Category: Chapter 07: Getting Your Content Listed

In Chapter 7, we explore the best ways to ensure your content is indexed by search engines.  One of the fastest and most accurate ways is to create master lists of URLs in the form of XML Sitemaps. This format is the accepted standard for all search engines, as explained at Sitemaps.org (the site maintained by the consortium […]

Every website that’s been around more than about 15 minutes has moved a page from one URL to another. The redirect is the way to leave the forwarding address from the old URL. In Chapter 7, we discuss the different types of redirects and how to use redirects properly. The following tools are effective not only […]

Used properly, the robots.txt file is the main way your website tells the search spider where to crawl and where to stay away. Unfortunately, it isn’t always coded correctly, providing one of the biggest reasons that sites are blocked from search engine spiders.  The site Robotstxt.org is the definitive source for understanding the variations of the robots.txt, […]

Every time a search engine sends a spider to your website to crawl your pages, your website can detect the spider’s fingerprint, called a user agent. Here are the most common user agents for the major search spiders to enable them to crawl the site. Search Engine User Agent String Baidu China Baiduspider+(+http://www.baidu.com/search/spider.htm)BaiDuSpider Baidu Japan Baiduspider+(+http://www.baidu.com/search/spider_jp.html) […]

There are a number of key benefits to using HREFLang XML site maps including augmenting current XML files, minimizing duplicate content issues and most importantly ensure the best page for local markets is showing in the search results.   Benefit #1 – HREF Page References Not Cluttering Pages The original specification for the HREF required […]