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If you read this newsletter regularly, you will know that there are many factors that can influence the ranking of a web page on search engines. A factor that is overlooked by many webmasters is the click distance.

What is click distance?

Click distance is the number of clicks it takes to get to a web page from the home page of your web site. If you need 5 clicks from your home page to go to page A and 2 clicks from you home page to get to page B then page B has a smaller click distance than page A.

Why is click distance important?

Some search engines (including Google) seem to take click distance into account when calculating the ranking of web pages. The lower the click distance, the more value is given to a web page.

In addition to the click distance, some search engines might also take the directory structure into account.

A web page with the URL www.example.com/page.htm is considered more important than a page with a URL that points to a sub directory: www.example.com/here/there/whereever/page.htm

How can you influence the click distance on your web site?

It's likely that a clean site with less click distance gets better Google rankings than a site with a cluttered navigation.

An easy way to make every page of your web site available with at most two clicks is putting a sitemap link on every web page. Using Google's Sitemaps service doesn't help because it does not change the click distance of your web site. You have to put a normal sitemap on your web site.

If you use a normal sitemap on your web site then you don't have to participate in Google's Sitemaps program because Google will find all of your pages through your regular sitemap.

Are there official documents about click distance?

A MSN Search patent application with the title System and method for ranking search results using click distance contains further information about click distance and its possible effects on web page rankings.

Click distance is another factor that shows how important it is that search engines can find and parse your web pages quickly and easily. To make it as easy as possible for search engines to parse your pages, use our proven top 10 optimization tools for web pages and links.

Dogpile ranks highest among search engines

"Included in the study for the first time, Dogpile ranks highest among search engines, with top ratings from Internet service subscribers in all three factors that determine overall satisfaction within the segment: ease of use, functionality and results. Ask.com and Google, respectively, follow Dogpile in the segment rankings.

Live.com introduces the LinkfromDomain search operator

"Using LinkFromDomain in your search includes all sites that are linked from a given domain. This complements LinkDomain (which includes all sites that link to a given domain) that was introduced back in June, 05."

"Google Inc. is on track in 2006 to become the first company ever to pocket 25% of all U.S. online ad spending in a calendar year, according to a new report from eMarketer, an online ad tracker."

Search engine newslets

• Ms. Dewey is a search engine with a human face.
• Yahoo to simplify e-biz for small companies.
• Ask releases Ask Mobile.
• Earnings predictions: Yahoo and Google.
• Google plans largest U.S. solar-powered office.
• Google not having luck hiring In India.
• Marketers join social web sites.
• Yahoo to show local CBS news clips.
• Google cartoons are available here, here and here.
• Google not spooked by ghosts of deals past.

As Yahoo, Google, etc. cater to elusive small businesses, Microsoft’s hand could be forced

"Small businesses and consumers may not know it, but they wield an awful lot of power in technology markets. Worldwide, they probably represent as much if not more revenue potential than larger businesses and corporations."

Google faces YouTube dilemma

"Google's acquisition of YouTube provides a 'tantalizing opportunity' for the search giant to boost its advertising model, but the success of the partnership is far from certain."

Weeding Out Click Fraud

"Its roots are deep, and while much has been done to stem the problem, the fixes aren't happening fast enough."

Google and the myth of an open net

"The internet lurches forward in spasms of business model discovery, as when Google figured out how to auction off search-targeted advertising slots, leaving banner advertisements behind. Today, Google’s absorption of its little video cousin is part of this jockeying for positions of competitive superiority. The internet really is not open – if, as Google hopes, it is doing it right."

We're looking for a web application software developer (Python/PHP/Ajax/MySQL) and an employee for software translation and customer support (French).

Both jobs are located in our new offices in Montabaur, Germany. Telecommuting is not possible.

• Further information about us
• Further information about the jobs (German)

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Back to table of contents - Visit Axandra.com

• How Google's latest PageRank update affects your web site
• Six reasons why search engines ignore your web pages
• How to get out of Google's supplemental results
• Google's new Sitelinks and your web site
• How to get links from an authority web site
• What Google's SEO videos tell you
• What is more important than getting more web site traffic?
• View all past issues...