Friday Tips: How Search Engines Work & Getting Your News on Google
If they still seem somewhat of a mystery, I recommend the “How Internet Search Engines Work” article over at howStuffWorks.com. Although the engines deliberately keep some parts of their operation secret, the basics of how they work are public knowledge. And some of this information can be used to determine how search engine-friendly your website is. The sooner you have a basic understanding, the better you can position yourself and your brand/services on the web.
Do you post news items on your website? Do you know if you’re getting maximum exposure by being listed at places like Google News? Andrew Shotland has a thorough list of the do’s and don’t’s of posting news content on your website, and how to help it rank better on places like Google News. Of the 21 tips provided, here is a sample of a few key items:
2. Submit Your News Site Map to Google
6. Make Sure Article URLs Are Permanent and Unique
14. News Articles Must Contain Text (Seems like a no-brainer but it does actually happen that news stories are posted with little or no actual copy)