copyright permission. However, much of what I have in mind (say a profile of Clint Eastwood ) is fairly common knowledge and any number of sources will carry information about his most famous films/roles. etc. There would be nothing to suggest I have
lifted the information from one particular source. My web page will be based on information I did not readily have to hand but is copyright still an issue? Your further advice would be appreciated.

Answer -
If you are talking about text, not pictures, then paraphrase -- express similar ideas with very different words; throw in an occasional well-attributed quote and you should be fine.

Subject: starting an online buisness
Tuesday, October 22, 2002

Question -
hi i am intrested in starting an online buisness and im asking for any tips on how to start (im pretty good at making web pages) but im not sure what to sell and how to make the most money and such, could u help? p.s. im not intrested in making this my life, but just making a small online company to make some extra money.

Answer -
My book Web Business Bootcamp, available from Amazon, was written to answer the very question you ask. Give it a try.

You'll also find lots of related articles at my Web site http://www.samizdat.com

PS -- You are probably best off experimenting with online auctions, to learn how the Web works and to make some money while you learn. There's a chapter on that in the book. You also will find good advice at http://www.samizdat.com/ebay.html and http://www.samizdat.com/ebay4.html

Subject: SOSIG on www.sosig.ac.uk
Sunday, October 20, 2002

Question -
What links appear on the website? what problems might there be in using the website?

Answer -
You have to be more clear. Obviously, if you have Web pages the links that appear there are the ones that you put there. (Just like the words that you type appear there.) And what kinds of problems are you talking about? Sounds like you are at the very beginning. That's fine. You have to start somewhere. I suggest that you read my book Web Business Bootcamp, available from Amazon. That will take you through everything you need to know step by step.

Subject: attracting visitors to site
Saturday, October 19, 2002

Question -
Hello there, i have finally finished writing a web site that is selling certain goods via cafepress, i have put metatags on homepage code, but as a newcomer to putting a site on the web i was wondering briefly what else i can do to get myself on search engines? Do i register with google etc, and if so is it free?

Answer -
Forget metatags -- they are a waste of time. Read my articles at http://www.samizdat.com/report.html and
http://www.samizdat.com/brandandtraffic.com Make sure you have content rich pages presented in static HTML, with meaningful HTML titles and opening lines of text. Create a sitemap page (see http://www.samizdat.com/site.html). Then go to my submission page, http://www.samizdat.com/submit.html for links to the free submission pages of the major search engines and submit your sitemap page, not your home page.

Subject: new web business
Saturday, October 19, 2002

Question -
I need help "thinking out of the box". I want to start a home based business incorporating the things I know (web design, e-commerce) and the things I love (sports especially football, basketball, and golf). Can you help?

Answer -
Start with my book -- Web Business Bootcamp -- available at Amazon, or with the hundreds of similar articles at my Web site
http://www.samizdat.com

First, try to understand the Internet and how it works -- as an assemblage of people connected to one another. Then think about the activities/sports that you love and see where there might be a fit, and figure out what kind of content you might generate that would attract an audience, and what role you might fill that isn't already being filled by the espns and
reuters of the world.

Subject: Web site
Thursday, October 10, 2002

Question -
This is a very basic question.I have a web site I just put together and have just registered a domain name.Do I have to find a host or can I submit this to a search engine like Excite myself. In other words how do I put it on the internet? Right now I want to test it for response.

Answer -
Registering a domain name is just a prerequisite. You don't have a Web site, you don't have Web pages, you don't have a Web host yet.

Sign up for a Web hosting service -- for "virtual domain" sevice, which means that you use your domain name, not theirs. You should be able to find many such choices at http://www.thelist.com The cost typically runs about $20-$30/month. You give the technical folks at such a Web hosting company the information about what your domain name is and where you registered it and they should be able to step you through the rest of the way.

Subject: HR Intranet
Wednesday, October 09, 2002

Question -
What is the long-term benifit for a company to build a HR intranet? thanks a lot,

Answer -
Why an HR Intranet? In other words, why must this be something separate from how the people in your company normally communicate with one another? Rather than an "intranet", you need a platform like SiteScape Forum (see http://www.sitescape.com for a trial version of the software, or check their hosted service at http://www.webworkzone.com)

Long term, you want people talking to people -- that's where the benefit comes in, not from posting documents on the Web,
though that's fine as a supplement.

You want an environment in which people can ask questions and get accurate answers from knowledgeable people quickly. And also an environment in which those questions and answers are available for others to see and to search for, cutting down on the need to answer the same questions over and over again.

You also want an environment that includes both private and public areas -- places where people can post anonymously or confidentially, and other places where the postings are available to any employee.

You want an environment that allows for bulletin-board-style /Forum/Web Board types of discussion, where you post and go back later to see answers; and that also can handle live chat (html style so you see everything that is said in the chat room even what's typed before you get there, and the transcript is automatically saved). See my article about the business value of scheduled chat session http://www.samizdat.com/events.html

All of this is available with SiteScape Forum. And users would only need a browser to connect to everything. And if you wish, the whole thing can run on SiteScape's servers (at http://www.webworkzone.com).

The long-term benefit is the increased loyalty and productivity of people who feel that they are valued and are treated like intelligent, creative adults; plus the benefit that this HR application re-enforces corporate efforts to encourage a culture in which ideas and information are shared and widely disseminated rather than jealously held as power tokens -- an environment that is essential for survival in today's wired world.

You also might want to look at my article about Knowledge Management at http://www.samizdat.com/know.html

Subject: to be seen!
Tuesday, September 24, 2002
Question -
OK, now that i have a great site, what are the tricks to being seen???

Answer -
No tricks. Good useful text content -- lots of it -- in search-engine-friendly form (simple). See my articles at http://www.samizdat.com/report.html
http://www.samizdat.com/brandandtraffic.html and
other articles from http://www.samizdat.com/search.html

Subject: data on keyword searches
Thursday, September 19, 2002

Question -
I have a question, but let me give you the background first... I am on a project team at a hotel to increase the revenue of our in-house restaurant. We want to increase our exposure through use of the internet, but are curious about exactly how to go about it. I have a background in computer analyst and tech support stuff, so I know that you can optimize web traffic through certain "keywords" and stuff that make the site come up more frequently during searches...

What the rest of the committee wants to know is: can we find out the frequency of searches for certain keywords, such as:
"fine dining", "steakhouse", etc... in combination with "downtown atlanta", or just "atlanta". Is that information available? Do sites like Yahoo or MSN, or google publish that? And also, is it worth signing up for something like overture.com - I tried to go to their site to get this info, but you have to pay just to get in to look at anything. We think there is a lot of potential with business travelers, and even locals, if we implement the site properly. Any help you could give to helkp us determine the potential, or build our site, would be greatly appreciated!

Answer -
You are asking the wrong question. "key words" are useless. What matters is text -- lots of useful text that your potential customers would be interested in, presented in search-engine friendly form. Check my article at http://www.samizdat.com/brandandtraffic.html
and other related articles from http://www.samizdat.com/search.html

followup question:

Question -
What my team wants to know is, What are people searching for? Is there information on that, so I can use your article to help tailor our site to what people are searching for?

Answer -
Still the wrong question. What matters is what are YOUR potential customers interested in? Knowing that, write/buy content that they will want to read. One and two-word searches are often useless. People who know what they are doing search for phrases, use many words in their queries. "Key word" approaches miss them entirely. What kind of food does your restaurant serve? What are the specialties? What are the most popular dishes? Provide information about the countries/cities of origin, about alternative ways of preparing similar foods, about what makes your food special, about your chefs (treat them like celebrities and people will begin to believe that they are celebrities), about famous people who have eaten at your restaurant, about organizations that meet there regularly and their "celebrities", about upcoming meetings/events. Focus on the customer, not on the "key word".

I wouldn't pay a penny for "key word" information. It's useless.

Search engines index every word of the pages you create (unless you are foolish enough to use a design that blocks them). Content is what counts (forget metatags). See my article at http://www.samizdat.com/report.html or hear it at http://www.samizdat.com/internet

Subject: Frames pages and keywords
Tuesday, August 13, 2002

Question -
I have a hobby site that uses frames and subwebs for navigation. Although I've read quite a bit about meta tags, descriptions and keywords I don't really understand how they should be applied to frames and how to resolve the problem of search engines indexing target pages.

For example part of our site carries (free) classfied ads. Anyone following a url to a psarticular ad will see just that page and miss out on the frameset that gives navigation around the rest of the site.

How is this issue solved? Is it by putting 'keywords' in different places (in the framres html rather than the target page html???)

Or by some trick of coding in the target page that will load the parent frameset?? (The exact reverse of normal - the frameset being loaded by the target!)

I guess it could be a common problem - what if a search engine lists a specific page that visitors then see 'solo' - and might never see all the navigation buttons in the banner and contents frames that would lead them into the rest of the site!

Although this sounds like a lot of questions this is because I'm lost - there's really just two questions - what direction do I go in to find a solution to a) keyword postioning and b) frameset 'reverse' loading?

I do hope you can give some pointers here.

Answer -
The problems you site are very real. They result from your choosing to use frames. If search engine traffic is important to you, you shouldn't use frames or you should provide an alternate no-frames version of your pages. For details see my article at http://www.samizdat.com/brandandtraffic.html
and other articles from http://www.samizdat.com/search.html

Subject: Website Critique
Wednesday, August 07, 2002

Question -
I have recently designed my first website, www.kofbar.com. I have virtually no website design experience so I know its a little rough.

The site has all the necessary information but it is lacking in style. However, since I don't have a good eye for that sort of thing, I have been unable to improve the design to my satisfaction. I was wondering if you could help me out with a critique. Please be as critical as possible.

Answer -
In general it looks fine. FYI -- with Netscape, your Kosher page is blank. Your biggest problem appears to be not the design, but rather the fact that you have very little text content. Text is what draws traffic to a site by way of search engines. Your second biggest problem is that you are using Meta tags -- key word and description metatags -- as your main/only way of letting search engines know what you are doing; and it appears that you have the same metatags on every single page.
I suggest that you take a look at some of my articles about how search engines work at http://www.samizdat.com/search.html
You also might want to check my book Web Business Bootcamp, available from Amazon.

Subject: e-business
Tuesday, August 06, 2002

Question -
i would like to ask about how to build a web site for myself to start my own business on Internet. I am working as a programmer i think i am able to write e-business web page. However, i don't know much about what techology i have to use like sql server or whatever? and how to receive payment from customer like master card? what kind of system do i have to
use? or simply sign up to some web hosting like yahoo!store , they provide a user-friendly shopping cart and secure credit card processing?

Answer -
I suggest keeping it simple and avoiding database approaches. Plain static HTML pages do best in search engines. (see my related articles at http://www.samizdat.com/search.html)

For selling, yes it is far simpler and cheaper to build a store at Yahoo (or one of its competitors) than to try to do that all yourself. You can see my store at http://store.yahoo.com/samizdat

Simply link from your information rich marketing site to your store.

For more detail, you could check my book Web Business Bootcamp, available from Amazon.

Subject: Newsgroups
Saturday, August 03, 2002

Question -
I have been posting on several "user-friendly" Newsgroups (Google, NewsOne, Outlook Express) and have had what I consider a good response to my offer of a Free informative series of Newsletters. I would like to expand my posting to other free newsgroups but don't know where to find any that I, as a "newbe" can understand. Could you recommend some that
are as simple and direct as those with which I am currently working?

Answer -
Google, NewsOne, and Outlook Express are not "newscroups". You can, however, read and post newsgroup messages by way of Google, which gives you access to tens of thousands of different newsgroups. I suggest that you read the help files at Google to get a better understanding of what newsgroups are and how to use them by way of Google.

Subject: Message Boards and Web Marketing
Saturday, August 03, 2002

Question -
I'm a new designer and I never know what to tell clients about getting listed with search engines. The best I can tell them is you have to pay to get listed with Yahoo. What can I do to help them with marketing their site?

On another note, I have a client who wants a message board on their site. I don't know how to make one, where is the best place to buy one?

Answer -
Regarding being found by search engines, please check my article at http://www.samizdat.com/brandandtraffic.html and related articles from
http://www.samizdat.com/search.html

Subject: Search Engine Optimization
Friday, July 19, 2002 3:53

Question -
How can I optimize my website so that I can be found on search engines? Could you lead me to some articles on the web or any other resources where I can find more information about this?

Answer -
Check my article at http://www.samizdat.com/brandandtraffic.html Then check other related articles of mine from
http://www.samizdat.com/search.html

Subject: Web Site
Monday, July 15, 2002

Question -
I have set up a web site http://bandcapparatus.com for a company I manage. I want this site to be listed in search engines, preferably at the top when you search using keywords I have installed in the web code. I have submitted and submitted, and I really don't know where I stand. I was hoping to get help from someone, such as thou, on how to accomplish this.

Answer -
You need a better understanding of how search engines work. Check my article at http://www.samizdat.com/brandandtraffic.html and other search-related articles of mine at http://www.samizdat.com/search.html

Subject: powerpoint for web designing
Monday, July 15, 2002

Question -
I want to know if microsoft powerpoint is a suitable software for web making.please tell me which software is the best for this matter.

Answer -
If you ever have a choice, never use a Microsoft product for Web site/page design. Try Netscape Composer, which is part of the free Netscape Communicator. It's very easy to use and very powerful.

Subject: we need traffic!
Sunday, June 30, 2002

Question -
Hello, my brother and I have designed a website dedicated to the computer games Silent Hill and Silent Hill 2 and also the TV programme the X-files. It is at www.silenthillfiles.50megs.com. We would like to have our website appear on search engines, but don't want to spend any money on it(!). We've tried using www.addme.com, but it hasn't worked. I would appreciate
your advice.

Answer -
Check the following articles on my site:
http://www.samizdat.com/brandandtraffic.html
http://www.samizdat.com/tutorial.html
and other articles linked to from http://www.samizdat.com/search.html

Subject: Idea
Wednesday, June 26, 2002

Question -
I desperately want to start a business on the internet. Like the millions of other people who are doing it, I am attracted to the immediacy of the internet as a marketplace. 'Problem is, I do not know what in the world to do. Do you have any suggestions of "sure-fire" businesses or products for the web-market. I thought of offering diabetic products or something similar. I would however prefer something that would not require a huge inventory investment.

Answer -
Of course, I don't have a magic solution for quick and easy riches over the Internet. Nobody does. But as a beginner wanting to learn the nitty-gritty and get started with an Internet business, I would strongly advise my book Web Business Bootcamp, published this year by Wiley and available from Amazon. You'll also find numerous similar articles at my Web site.
http://www.samizdat.com

Subject: domain question
Monday, June 17, 2002

Question -
We're trying to buy a domain name (in the companies referred by Internic.com). We already have a fixed IP, but although I thought that the only thing they'll ask us for is the fixed IP, they're asking us for a hostname (and the IP address of this hostname). What do we need in order to "go live" from home with a domain name ? and do you know what's this hostname ? (what're they talking about?) I'd really appreciate if you can help me with this.

Answer -
Your domain registry company is presuming that, like nearly everyone else who is buying domain names these days, you are using a Web hosting company rather than running your own server with a direct leased line to the Internet. Is that the case? If so, then to get started, you should tell the tech folks with your Web hosting company that you are buying a domain name and ask them for the details that you need to complete the deal. (If you were so sophisticated and had so much money to spend as to have your own server machine and to have made arrangements for your own leased line, you wouldn't be asking this question).

Keep in mind that the name you are buying is just a name. Web space to build your site is a separate matter -- that's what you get from Web hosting companies. I recommend the company that I use -- www.hispeed.com. For a complete list of companies in that business, with details on what they provide and what they charge see www.thelist.com

followup question:

Question -
Hi Richard and thank you for your answer. We have an ADSL connection to the internet. So if I understood you ok, we
just need to give the company we buy the domain name from our IP and they will link it and also publish and distribute it among the DNS servers of the Internet ?

Answer -
Do you have your own Web server? If so, talk to the tech folks at the company selling you the domain name to figure out what you need to do next.

(In other words, you could have an ADSL connection that provides you with high speed Internet access; but that does not in and of itself give you the ability to publish pages on the Web. To publish, you special software [web server software] running on your machine; or you need to have an account with a company that runs such software and provides you with space
on their server for a fee.)

Subject: e-commerce
Friday, May 10, 2002

Question -
Why hasn't e-commerce worked as expected?

Answer -
Because brick-and-mortar companies did not adapt to the new environment. The heart of the Internet is connecting people to people. That's where you need to focus. Read my speech "The Future of the Internet and the Future of Business" at
http://www.samizdat.com/maine.html

Subject: Search Engines
Wednesday, April 10, 2002

Question - 0Ok, I have created my webpage by going to a website called www.2itb.com. And now when I go to a search engine ie: google, it's not there. When you create a webpage at this site it allows for you to have them send off a request to search engines to have your webpage listed there. It has been months and nothing. My question is: is there another way that people are getting their webpages on search engines without the use of other peoples advertising on your site or without a fee (if possible)?

Answer -
There are other sites that are still "free" -- I believe that's the case with angelfire and geocities. But if you don't want advertising you should be willing to pay a pittance (about $20/month) for a real site. Check http://www.thelist.com for a complete searchable list of Web hosts and ISPs.

As for getting included in search engine indexes, that takes time (typically 2-3 months) in any case. But the main factor determining whether your content will be included is your design. If you Web host forces you to use templates with java script or frames or other such nonsense, that will exclude you.

For details, check my book Web Business Bootcamp (available from Amazon) or related articles at my site http://www.samizdat.com

Subject: web site
Thursday, February 28, 2002

Question -
My web site is domain name is redirected to another URL, which is the the actual site on the web. I can't seem to get my website submitted and listed to any search engines.

When I test the site for searchability, it appears that most of the metatags are working. I've tested it with http://scrubtheweb.com/" If you put my URL into the box "CHECK URL", at this web site, you will see what I mean.

I could use some basic info on how to get my site easily searchable on the major engines.

One question I also have is whether I should submit several of my pages to search engines, or just the home page?

If I submit several, then do I set up metatags for each page?

Would you recommend any programs that might set up the tags rather than doing it manually.

Also, are there any good ways of submitting a web site to search engines rather than the manual method.

Any general feedback on my site would be appreciated as well, since this is my first web site.

Answer -
1) Redirection will prevent you from being indexed by search engines. Don't do it.
2) Metatags are useless. It's much better to make the full text of your pages visible to the search engines.
3) Submit each and every page at AltaVista. For the other search engines, create a plain static html page with links to every page at your site -- a "sitemap" page -- and submit that, not your home page.

See my book Web Business Bootcamp (at Amazon). See my article at http://www.samizdat.com/brandandtraffic.html
See my tutorial at http://www.samzidat.com/tutorial.html

Subject: products
Monday, February 25, 2002

Question -
I have, for some time had an idea for an online store selling sports merchandise and apparell. Where does a guy go to get these products? Also, are there wholesalers where I can order and have them shipped to people that order form me? I have
had this idea brewing for a while and this is the major question I have. HOW to get the product? Is there a license needed? Do I contact Logo, New Era Nike ect. or other manufacturers? Any input will be greatly appreciated!

Answer -
The first question you should ask is "why"? What special knowledge do you have? What unique skills or contacts do you
bring to the table? What makes you think that you can do a better job, at less cost than sites like FogDog www.fogdog.com?

Subject: Number of Key Words
Sunday, January 27, 2002

Question -
We have a new site and I would like to ask your opinion on maximum recommended number of keywords we should include in the Meta Keywords Tag for optimum search engine ranking. I have seen anything between 75 to 874 total characters (including spaces and commas).

Answer -
Do not use keyword metatags. It's a total waste of time. Read me article at http://www.samizdat.com/brandandtraffic.html

Subject: would this work?
Tuesday, January 22, 2002

Question -
I think I may have an excellent idea for an online based business.I would like to get somone elses opinion as well as ways to pursue this if it will work. here is my Idea: I would like to start a website that allows college students to EXCHANGE textbooks.The cost for textbooks is almost as much as tuition, and the resale valeu to used stores is about 25% of the cover
value. What I could create a site that was similar to ebay, but rather worked on a credit based system, where it is a book for book exchange(maybe books costing 1-50 dollars would be .5 credit, 50-75 would be 1 credit ect or something to that effect.This way students could swap book for book with the inventory which would have to be built up. They send in the book, are given a "credit" and could draw from the inventory accordingly.Many state colleges use the same books for similar
classes (usually electives) and would be readily available while others would be in short supply. Would this work. I have many other ideas for expansion such as moving to all types of media(all books,movies/cd's etc.) but I think college students would be glad to pay a 10 dollar a year fee to save a ton on textbooks. The site could also sell books not located in the inventory at cost or slightly above. io know there are similar sites but these do not offer what I have described, they may be able to put you
in touch with somone who is selling a book, but not on a credit based system. I think this is a very good Idea however I dont have the know how to create email generating websites with user/id log on pages as well. I dont think I have the capacity to pull something like this together alone as I would need banner ad sponsers, online accounts, a site maintainer, as well as a physical warehouse to store the books in. Will this work? I dont have money to invest in up front. If I did, how much would I need?

Answer -
A year ago there were a couple sites somewhat similar to what you have in mind, though not just focused on textbooks: mrswap.com and webswap.com. You can see my article about them at http://www.samizdat.com/swap.html
Unfortunately, as far as I can tell, they both went out of business. You should try to learn as much as you can about why they went out of business -- what worked, what didn't work, and why. Also, have you used half.com (owned by eBay)? They are a great source of second hand books at reasonable price. That's also a great way to sell your own used books. The way they operate (and also the way the two swap sites used to operate) there's no need for a warehouse, no need to store any inventory.

Subject: help
Sunday, January 13, 2002

Question -
i have a friend who want to make an online local newspaper . which is the easy way to publish this newspaper alone?
he has not experience with computers. maybe there is a free script or one programme to make the webpages easy?
i show him some html editors, word etc but he think that is difficult.

Answer -
Read my book Web Business Bootcamp. That provides simple basic lessons on how to do the things that matter for success in an online business. You can get it from Amazon.

Subject: How to be visible
Wednesday, January 09, 2002

Question -
Even if I fill up my meta with all the appropriate words in the description and keywords, I cannot find my site in search engine. Can you give me suggestions on how to be visible at the maximum.

Answer -
Metatags are totallly useless. What you need is text, lots of text -- plain static text. See my article at http://www.samizdat.com/brandandtraffic.html Also related articles from http://www.samizdat.com/search.html
Or buy my book Web Business Bootcamp (available at Amazon).

Subject: Online dating services
Sunday, November 25, 2001

Question -
Hi, We're starting an online dating service. Where do these businesses get the people to start with to bring in more business? Thanks for your help.

Answer -
I suspect that most companies in this business have used spam lists and banner ads at similar sites to get started.

I'd suggest avoiding that route.

If it were me, I'd start by focusing on one local market. And I'd throw a live, face-to-face party or a series of parties. Focus on local colleges. Put fliers on windshields, hire students to put fliers under people's doors. To get an invitation to the party, they have to go to your Web site and sign up -- free signup. If they don't have a digital picture of themselves to upload, you'll take their picture at the event.

Do whatever you can to make the physical party sound and be very attractive -- something that people start talking about.

Once you have members, set up members-only chat rooms. Make it easy for members to contact one another by email (private, anonymous/handle-based, email mail boxes accessible through your Web site) and set up private (or multiple-invitee) chats for specific times.

Provide rewards for folks writing credible testimonials about their positive experiences.

Provide rewards for members bringing in new members.

Have several levels of service -- free listing with photo; extra to add audio; a fee to add more pictures or video.

Text chat rooms available for free. Voice chat for a fee.

Schedule for-a-fee members-only special events -- parties, dinners, shows, sporting events -- where you reserve a block or seats or tables together and set things up so members can easily get to meet one another. You could do that in partnership with one or more other Web sites in that city that set up social/entertainment events. Whenever you do that, make sure that
your brand name is prominently displayed. Make those events so attractive that you can advertise those, requiring folks who want to attend to sign up. And do co-op advertising with the venues where you are holding those events.

Create a mutual feedback system, where people who date one another have a chance to express their mutual admiration -- rating one another on honesty (is the photo realistic? are their words about themselves accurate? would you want to set your roommate up with person? with an opportunity for creative added comments). Set it up so people want to say good things
about the people they go out with (knowing that those people are also rating them). Also set up incentives for 1) people to date many different members (rewards for lots of good feedback) -- perhaps the feedback determines where your entry shows up in a list of matches when people search for potential dates, 2) people to repeatedly date the same person (met through your service -- perhaps by way of a sliding scale of discounts at local entertainment places and stores (preferably advertisers
of yours).

Main points:
1) start local
2) combine on-line and face-to-face
3) start with college-age audience.

Subject: general knowledge
Thursday, November 22, 2001

Question -
i want to know about what can you ans i want to ask general questions like who was the first indian to get the first nobel price
if you cant the tell me where could i get it and what will be the time taken

Answer -
Go to Ask Jeeves http://www.askjeeves.com and simply type in your question in plain ordinary English. Then followup on the likely choices they provide.

Subject: Search Engines
Thursday, November 01, 2001

Question -
I have just completed my website and have used a service which emails to some of the search engines a request for my website to be found on their website. It has been over 2 weeks now and when I do a search for it, it is no where to be found. So how does one, once they have completed their website, have their website be one of the search result with a search engine for free.

Answer -
1) such services are a waste of time and money
2) it takes an average of 4-8 weeks for your information to get added to the indexes of the major search engines; be patient (but only after you have submitted yourself, directly)

In all probability your site design is search-engine friendly (most sites today are).

See my article about that issue at http://www.samizdat.com/brandandtraffic.html And see my search engine tutorial at
http://www.samizdat.com/tutorial.html

And once you have significant plain static html content, and have created a sitemap page, use
http://www.samizdat.com/submit.html to connect to the free submission pages of the major search engines.

Subject: dot com crash
Wednesday, October 31, 2001

Question -
The 'dot com crash' shows the e-commerce bubble has burst. I try to defend this because I have strong view against this and am going to quit my degree. (Dissaprove this statmement)

Answer -
The banner ad bubble burst. And venture capitalists illogically ran in the other direction (just as they illogically ran toward dot-coms before that -- totally clueless both ways). That says nothing about the business potential of the Internet and the
Internet in combination with traditional business models.

For more on Internet trends see my articles at http://www.samizdat.com/trends.html and other articles at
http://www.samizdat.com

Subject: where did the TEXT underlining come from?
Sunday, October 14, 2001

Question -
there are several links on my webpage at angelfire. after I moved some of the links to other lines, ALL OF THE TEXT to the end
of the page was underlined! ! !

teaching myself html. Slowly, so I (thought) check after each change, but I sure missed this one!

Am i missing a: </TR>; </TD>; or </htmdiv> or what?

Answer -
Contact the folks at Angelfire. Their authoring tools are generating weird (and unnecessarily complex) code.

Normally you underline text by putting <ul> at the beginning and </ul> at the end of the selected text. But looking at the source code for your page and searching through it, <ul> never appears.

By the way, you'd be much better off using another, far simpler authoring tool -- such as Netscape Composer, which is part of Netscape Communicator (free).

Subject: How to use chat rooms to network
Monday, October 01, 2001

Question -
I am a freelance writer and editor (15 years of experience, three working for myself) and would like to know if you think chat rooms are a good place to network, and how I go about doing this. I have never used a chat room before and don't even know how to use one.

My other question is, which chat rooms are the best places for me to network? I'm not sure if logging on to a writing/editing chat room would be the best place, as there would be so much competition? I recently had an HR person tell me to try HR list serves (because I want to start doing resumes for people) but I'm not sure how to do this. Areas I want to write/edit in include disability technology, health/medical, and spirituality (I'm writing a book about this). Are there any publishing list serves where I might be able to find a potential publisher?

Answer -
For listserves (email distribution lists) check http://www.liszt.com AKA http://www.topica.com and http://groups.yahoo.com
For newsgroups (another form of online discussion) check http://www.google.com For forums (bulletinboard style discussions) try http://www.forumone.com

Chats tend to be ephemeral. You can see lists of www.yack.com and www.talkcity.com etc., as well as at major portals, like yahoo.

I hold a weekly chat (been doing it since the summer of 96) about Business on the Web. Check www.samizdat.com/chat.html for details.

FYI -- you also might want to check back issues of my newsletter Internet-on-a-Disk for some articles about disabilities and accessibility. see www.samizdat.com/ioad.html

Subject: Search Engines
Sunday, September 30, 2001

Question -
I need help with the search engines to get the word out about my companies website... Any ideas how I can do this? We also own about 15+ music related domain names that I want to point to the site to get it more traffic... any ideas how I can use these as well?

Answer -
Just took a quick look at your site. Before you do anything with search engines, you'll have to deal with the issue that your design is search-engine unfriendly. The crawlers see little or no content on your pages. You are depending on metatags -- which are useless.

Check my search engine tutorial at http://www.samizdat.com/tutorial.html especially the section about being found.
Also check other related articles of mine at http://www.samizdat.com/search.html

For more detail on a practical simple workaround that should work in your case, let me know your email address and I'll send you a draft of the white paper I'm working on now. (I'm at seltzer@samizdat.com)

Subject: Looking for a web master to help ongoing
Saturday, September 08, 2001

Question -
What does it take to copy a 5 page website, with permission of course?
What is the easiest way. This site will have a different domain name.
I need to copy a site and put my contact info on it. Make a couple of changes as well
Others nationally will be doing the same thing.

Answer -
"What it takes" depends entirely on how the pages are designed. Simple, effective, search-engine-friendly, text-heavy pages could be copied and modified in a matter of minutes. Complex, dynamically generated pages, loaded with custom java-script and tables would be a total pain.

Subject: Your opinion
Saturday, September 22, 2001

Question -
I run a free academic resource directory for students and teachers. I just started promoting it about a month ago. I wanted to ask you your personal opinion and critique about the over all site. Is there any improvements I can make to help my visitor get what they need (anything I can add or take out)? Do I need to add more content or should it be divided up into more categories? Does the site look professional or feels like a quality site? And how can I reach my targeted visitors in an efficient way?

I would love any kind of feedback that can help me improve the site.

Answer -
You have no content -- simply lists of links. And you rely on metatags for being found by search engines -- a total waste of time. Text -- plain static text is what matters. For info on how to be found by search engines, check my tutorial at
http://www.samizdat.com/tutorial.html
In any case, you should begin with a clear explanation of what your site is about -- your target audience, and how you serve them.

Subject: Web business promotion
Monday, September 17, 2001

Question -
I am a web designer with limited experience (about 12 months and 8 sites) who has setup as self-employed during July of this year.

I have created a new site and would very much appreciate your support in promoting this project, both online and off.

Answer -
1) Your design is search-engine unfriendly. See my search engine tutorial (especially the part about being found) at
http://www.samizdat.com/tutorial.html and other related material by way of http://www.samizdat.com/search.html
Until you fix that, there's not much that you can do to publicize your project.
2) Check my article about how to publicize a Web site at http://www.samizdat.com/public.html

Subject: FTP problem
Tuesday, August 28, 2001

Question -
Hi Richard and thanks for volunteering. I am setting up my own little website, but I am a newbie to this. I have a webhost (my ISP), and I have FTPeasy on my desktop. I have successfully uploaded the pictures and files to my website folder (WWW), and I can see that they are there from my FTP software. The problem is that I can't access these files or pics (all jpg) once they are on the site. I thought I could just use my ISP address plus my site info, plus the file or jpg extention, but I must be doing
something wrong. I always get "page not found". I don't know for sure when to use a backslash or a period etc, but I have tried many combinations myself. My site address is <web.webound.com/~exice>, so for instance for one file which is the picture of a piece of furniture which I called "Back.jpg" I have tried <web.webound.com/~exice.Back.jpg>, but whatever I
have tried........no luck yet. Please tell me anything that you can to help.

Answer -
First, create your index page -- index.html -- with links to your other pages. Then when you go to
web.webound.com/~exice you should see that index page. I can't find your Back.jpg page. But it would help to have the names of your other files. The proper format is web.bound.com/~exice/Back.jpg but at this point nothing appears.

Subject: Search Engine Optimization
Sunday, August 26, 2001

Question -
Can you offer any advice on search engines, rankings, optimization? What does optimization consist of? I have submitted my site to some free listing pages, and I want to list with Yahoo! but for $300 they don't even promise site listing and offer no positioning guarantees. I want to optimise my site before submitting.

I operate a new travel company and while we are destination specific, there is a lot of competition and a top 20 listing is imperative - top 10 to survive I think is going to be imperative. Is there a way I can zero in on something like on of my tours and have that page with unique keywords/metatags as perhaps part of a positioning strategy?

What about links? I have approx 50 and am trying to get more. Do the links have to be reciprocal for higher rankings?

Answer -
1) Read my articles at http://www.samizdat.com/report.html
http://www.samizdat.com/belongs.html,
http://www.samizdat.com/advice.html
2) Check my search tutorial (the section about being found) at
http://www.samizdat.com/tutorial.html

You need to refocus your attention.
1) make sure that your pages can be found (that your design is not blocking web crawler access)
2) post enormous amounts of very useful content, preferably in plain static HTML pages
3) forget metatags -- they are useless

You should not pay much attention to "ranking" on specific keywords. Most people search for unique phrases. Very few (clueless folks, unlikely to become your customers) enter single word queries. If you have lots of content well indexed, that increases your odds of people who have unique needs that you can meet finding your pages.

Your links outward are worth nothing as far as search engines are concerned. Some of the top search engines do use the number and quality of the links from other sites to yours as part of their ranking mechanism for your pages. (Automatic link exchange services are useless for this purposes, as only pages linking to you that have content relevant to the content on your pages are considered).

In any case you should create a sitemap page, with links to every page at your site, and submit that page, not your home page to the search engines. See http://www.samizdat.com/site.html

For quick links to the free submission pages of the major search engines, check http://www.samizdat.com/submit.html

Subject: meta tags
Wednesday, August 22, 2001

Question -
I have a specific question about meta tags.

I'm currently building my website and I wish to know how many key words you should place in the 'key words' field.

Although this is my site, me and my wife are not the webmaster, my friend is. Unfortunately she is new to programming and doesn't know much about meta tags or how search engines pick up sites using them.

I have included below the meta tags of my old website which someone else created for me.

Can I use the same for this new website ? Under the 'keywords' may I add some more? If so how many ?

Here it is:

Answer -
1) Key word metatags are a waste of time. Of the major search engines, only AltaVista and Inktomi pay any attention to them. And AltaVista gives them no priority -- giving higher ranking to plain text on a Web page.

2) The description metatag gets picked up by search engines as a replacement for the default description, which is the first couple lines of text. But the first lines of text still get high priority for ranking and the metatag gets little attention.

You are much better off designing your page with the description words at the top of the page.

The most important parts of your Web page are the HTML title and the first lines of text.

Don't waste your time with metatags.

For details, see my tutorial at http://www.samizdat.com/tutorial.html

Subject: Search Engines
Tuesday, August 21, 2001

Question -
How can I find out what search engines are popular amongst engineers i.e. mechanical, electrical, etc?

Answer -
I believe that would be AltaVista www.altavista.com, Google www.google.com, AlltheWeb (AKA Fast) www.alltheweb.com

Those are no frills search engines, with powerful search commands and large indexes -- all of which are features that appeal to an engineering audience.

For links directly to the submission pages of the major search engines, including those mentioned above, go to
http://www.samizdat.com/submit.html

Subject: attracting traffic
Friday, July 27, 2001

Question -
I am wondering how to design my pages so I can be found on the Internet. Also, how to use the content to attract traffic to my sites. These are just personal web pages I have made for friends, family, and myself, so I am looking for free solutions.

Answer -
See http://www.samizdat.com/report.html
http://www.samizdat.com/belongs.html
Then check the "being found" section of my search engine
tutorial at
http://www.samizdat.com/tutorial.html

If you still want more, check the articles linked to from http://www.samizdat.com/search.html

For easy links to the submission pages of the major search engines, try http://www.samizdat.com/submit.html

Thursday, July 26, 2001
Subject: Meta Tags

Question -
I have a question about meta tags. Do I need keywords/descriptions on middle pages when I would rather potential customers enter the site through the home page? There are some middle pages that I wouldn't mind them coming in on. There are others that I don't want them to come in on, because they might be confused as to what we do and they may not go to the trouble of finding the home page, but may think "well, this is not what I was looking for". So should I not put keywords and a description in the meta tags on these type of pages?

Answer -
1) Don't use metatags. Design your pages properly to begin with.
2) Every word on every page is indexed -- unless you used some fancy screwed up authoring tool. Plain static HTML text works best. The HTML title is the most important part of each page. Next most important is the first couple lines of text (which are used by search engines as the default description).
3) In the age of search engines, every page is a potential entry point and should be designed with that in mind -- providing information necessary to establish the context, and also links for easy navigation to everywhere else at your site (preferably by way of a sitemap page).
4) Home pages are of no particular significance, as far as search engines and people who use search engines are concerned. All pages are equal.

Check my search engine tutorial at http://www.samizdat.com/tutorial.html, especially the section about being found.
Also check other related articles of mine linked to from http://www.samizdat.com/search.html

followup question:

Question -
I don't understand. There must be a way to make search engines only go to your main page. I'll tell you why I think so. I just used Google to search for www.snsonline.com . I entered "sns" and www.snsonline.com came up. I clicked on it and it went to the main page for www.snsonline.com. I have looked at the metatags for all the pages on this site. They all say sns in the keywords. Most of the other pages in the site also use the acronym "sns" a LOT of times and many include it in the title. Why did those pages not come up in Google's list at all--only the main page came up. How did the creators of www.snsonline.com make it so their home page was the only one that came up in Google's search?

Answer -
That's a terrible site. I can't imagine why you would want to emulate it. Also, having your home page appear and none of your other pages appear is the result of design mistakes (their site uses lots of java script and tables -- plain text wins hands down).
Directories, like Yahoo, Open Directory, and LookSmart, point people only to home pages. That's the way they are designed. (see my article at http://www.samizdat.com/dir.html) Search engines strive to index every page and treat them all equally --
barred only design mistakes. Every page should be designed as a potential entry point.

followup question:

Question -
I appreciate your honesty in saying that you feel that is a terrible site. I only want to emulate it because I was hired to do so. If you don't mind me asking, why is it so terrible? I do appreciate your thorough answer about how to get--or not get--search
engines to go through the front door. I understand now.

Subject: How to implement Searching functionality within a Website

Answer -
My only criterion of judgment regarding the design is searchability -- the ability to be indexed by search engines, and hence to generate free traffic. That site, using java script and tables, depends on metatags, instead of making lots of good useful static text available to be indexed. Of the major search engines, only AltaVista and Inktomi pay any attention to metatags at all (which is probably why the other pages at their site never made it into the Google index). (There are over 50 pages from that site in the AltaVista index). And AltaVista gives metatags no priority at all in ranking -- plain text ranks higher.

Subject -- Site-specific search
Thursday, July 26, 2001

Question -
How can I add searching functionality to serch a content within my website without using the web server's Index Server option.?

Is there any CGI,ASP or ColdFusion scripts required and are they available?

Kindly send me the solution at your earliest. I will be very grateful.

Answerr -
The simplest cheapest solution is to use Freefind http://www.freefind.com For an example of how that works, check the bottom of my home page http://www.samizdat.com

Subject: Meta Tags
Wednesday, July 25, 2001

Subject: Web site optimization/Graphical oddity
Monday, July 23, 2001

Question -
I have two questions to ask you in two different areas of study. I have built a commercial Web site for a friend. I am responsible for the entire design. I am not an expert but not a neophyte either. I had to learn everything from scratch, HTML, some rudimentary graphical design, scanning, Perl and JavaScript. I still have a lot to learn. My readings have also helped me understand the topic of Web page optimization to improve ranking in some selected search engines. I would like to get some advice from you about the following questions.

Question 1 (Graphical oddity)
I have tested my Web site on numerous systems, and browsers. I did find that there is an inconsistency in the display of my front page. Indeed, the left column which contains a "search box" and some hyperlinks also contains a background picture made of green leaves. The front page displays differently on my two computers, one computer shows a background in the table cell, the other doesn't. Yet, in the computer that doesn't display the background in the table cell, the calling of another page in
the site with a similar background appears. This doesn't make sense to me. The computer should consistently either show a background or not display a background. How could such an oddity happen?

The Web site was built with Hot Metal Pro 6.0 by SoftQuad.

Question 2 (Web page optimization)

Well, companies like Webvan.com have disappeared. Amazon.com is operating at a loss ever since it was founded. However, they had some hits and traffic.

This site has some ridiculous traffic of maybe one visitor every 2-4 days. No one ever calls us or e-mails us. Yet, I am aware of
many tricks used to position Web pages in search engines (look at my meta tags throughout the Web site and you will quickly understand that I am aware the concept of optimization). After months of battling with submission protocols, I was able to index some of my Web pages in some search engines (Fast/All The Web, HotBot, Alta Vista, Lycos etc..). I am afraid that relying on the Internet to promote a Web site is not enough. Our offline ad campaign has not worked either.

Traffic is needed and the more I work on improving it, the more elusive it becomes.

What am I not doing to make this damm Web site work? Do you have some suggestions?

Answer -
I can't answer this with a couple paragraphs. Your Web site is useless as far as search engines are concerned. (Metatags do nothing.)

If you are serious about trying to get traffic by way of search engines, first read my tutorial about how to be found at
http://www.samizdat.com/tutorial.html Then read other search-related articles of mine at http://www.samizdat.com/search.html

Subject: Submitting Site to Search Engines
Monday, July 09, 2001

Question -
thanks for volunteering to answer questions. What is the best way to submit a webpage to search engines? There are so
many of them that it would take a long time to submit one by one. Is there an efficient way to do this?

Also, will search engines accept my page if its on a free server (Brinskter). I read somewhere that because these pages are so common and the information trivial, search engines don't catalogue them in their database. Is this true? How can I get around this?

Answer -
1) go to my page http://www.samizdat.com/submit.html There you will find links to the free submission pages of all the search engines that matter.
2) Not true. What matters is how you designed you pages and whether you have a significant amount of text. The more useful text the better. Static pages without fancy tricks do best. If you'd like to know more check the section about "being found" in my search engine tutorial at http://www.samizdat.com/tutorial.html

Subject: use of content to attract traffic
Sunday, July 08, 2001

Question -
How can I attract traffic to my web site by adding specific subject words to my web page?
Answer -
You can attract traffic to your site by posting clear, useful content. Forget about "subject words." Search engines index every word on every page. Every word matters. Phrases matter. Concentrate on providing good content, and presenting it simply -- no fancy tricks. Static HTML pages. Check my about about publicizing a site over the Internet at http://www.samizdat.com/public.html and related articles about how search engines work from http://www.samizdat.com/search.html

Subject: MS Word conversion
Friday, July 06, 2001

Question -
I'm try to convert a text MS-Word page into HMTL. I know there is save in HMTL function on Word, but when I do save the .doc page into .html page it does not look the same. I tried using the Normal through Header functions on the top left, but no real difference. I'm trying to get my webpage to look exactly like to MS-Word page. Can you help?

Answer -
1) What version of Word are you using? Word for Office 95 is fine. Word for Office 98 is worse. Word for Office 2000 is impossible -- never ever use it for Web page authoring.
2) Why would you want a Web page to look like a Word page? There are fundamental differences in perspective. The Web is designed so the user can have control over the look and feel, because people have different size screens, and different software, and different eyesight (some needing larger fonts). Recent versions of Word are designed to override that
important flexibility and, by automatically adding ridiculous amounts of code (making pages nearly twice as large as they need to be), force Web pages to look the same to everyone.

I suggest that you rethink your goals.

Subject: COPYING MY OLD SITE INTO NEW WEB-SPACE... HOW?!!
Friday, July 06, 2001

Question -
I DESPERATELY NEED TO KNOW OF ANY WEBSITES WHERE I CAN COPY MY OLD WEBSITE INTO NEW WEB-SPACE. IT IS A RELATIVELY SMALL WEBSITE. IT IS A PERSONAL HOME SITE, SO IT NEEDS TO BE FOR FREE. MY REASON FOR COPYING IS BECAUSE I HAVE USED A FREESERVERS TEMPLATE TO CREATE IT AND AM NOW RESTRICTED AS TO THE CONTENT, EG: I CANNOT CHANGE THE BACKGROUND. ALSO IF YOU HAVE ANY INFO ON WEBSITE COPYING PLEASE INFORM ME. I HAVE A
BASIC KNOWLEDGE OF HTML, BUT HAVE PROBLEMS WITH JAVA-SCRIPT SO PLEASE GIVE
THOROUGH EXPLANATIONS.

Answer -
Try angelfire.com or nbci.com First make sure you have all your content on your own hard drive. You should never use a hosting service's template and tools, and always keep a copy of your pages. The best and simplest tool for authoring is Netscape Composer -- part of the free Netscape Communicator browser. If you have an old version of Word (e.g., Word for Office 95), that's workable as well. But never use Word for Office 2000 to create Web pages. Forget javascript.
Forget fancy tricks. Focus on your text content -- that's what's essential and what helps people find you by way of search engines.Surf to each of your pages on the Web. Highlight the important text of each page, right click, copy the text, then save the text in a document (one document for each page). Then use your favorite authoring tool (I do highly recommend Netscape
Composer), to turn those documents back into simple and clear Web pages, which you can then upload to your new space.
Be sure to include an HTML title on each page, which uniquely and clearly expresses the main point of the page.
Also make sure the first couple lines of text are unique and informative.

Subject: Website productivity
Thursday, July 05, 2001

Question -
I am new to the Internet with my webtv unit which ,I'm finding has limited capabilities (although I do have access to my son's "bells and whistles"). I have a website that outlines the unique product/service I offer. In endeavoring to generate traffic to my site I have found free classifieds non-productive even though I have tested multiple sites, categories, headlines, focus and copy slants. Is this typical or am I not doing something I should be doing? I have debeloped an unobtrusive, constructive email format that's a refreshing departure from the ordinary, mundane "snake oil" pitches I receive every day. Where do I go to avail myself of legitimate, ethical and productive email lists? Anything you can help me with concerning getting links to the right
search engines etc. will be gratefully received!

nswer -
1)get a real Internet provider
2) get your own domain name
3) get a real Web hosting service (about $20/month)
4) read the material at my site about search engines http://www.samizdat.com/search.html
5) read my article about publicizing your Web site over the Internet at http://www.samizdat.com/public.html

Don't bother with 4 and 5 until you have taken care of 1-3. Otherwise you are wasting your time.

Subject: redirect pages
Tuesday, July 03, 2001

Question -
my client is doing advertising in many newspapers and would like to track how people are finding out about the
festival. he suggested having a particular page as the one that was advertised and that page would then automatically redirect to the the home page, but it would be listed in the stats so it can be counted.

i guess these are called doorway or ghost or mirror pages. how would you recommend that i accomplish his needs?

Answer -
Don't do it. Search engines consider that approach to be "spam." If and when they find out, the entire site could be blacklisted.
It's fine to creat an /mexpress page and advertise that page. But have the page itself provide useful information and links to other pages at the site. Do not do an automatic redirect.

Question -
Saturday, June 30, 2001

Queseiton --
i have created a website. now i want it should be available to each and every search engines. what should i do know for this. i even have written <meta name and keywords >tag for index page. can it is required for each and every page from the website.
hope you will guide me.

Answer -
To submit to the major search engines go to my page http://www.samizdat.com/submit.html Metatags are useless. What you need is good clear static text (nothing fancy). The most important parts of your pages are the HTML titles and the first few lines of text. For details check my tutorial and related articles at http://www.samizdat.com/search.html

Subject: how do i mirror my site ?? & promote it ??
Saturday, June 30, 2001

Question -
I want to mirror my site www.xyz.com to other(free) sites using windows platfrom. Is there any utitlity which can automate this process ?? will making mirrors of the site improve is search engine ranking ?? also kindly tell me some free site sumission sites which really work ?

Answer -
There is no point in mirroring your site the way you describe. It will not improve your search engine ranking at all. Far better would be to write more useful content and make it available in search-engine friendly form (static text, nothing fancy, meaningful HTML title and first line of text; no metatags). For links to the free submission pages of the major search engines go to my http://www.samizdat.com/submit.html

Subject: ASP and search engines
Monday, June 25, 2001

Question -
I work with asp websites and am considering changing the home page to an asp page, but my impression is that most search engine, particularly spider engines but even some human indexed ones, cannot 'see' or proccess ASP pages. Would we be rendering our whole site search-engine incompatible by doing this? If I set up a second portal page for non-human search
engines, would this be effective?

Answer -
When a search engine crawler comes to a page with a ? in the URL, it halts. If you are interested in getting free traffic from search engines, don't use ASP. That's the simple solution.

Subject: Trouble with link
Sunday, June 24, 2001

Question -
I have a personal web site at AOL.. This is my first attempt to make a workable link. The active link (I wish!) is at the LOCATION button. When the link is clicked that frame disappears and the location map opens up under the space. Am I supposed
to create separate directories for each page? or what is my problem? I have spent days trying to figure this out using a variety of resources, but no luck. Would greatly appreciate your help.

Answer -
Why are you doing this in frames??? Create plain simple pages. Use an old version of Word (anything but Word for Office 2000) or the Netscape Composer (which is part of Netscape Communicator.)

Basically, keep it simple, very simple. The fancy stuff just gets in the way, and at the same time blocks search engines.

Subject: Looking for Web Hosting company
Saturday, June 23, 2001

Question -
I like to create homepages, it is one of my favorite hobbies! I know there's free Web Hosting services, but they need me to put Ad Banner or PopUp screen on my page, I don't like that, I rather pay some money to have my own personal space.
I just need a basic webpage to put my own homepage on it. yet I desire their server to have fast access speed & more stable (my friends say sometime cannot access my homepage which I place on my present web hosting company, and customer service can't really help, besides I am just a small customer..) Do you have some referable web hosting company in reasonable price?

Answer -
I use and recommend www.hispeed.com For a basic account (with unlimited Web space, unlimited traffic, and 24X7
support by tool free phone (in the US), I believe they charge $9.95/month. For a virtual domain account (if you have and want to use your own domain name), they charge $19.95/month.

Subject: Problem with Angelcities
Monday, June 11, 2001

Question -
I am a fellow "expert" (Pregnancy/OB-GYN Issues). Now I am in need of assistance! I have no idea to whom I should direct
this question so I probably will send it to a few people in the computing area in order to try to get a helpful response. I have a webpage hosted by Angelcities. However, while I was editing my page on Saturday (today is Monday) the site went down. It is STILL down. No messages, nothing. Any ideas on where I should go from here? I have started looking into paying for a host and am considering PowWeb (any opinion on that?).

Answer -
I suggest that you get a domain name and try Hispeed, www.highspeed.com With a domain name, you can move your site when you want, where you want, without losing the audience that you have built. You cease to be dependent on your ISP.
At Hispeed, you can have unlimited Web space, unlimited traffic, 24x7 support by toll free phone, all for $19.95 a month.
I've had my site www.samizdat.com there for about six months now, and they've done a fine job.

Question -
Thursday, June 07, 2001

Could you please tell me what the following means,

What does that do?

Answer -
That's basically a welcoming message for search engine crawlers (robots). It's totally unnecessary. If it read Content="noindex,nofollow" it would tell the crawlers to halt, and your pages wouldn't get into search engine indexes.

For more on metatags see
http://help.altavista.com/adv_search/ast_toc
For the use of metatags for search engine exclusion see
http://help.altavista.com/adv_search/ast_haw_avoiding
(Both of those documents are part of the tutorial I wrote for the AltaVista site).

Subject: Start up´s
Friday, June 01, 2001

Question -
When talking about the "New Economy" the Internet was said to be everything (2 years ago), now-a-days the Internet is just a useful tool. What´s your opinion??

Answer -
The Internet was never "everything" and it certainly isn't just a "useful tool" either. Wall St. was and is confused.

The Internet is an environment for interaction among people -- a business environment. It's not the only business environment, it's just one that is radically different from the traditional one. Yes, you can mimic traditional activities there, but at considerable cost; while by understanding the environment and adapting to it, you do much that was never possible before, and often at very low cost.

I often express this by saying that on the Internet you can try to make money by pushing rocks up hill (mimicking old methods), or by pushing them downhill (understanding the environment). I far prefer to push them downhill.

A couple of old books of mine, that are available at my Web site, describe this well. Check The Way of the Web at www.samizdat.com/way.html and The Social Web at www.samizdat.com/social.html

Subject: Start up´s
Thursday, May 31, 2001

Question -
How would you define a Start-up? Not just a business at its most embryonic stage but what´s behind the idea....

Answer -
In today's parlance, an "Internet startup" could be anything from a vague idea not yet implemented to a company that's a couple years old and has not yet had an IPO. It might be "worth" many millions of dollars or nothing.

The term implies that the company or would-be company is interested in attracting investors.

Also, an Internet startup is typically a standalone business -- not just the Web presence of a traditional bricks-and-mortar company.

Is that what you were looking for?

Question -
Thursday, May 10, 2001

My problem is that i am inundated with computer based business opportunities but all of them promise much and then ask for money. A good and reliable friend from the Trading Standards dept once told me never to pay up front for something that will probably fail. Knowing that over 80% of new businesses fail in their first year who does one trust to give the right advice?

One of the things that annoys me about some of the American offers is the 'preaching' they tend to do. Then there are the pages and pages and more pages of 'SIMPLE' instructions on how to build your internet business? Can you possibly give me any ideas which are without the usual bias of 'you can be sure i know that this business will work for you (and the millions of others who are out there!)'

Answer -
You need to be a bit clearer about what you are looking for and why?

It sounds like you are looking to invest in an existing company? Is that the case?

If so, I know of at least two excellent companies that are likely to fold very shortly if they don't get the investment money they need. They both have excellent long term prospects, and under normal circumstances would have no trouble raising funds. But the current environment is incredible -- after having raced illogically after every dot-com in sight, now investors race illogically in the opposite direction.

Followup question:
Thank you for your quick reply. I am sorry i wasn't clear enough. I am not looking to 'invest' as such, what i want to do is locate a company that is not asking for £20-£30 a month to follow their insrtuctions to POSSIBLY attain an income which COULD BE anything, do you see what i mean? I have received offers to join such things as 'six figure income. com' 'going
platinum', 'early to rise', 'future vision' etc etc. I would pay to join a promising .com but which ones? I am not a computer whizz-kid and such companies 'vaguely' make promises of huge wealth but at a cost and it seems to me that by charging monthly they get rich but i might not! and most of the time they seem to want me (and others) to sell on the same information they send me which amounts really to nothing!

Answer -
You are clear about what you don't want. But what do you want? What kind of company are you looking for?
It sounds like you want an investment club that doesn't charge for membership (???) That's not my area of expertise.

Subject: my I.E. not respond to my font family
Friday, May 04, 2001

Question -
I don't know when does it start to have this problem. My Internet Explorer now display ALL text in the default fonts
(I guess is TimesNewRoman?) I use set the type Arial in the FONT Tag or even try in the STYLE Tag, it just doesn't work at all. I load the same page on my friend's IE, it is okay thou. Do you know if it is something I need to set on Internet Explorer to
fix that?

Answer -
Click on Tools, then Internet Options, then (under General) Fonts.

Subject: Submission Tips in search engines.
Friday, May 04, 2001

Question -
I stay in India. I am the Web side developer. Please guide me in the following area.

I would like to know how to submit the URLs in various search engines.

Particularly I want to know how the manual submission takes place in yahoo.

Answer -
1) Yahoo is not a search engine. It is a directory (handconstructed, based only on the brief descriptions in submissions).
For details on the differences between search engines and directories see www.samizdat.com/dir.html

Here's a related excerpt from a book I just wrote:
"Start with Yahoo and The Open Directory. Web directories are categorized lists, which help take you to the home
page of sites that might be of interest to you. These directories are usually hand-assembled based on information provided by the Web sites that are listed. Some focus on very narrow subject areas. Others -- like Yahoo and the Open Directory -- cover just about everything on the Internet. Yahoo has a paid staff of editors who review submissions from Web site owners. The Open Directory has thousands of volunteers doing the same work. Both now include over a million sites each.
You can navigate a Web directory by clicking from menu to menu, making one selection after another until you finally get to the level where sites of the kind you are interested in are listed. That approach can be handy if you are looking for information in yellow-pages style, thinking in terms of a category of information, rather than something specific. You can also search through the database that contains the descriptions of all of them. Most major search engines have partnered with one or another of the major directories. When you click on the name of a category, rather than entering words in a query box, you are using their directory capability. A directory takes you to the home page of a Web site, from which point you can explore to eventually get to what you want. A search engine takes you to the very page on which the words and phrases you are looking for appear.
You should use a directory when you only have a vague idea of what you want, and when you would appreciate prompts to guide you. You should use a search engine when your aim is to get to a particular piece of information quickly.
Use a directory for the kinds of things you'd expect to find in the Yellow Pages -- for businesses of certain kinds when you may not know the names of the businesses.

Use a search engine when you are looking for information about a particular product and know the product name and model number, but may not know the manufacturer.

Use a directory to see a list of sites devoted to alternative medicine or to cancer.

Use a search engine to learn more about a medicine your doctor just prescribed for you.

While Yahoo is a well-known brand, few people have heard of Open Directory. But the Open Directory is embedded in the directory results of many popular search sites. Both are very important, and you can submit your information to both of them for free.

Go http://docs.yahoo.com/info/suggest and http://dmoz.org In both cases, you'll be asked to scan through the available categories (which are amazingly detailed), pick where you think you belong, and write a description a few sentences long. Keep in mind that that description will apply for your entire site, whether it consists of one page or ten thousand pages -- so choose your words carefully and with an eye on the direction in which you want your site to evolve. Try tailor your description for both the needs of the directory and also your target audience. You don't want your listing to look the same as hundreds of others and hence go unnoticed; but, at the same time, you need to avoid hype and clearly and simply state what you are trying to do, or the editors will either throw your submission out or edit it radically and unpredictably.

You have undoubtedly seen ads for services that submit Web sites to directories and search engines. If you buy your own domain name, you'll see many more such ads in the form of spam email. Ignore them, regardless of how tempting they may sound. You'll learn a lot more about the Internet doing the submissions yourself rather than depending on someone else to do
them for you -- and it's not that difficult to do.In any case, don't expect immediate results from the Web directories. Yahoo typically takes 2-4 months. You can pay Yahoo to get your site considered sooner. They charge $199 for this Business Express service, and promise to evaluate your site within seven days, but without any guarantee that you'll wind up in their directory. ("Adult" sites have to pay $600 for this same service.) For details, check http://docs.yahoo.com/info/suggest/busexpress.html Listing in the Open Directory is free, and they update their data weekly.
But very few people go to their site to perform their searches. http://dmoz.org isn't exactly a well-known address, like Yahoo is. Rather, users go to the sites of Open Directory's partners, such as AOL Search, HotBot, Google, Lycos, and Netscape Search. And it may take these partners "anywhere from 2 weeks to several months" to include information about your site.
LookSmart, a much smaller competitor, with ties to some major search engines (like AltaVista) no longer allows free submissions. You can pay $199 their Express service and get into the directory within two days, or pay $99 for their basic service and wait eight weeks. Despite the long delays before you'll see results, don't underestimate the importance of the major Web directories, and don't procrastinate. Your listings there not only lead to traffic from the people who use those
directories directly and through their partner sites, but they also boost your importance to search engines. Search engines try to automatically gage the popularity and quality of sites, and one important criterion for them is whether your site appears in the major Web directories. In other words, getting listed in Yahoo could make your pages come out higher in lists of search results at a site like Google.

Warning: If your site is in a language other than English, these directories will treat it as a second-class citizen. At the Open
Directory, your non-English site can only be listed under the category "World", as opposed to a category that matches your subject matter. The main Yahoo Directory does not accept submissions of sites that are not in English. Instead you have to submit to separate Yahoo directories dedicated to specific languages. And the non-English Yahoo directories do not accept Business Express paid submissions.

The main LookSmart directory only accepts your submission if your site is in English and your content would be useful to an audience in the US. Sites designed for non-US audiences go in separate directories covering other countries.

2) To submit to search engines, just go to www.samizdat.com/submit.html and follow the links from there.

If you need more related info, check my book Take Charge of Your Web Site, at http://www.samizdat.com/take.html
And look for my Web Business Bootcamp from Wiley at Amazon.

Subject: getting a web address
Wednesday, May 02, 2001

Question -
I was wondering what is the easiest/cheapest way to get a dot com address. Also how would you go about getting a web address local to a country (like .at for Austria) and how do you get your site registered with search eingines.

Answer -
While it may not be the cheapest, certainly the easiest way to register a Web address is with Network Solutions www.networksolutions.com They are also the folks I'd ask about Austria -- they were the original domain name
registry.

To submit to all the major search engines quickly and easily, go to my page www.samizdat.com/submit.html

Tuesday, May 01, 2001
Subject: how to get client's pages in search engines

Question -
My client wants me to magically get his site in the search engine listings. I figure we have three options: learn how to do it myself, use software (like Search Engine Commando or Web Position Gold), or pay a service to do it.

Does software like S E Commmando work?

Also, I've read through a number of sites on how to optimize for search engine placement, but it's never clear if the information is accurate or out of date.

Got any suggestions on quality info and software?

Answer -
Do it yourself, but insist that the client generate lots of good useful text: without that, any search engine effort is useless. Also insist on proper page design. Forget the services and software. Also forget metatags.

Check my book -- Take Charge of Your Web Site at http://www.samizdat.com/take.htmll For more detail, see my tutorial at
http://www.samizdat.com/tutorial.html

Subject: search engines & frames
Friday, April 27, 2001

Question -
My question is fairly simple: How can I set up a frame based website so that search engines won't call up the separate pages independantly of the frameset? (Is such a thing even possible?)

Answer -
Impossible. If you want search engines to find your pages properly, design a non-frames version as well, and submit that to the search engines. For details check my tutorial at http://www.samizdat.com/tutorial.html

Subject: To be found on the net
Tuesday, April 17, 2001

Question -
hi, i made my web page totally on Flash5 embeded in html, but even after adding my self on the search engins like altavista, google, it didn't bring out my page.why is this happening and how to get out of this problem so that the engins can pull out my sit.

Answer -
Search engines can't see content embedded in Flash. The technique you are using is search engine suicide -- ensuring that you
won't be included in indexes. See my tutorial at http://www.samizdat.com/tutorial.html

Subject: Searchable at search enginee sites
Thursday, April 12, 2001

Question -
I would like to aks you about search enginee... How that thing really works and why my site can't be found at those sites...
If I search with altavista (search enginee site), my site doesn't appear like what I wanna be. In url, or in description and even at keyword that I used to search that site.

Please, Would you like to tell me what is wrong with my sites ?

Answer -
1) Your home page is indexed at AltaVista, but contains no significant text, so being in the index isn't worth anything to you.
search for host:www.globalxtreme.net
2) Your site is designed using frames and fancy animated effects. The design blocks the search engine crawler from finding the rest of your site. (The crawler doesn't see any links that it can follow.)
3) You need content -- lots of good useful content if you want to be found. And you also need to design your pages with search engines in mind.

See my tutorial at http://www.samizdat.com/tutorial.html Also see my recent article at http://www.samizdat.com/searchup.html

Subject: What is the simplest to use, free or lowcost, web page maker?
Thursday, April 12, 2001

Question -
I just put up a pathetic web page (my first!) for my nonprofit org (www.ocan.org). My site is hosted on Yahoo and I used their web page software to make the page. I would like to make the site look better. Can you suggest a software program to use (elementary, basic, but will make a good web site) that is low cost or even free? Also, do you know if it is possible to produce a more complex web site using Yahoo? Maybe I'm missing something but I used what they offered and it seemed very basic.

Answer -
You can use plain old Microsoft Word. That's what I use for the pages at my site (over 1200 of them, some of them book-length). (I get about 1000-1500 visitors a day, with no advertising, thanks to the content at my site).

For details, you might want to check my book Take Charge of Your Web Site at http://www.samizdat.com/take.html

You also might want to look at another book of mine, The Social Web, which is available for free at my Web site at
http://www.samizdat.com/social.html

Subject: Web Page
Wednesday, April 11, 2001

Question -
I am planning on starting a web business and getting my own domain name. Yahoo charges $35/yr, and some other compaines such as 'the domain exchange' only charge $15. Whats the diff?

What about the free email deal? Is it better to have a yahoo mail than your own company email that they provide with your webpage?? Ex: company_xyz@xyz.com... And how many emails names can you get for free?

Another thing I wanted to know about is space. How many webpages can I possibly fit into one domain name (I am making web pages for other people). Ex: www.mycompany.com/otherpeople

Im really confused about how to go about picking the right place to get my domain name, and how much it will cost me...help!!

Answer -
1) I wouldn't trust the cut-rate agencies. I use the original agency Network Solutions www.networksolutions.com It costs a little more, but the peace of mind is worth it to me. As for The Domain Exchange, they are in the "secondary" market -- the
reselling of domain names. Apparently, they can only resell a name if someone who owns it lists it with them. That means that they have a very limited supply of names.

2) There is no limit to the number of free email accounts you can get. You are much better off with your own company domain name email address for company business. It looks professional. @yahoo etc. does not look professional. Also, the free services provide no guarantees of service or security.

On the other hand, the free accounts are typically Web-based, meaning that you access them with your browser and hence can read you email regardless of where you are and what machine you are using. That can be handy. You also might want a separate (free) personal email account, to keep those messages separate from your business ones. Or as a backup when your
primary account is down (which will happen). And you could use one or more additional email addresses to use for your identity when you chat or shop, etc., to keep those parts of your life separate.

3) There is no connection between domain names and amount of Web space. The limit and price is set by the Web hosting service you use. Typically, the service with which you establish an account with your own domain name will give you email along with the Web space.

4) When you make Web pages for other people, are you doing that for a fee? And are their pages commercial/business pages?
I use www.hispeed.com They charge just $19.95/month, with unlimited Web space and unlimited traffic (another parameter you need to consider), and 24/7 support with a toll-free number. They are good. Very good. But they would frown upon you hosting pages for other people if it was for a fee. In that case, they would prefer for you to act as an intermediary,
reselling their space to your customers. And they have a program whereby you then get a piece of the monthly fee for each of them.

Subject: starting a web page
Thursday, April 05, 2001

Question -
I know nothing about starting a page for my gaming organization and I need a basic rundown on what to do. How do I get a URL? are there any fees? If I use software (dreamweaver), how do i get my page on the web?

Answer -
1) You can register for a domain name at any of a dozen services that are in that business. I use www.networksolutions.com
A domain name is not a URL. The URL is the Internet file name of an individual Web page, which includes the domain name as a part of it. For instance, my domain name is www.samizdat.com The sitemap page at my site has the URL http://www.samizdat.com/sitemap.html

2) The price varies from one service to another, and depends on special offers. Expect to pay less than $100 per year -- if (very big if) you can find an acceptable name that has not already been taken. If the name you absolutely need has been taken, then you can try to buy it from the owner (at such sites as www.greatdomains.com) 3) If you use a PC, the most common software for transferring files to the Internet is ftp (file transfer protocol). This comes in many flavors. I use ws_ftp, which you can get from www.download.com, www.tucows.com, etc. For details on how to use ftp, I suggest that you go to
www.nbci.com and sign up for free Web space there. They have excellent tutorials on how to use ftp.

In general, from the nature of your question, it sounds like you need to read a book or two.

I recommend Take Charge of Your Web Site, a book which I just wrote and which you can read at http://www.samizdat.com/take.html

I'd also suggest my book The Social Web, which is available for free from my Web site at www.samizdat.com/social.html

Subject: Auction / Liquidation process
Wednesday, April 04, 2001

Question -
I am working with an manufacturing company and venturing into web related technology like B2B.

We are planning a web site for auction and liquidation activities. As we are novice in this field, would you direct me to any site, which basically has articles on the same.

We are still in the planning stage, itself.

Answer -
I suggest that you contact Fairmarket, and in particular, their VP of Technology, Bob Supnik at bsupnik@fairmarket.com
It would probably make more sense for you to run your auctions hosted by Fairmarket (and branded by you) than to try to reinvent the wheel.

Subject: search engines
Friday, March 15, 2002

Question -
I have a website on the Internet and would like to know how to get listed in the search engines. I paid hypersubmit $70 for a year in order that they would submit my site to over 400 search engines each month. My site still is not listed in hardly any searches. If you type my business name, it comes up in one or two. However, most people are searching by artist or art type, not the actual business name. I have meta tags for keywords on my website. Is there a company that can guarantee me placement in searches? Is there anything you suggest that I do in order to get listed in the search engines?

Answer -
You wasted your $70 and your time. Keyword metatags are useless. Only about half a dozen (not 400) search engines really matter. And what matters most is the design of your pages -- they need to have lots of good informative content in plain static form. (dynamic pages, database-driven pages, tables, frames, java script, etc. all get in the way). First check my article at http://www.samizdat.com/brandandtraffic.html Then, if you'd really like to learn about this stuff read my tutorial at
http://www.samizdat.com/tutorial.html

Subject: traffic
Thursday, March 15, 2001

Question -
I have had my website done for quite a while now, and it is not getting as much traffic as I like. The only times that my pages get hit is when I tell my friends. Also, I'd like to know how my webpage can easily show up in search engines. I think that if my site is more accessible then maybe it might get more traffic. I'd prefer not to pay money. I'd be grateful if you could help.

Answer -
Your home page has almost no text content, and it is text content that search engines index. Metatags are useful for being found. The HTML title is the most important element on your page and in your case it provides no text that anyone would be likely to look for ("Welcome to Laura's Page"). The second most important element is the first few sentences of text on
your page. In your case, the only text is the random words that you have linked. You are much better off clearly stating what you are trying to do and what people can find at your site (rather than burying that kind of information in a description metatag).

There are many articles at my Web site that clearly describe what you can and should do to attract traffic to your site by way of search engines. The most important element is text content -- lots and lots of good useful information: start writing :-)
See: http://www.samizdat.com/report.html
http://www.samizdat.com/belongs.html
my search tutorial at
http://www.samizdat.com/tutorial.html
and my book The Social Web at
http://www.samizdat.com/social.html

Subject: HTML tutorial
Thursday, March 01, 2001

Question -
Where can I find a good, free, online HTML tutorial. Something which will help me understand a bit more about making webpages with a bit more than just text and pictures. Also, where can I find a good free HTML compiler on the internet, FOR MAC?

Answer -
There's one at my site at http://www.samizdat.com/social.html

And another one that I wrote for Learnlots (now Attenza). http://www.attenza.com/demo/topic/0,,6+33+26040,00.html

There's also lots of related material at my site. Check the sitemap at http://www.samizdat.com/sitemap.html

And I wrote a book for MightyWords that deals with this in more
detail -- Take Charge of Your Web Site. It is now available at http://www.samizdat.com/take.html

Subject: META tags
Wednesday, February 28, 2001

Question -
What are the META tags for a professional site to use to get the page seen by searchers and how do I use them?

Answer -
Meta tags are useless. See my article at http://www.samizdat.com/opt.html Also see my search engine tutorial at
http://www.samizdat.com/tutorial.html and related articles of mine at http://www.samizdat.com/search.html

Subject: Web Site Hints
Tuesday, February 13, 2001

Question -
I have just redesigned my web site and placed it on a new server. I would really appreciate :
(1)     Hints for improving the web site.
(2)     Suggestions for finding suitable sites that I could exchange links with.
(3)     Suggestions for other ways of increasing traffic to the site. ( I have submitted the site recently to different search engines.)

Answer -
You need content -- lots and lots of text -- if you hope to have your site found through search engines. First check my article at http://www.samizdat.com/report.html
Then check the other articles available by way of
http://www.samizdat.com/trends.html and
http://www.samizdat.com/search.html

For search engine submissions, save time (at no cost) by using my site submission page http://www.samizdat.com/submit.html

Above all -- get content and lots of it.

Subject: Traffic Generation
Saturday, February 03, 2001

Question -
I will try and be as brief as possible. I have created a site (LawnCareSuccess.com) which is designed to help lawn and landscape business owners. I am making this a free content site therefore I need to generate my revenue via advertising dollars. Before these manufacturers will spend their money with my site I need traffic. I do not have a functional budget. The goal is to go as cost-free as possible. I have contacted the major publications in the industry and so on. If there are any suggestions or you have any advice I would greatly appreciate it.

Answer -
First suggestion -- don't expect to get much money from banner ads. Look for another business model.

Second suggestion -- check my Web site for articles about how to publicize your Web site for free on the Web and how to be found. E.g., http://www.samizdat.com/public.html and
http://www.samizdat.com/tutorial.html

For the main argument -- the importance of text, well-indexed text -- see http://www.samizdat.com/report.html

To scan the rest of what's at my site check the sitemap page http://www.samizdat.com/sitemap.html

Subject: be found by internet search engine
Wednesday, January 31, 2001

Question -
How to design my web pages so I can be found on the Internet by search engine such as yahoo, google. Do I need to do something like key words in HTML?

Answer -
That's right up my alley.
1) Yahoo isn't a search engine. It is a directory. What appears there depends entirely on your submission -- the category you suggest for your site and the couple sentence description you give them. The design of your pages has nothing to do with it.
2) Google is a search engine, which means that it indexes all of the content of every one of your pages that it finds. Key words (metatags) are irrelevant. Text content -- having lots of good, useful text and designing your pages to be search-engine friendly are important.

I just wrote a book for Mighty Words "Take Chargeof Your Web Site: three lessons for business people" which deals with this
issue at some length. You can see it at http://www.samizdat.com/take.html

You also might want to look at http://www.samizdat.com/soc2.html and http://www.samizdat.com/soc6.html

Question -
Wednesday, January 31, 2001

Question -
I am a graphic designer, who has been bartending for the past six years. I am looking to get back into the business and out of bartending.

I have already re-familiarized myself with the common used desktop software.

I only have a basic understanding of html, but I want to be involved in webpage development. Is it necessary to take a formal course in the classroom, or is it something that can be learned efficiently off of the web or in a book?

Answer -
You should be able to do this on your own with books and online courses/tutorials. I suggest that you start with the free tutorials at www.help.com (part of CNET).

Subject: cookies

Question -
once a cookie is created on a PC how can it be deleted?

Answer -
It is virtually impossible to identify an particular "cookie" -- so many sites automatically assign them; your fil