Search Engine Optimization FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

Listed below are some search engine FAQ. If you don't find your answer here, please feel free to send us your question.

01. Why should a site be submitted to search engines and directories ?

Traffic you receive from search engines is targeted. Visitors arriving at your site from search engines have entered a keyword relevant to your site, so they are already interested in your product or service. This is the best source of potential customers you can have. Search engines are free to users and potential customers know where and how to use them. They are the number one way where users find new sites. Surveys show that over 85% of users rely on search engines to locate information on the Web.

02. How can search engine marketing strategies impact my business?

The goal of effective search engine marketing is not just adding traffic - it is about growing your online business by reaching qualified consumers of your products and services. Centaurhosting employs best business practices, benchmarking, predictive modeling and forecasting to help you understand and obtain your growth potential. With over 400 million people using the Internet and using search properties, the potential Web audience is so large for businesses that a strategic and sustainable approach to capturing that market is vital.

03. We are leading experts in our line of business. How can web promotion help our brand
      management campaign?

The search engines are "brand-blind." That means they don't know (or care) how big your company is or if you're a top expert. The only way the search engines will know about your site (and position your pages well) is through Internet marketing efforts.

Check out how many small businesses gain top Google rankings - while their corporate competitors are nowhere to be seen. Chances are that the small business engaged in an Internet marketing campaign, while the big brand competitor relied strictly on their offline branding for results. If brand management is crucial for your marketing success, an SEO campaign should be paramount.

04. Will submitting my site guarantee it will list at the top of the search engines?

Absolutely not. Listings are largely dependent upon the web site's pages being easily found and the content of the pages (text, titles, meta tags, etc.) recorded by the search engines. Centaurhosting helps increase a web sites visibility on the Internet and assists the site administrator in producing premium content for better listings.

05. How long does it take for my site to get indexed?

Many search engines - although not all - may take as long as 6-8 weeks to list your site in their database. Keep in mind that it is up to them whether or not to accept your submission and they may at their discretion, refuse to accept your web site into their index. Although we have no control over their process, we do our best to make sure your site will get increased exposure.

06. I have already submitted my web site to the search engines but it is not listing well.

Centaurhosting can help you visualize how the search engine sees your site. If your web site is not doing well and listings are unsatisfactory, then among other things, the site's content and meta tags need a closer look.

07. How often should a page be submitted?

Submitting a page weekly or monthly serves no purpose and can adversely affect the page or entire web site. After the initial submission of a page it should only be re-submitted for the following reasons :
a) The page drops out
b) The listing falls dramatically
c) There are substantial content changes

08. What pages do search engine spiders have trouble following?

Web pages are either static or dynamic. A static page is created as a standalone file and placed on the web server. It's web address will generally end with ".htm" or ".html". The file does not change unless somebody edits or replaces it on the server. Dynamic pages, on the other hand, are created "on the fly" and contain content which is generally populated from a database. Static pages are virtually always submittable to the search engines. However, dynamic pages can pose an addressing and connection problem. If when you click on a link and the page you go to has an address containing a "?" followed by something like "id=10" then the page is dynamic served and may be be difficult for search engines and spiders. Is there a work around? Yes, more than one. Contact us.

09. What are META Tags and do I need them?

For some search engines, META tags are important and will increase your rankings, while other search engines only use them to index your site in their database. We highly recommend placing them in the tags of your web pages. The three important META tags to have are: "Title", "Keywords" and "Description."

10. How can I add or make changes to my keywords, title, description or search submission
      order?

You can make changes to your submission order at anytime. You can also change your keywords, title, description etc.

11. How many keywords should I target?

Quality, not quantity, is the focus of keyword strategy - there is no absolute rule for how many keywords and phrases you need to target. And before you begin developing a list, you must understand your target audience and the language different searchers use when looking for your specific products, services and information online.

12. What is Link Popularity ?

Link popularity is a measure of how many other sites contain a hyper link to your site. Some search engines, most notably Google, use link popularity as one of their most important criteria in determining page rank. A further component of link popularity is the quality of sites linking to yours.

13. How can broken links affect the ranking of my website?

Broken links annoy the visitors to your web site, which lowers your percentage of return visitors.
In addition, broken links on your web site may negatively affect your search engine rankings.