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When we posted a small note that we would analyze the web site of a reader in this newsletter, we hadn't expected so many suggestions. We have received 293 suggestions and we'd like to thank every one of you. This is the web site we picked for the analysis:

http://www.techlabscience.com The owner of the web site wants his web site to be optimized for the search term fire resistant polymers At first glance, the web site has a very clear arrangement and it looks quite good. However, his web site doesn't come up in the first 1000 results on Google for the search term "fire resistant polymers".

This means that there are many things that can be done to improve this site for search engines.

We're analyzing the index page of the web site based on SEO aspects. We're not making suggestions on how to improve the text so that the site could sell more. We're making suggestions on how the site could be improved so that it can get good search engine rankings for the targeted search term.

General search engine optimization (SEO) tips

1. The text on the web page
   
   The web page contains little text. Search engines need text to index web pages and the more text they get, the easier it is for search engines to find out what a web page is all about.
   
   The index page uses about 240 words, including the long copyright statement and the "click to enlarge the picture" text. Although this is not too bad, it would help to add more text to the page.
   
   The text should be easy to read and it should cover mainly one topic. If "fire resistant polymers" is the targeted keyword, the text should be about fire resistant polymers (Why should I use or buy them? What's in for me? Why are these better than others? General information about fire resistant polymers). That will help search engines to classify the page.
   
   The same applies to the other pages of the web site. All pages of the site should have more text that deals with the topic of the corresponding page.
   
   
2. Inbound and outbound links, links on the page
   
   The page uses only image links for the site navigation. That makes it difficult for many search engines to index the web site. Search engine officials have recently confirmed that even the big search engines prefer text links.
   
   The webmaster should add text links for the site navigation or he should change the whole navigation from image links to text links. Otherwise, many search engines might not index the site.
   
   All links on the page use onmouseover and onmouseout attributes. Google sometimes considers this spam so it might be a good idea not to use them.
   
   At the bottom of the page, you can find a link to www.2idmedia.com:
   
   
   
   This link is very bad for two reasons:
   
   
• It has nearly the same color as the background so that it is hardly readable. You cannot see it at all in the picture above. This triggers the spam filter of nearly all search engines.
  
  
• It is a link to a link farm. Links to link farms are almost a guarantee to get banned by Google (and other major search engines).

This link should be removed in any event.

Google finds only one backlink to the web site. It is very difficult to get high search engine rankings with only one backlink. To improve the search engine rankings of the web site, the webmaster should get many more inbound links. The inbound link texts should contain the targeted search term and related terms.

The whole web site doesn't contain links to related web sites. That indicates to search engines that the web site is not an authority for the topic.

3. The HTML source of the page
   
   The HTML code of the web page contains a few errors. Although they are only minor errors, some HTML errors can prevent search engine spiders from indexing a web site. To make sure that search engines index your web site, you should make sure that your HTML code is W3C compliant.
   
   The web page uses 1.101 bytes of JavaScript code at the top of the HTML code. Each line of code moves the actual content of the web page further to the bottom.
   
   The more script code you use on your web site, the more likely it is that search engine spiders don't access the actual content when they index your site. The webmaster should use external Javascript code. That makes it easier for search engines to index the page.
   
   
4. Miscellaneous
   
   The web page shows a copyright of 2004. That's an indicator for search engines that the web page contains outdated information and that there might be other more current sites.
   
   It's not very clear for search engines what the web page is all about. Does this company want me to invest in the company or should I buy their products? The index page lists many different things that make it difficult for search engines to determine what the web page is about.

Special SEO tips for the search term "fire resistant polymers"

1. The search term
   
   The targeted search term "fire resistant polymers" is probably not the best choice. Depending on the target group, other search terms might work better.
   
   According to IBP's Keyword Generator tool, no one has searched for "fire resistant polymers" in the Yahoo network last month (numbers from Overture.com). Google also doesn't find searches for that search term.
   
   It doesn't make sense to optimize a web site for that search term if nobody searches for it.
   
   If the web page targets end users, these users might use less technical search terms. If the web page targets investors, the investing aspect could be included in the keyword. For example, "fire protection and prevention" might be a good keyword. There are many other popular keywords that are related to the offerings on the web site.
   
   The products offered on the web site are probably of interest for people searching for "air filter". That keyword has been searched for 202,883 times last month.
   
   The website owner can probably find even better keywords because he knows his target group better. We'll use "air filter" as an example (general tips on finding the best keywords for search engine optimization can be found here).
   
   
2. Usage of the search term on the web site
   
   The targeted search term should appear on the web page. Otherwise, it will be very difficult to get high search engine rankings for the search term.
   
   A web page has many different elements that can influence the ranking on search engines. For example, it usually makes sense to use the targeted search term in the web page title and in the body text.
   
   It is also important to use the right keyword density in the different web page elements. If the keyword density is too low, the web page won't get good rankings for the search term. If the keyword density is too high, search engines might consider it spamming.
   
   The best place for the search term and the best keyword density depend on the targeted search term and the targeted search engine.
   
   Click here for a detailed report on how to use the search term "air filter" on www.techlabscience.com so that the web site can get high rankings on Google.
   
   The report explains in detail where to use the search term so that the web site can get top 10 rankings on Google (of course, the report can also be done for Yahoo, Ask Jeeves or any other search engine).

Search engine optimization is no magic art. Make sure that your web site doesn't contain spam elements (invisible text, links to link farms, etc.). Even if all other elements of your web site are perfectly optimized for search engines, you won't get good rankings if you have spam elements on your pages!

Your web pages should have much text content. The more text, the better. Don't use image links but text links on your web site. Avoid welcome pages and Flash elements.

Make it easy for search engines to index your site. Put your targeted search term in the right places and make sure that you use the right keyword density. Get incoming links from related web sites and make sure that the links to your site contain your targeted search terms as well as related keywords.

Our free SEO book helps you with step-by-step instructions to prepare your web pages for high search engine rankings.

It contains easy-to-use checklists so that you can quickly find out whether your web site is ready for search engines or not. The ebook is included in the free IBP demo version.

"Google Search continued its lead with 46 percent of all searches, followed by Yahoo! Search at 23 percent, and MSN Search at 13 percent (see Table 1). AOL Search garnered five percent of searches, and My Way Search saw two percent. [...]

The average Web searcher conducted nearly 38 searches during July 2005, a four percent increase from the prior month (see Table 2). Google Search and Yahoo! Search saw heavy usage with 27 and 20 searches per person, respectively, followed by Netscape Search and Dogpile.com Search, which averaged nearly 20 and 15 searches per person, respectively. MSN Search rounded out the top five rankings with 14 searches per person."

Google loosing ground in China

"Google is losing market share to its biggest Chinese rival, Web search engine Baidu.com. [...] Baidu.com Inc. boosted its market share in Beijing by 10.8 percentage points to 52 percent. Google Inc.'s share was at 33 percent."

Ask Jeeves unwraps mapping & directions services

"The services let you type a street name or postcode into the search field to get a map of the desired area. You can also zoom in or out to get their preferred scale. Meanwhile, the directions link provides driving or walking directions between a selected start point and destination."

Search engine newslets

• Another Google comic strip.
• As expected in our previous newsletter issue, Google launches Google Talk.
• Yahoo lets users search e-mail photos, documents.
• Gmail now has a sign-up form.

"In typical Google fashion, the company chose an unusual moment -- the sleepy doldrums of mid-August -- to shake up the tech world with a flurry of announcements. [...] No wonder tech watchers from Silicon Valley to Bangalore are all wondering the same thing: What the heck is Google up to?"

Could Google be the next Microsoft?

"Nowadays, when venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and technologists gather in Silicon Valley, they often find themselves grousing about Google, complaining about everything from a hoarding of top engineers to its treatment of partners and potential partners. The word 'arrogant' is frequently used."

Is Google getting too big for its original good ideas?

"Google is still good at whatever it does, so Tenet 1 remains in place. Some folks think Tenet 3 has fallen by the wayside — the New York Times published a story last week that pondered whether Google was morphing arrogantly into the new Microsoft."

Optimize your web page content for high search engine rankings with IBP 8

It works with Google, Yahoo and all other major search engines. The new IBP version offers many new features that make it even easier to successfully promote your site.

IBP 8 also offers a search engine submitter, the ranking checker, the top 10 optimizer, the keyword generator and many more powerful tools. Just give it a try.

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