MSN Search Engine Beta Optimization Techniques - Content is a must in MSN
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As with all of the major search engines, MSN Search places heavy emphasis on content. Whether that content is on the page, off the page, or entirely off the site, care must be taken to ensure that content quality is maximized. The MSN algorithm values content very highly, and even allows for heavier than Google permissible levels of keyword density. In many ways, MSN Search is a content oriented website owner’s dream.
Because of the many benefits that accrue to a site as a direct result of more keyword rich content, it’s as good a place as any to begin your optimization efforts. Keep in mind that content not only provides direct immediate value in the search engine results pages (SERPs), but also indirectly over the longer term, in the form of incoming natural links.
Since links appear to be very important to MSN’s algorithm, and in that regard it follows the Google link importance bias, it’s important to attract as many organic links as possible. One sure way to gain incoming links is to provide interesting and useful content. Not only does content add links, but it also provides the important keyword phrases if presented in many search engine friendly forms.
Content arrives in two ways. There is on site content and there is off site content. Both are very important to the MSN Search algorithm. By including both content strategies in your MSN optimization efforts, the maximum ranking benefits can and probably will be achieved.
Make certain that each page has unique title tags related to the most important keywords on the page. It’s also a good idea to use the title tag in the page’s meta tags as well, to create a uniform themed appearance to the page content.
Page URLs should be static html, preferably containing a keyword, or even two keywords. Dynamic URLs are less likely to be indexed in MSN, so they are best avoided. That situation could change, however, as the MSN search engine evolves past the beta stage, and its algorithm becomes more diversified. In that event, dynamic URLs would then be effectively indexed. In the meantime, static html URLs are a far better option.
Keyword density on the page, with MSN apparently preferring smaller word counts, can be slightly higher than in Google. Like Yahoo’s algorithm, MSN is usually more tolerant of somewhat higher keyword densities. Caution must be exercised, however, to prevent being seen as keyword stuffing, resulting in a much lower search engine ranking.
Keep the on page themes and topics consistent and relevant, and make certain that all of the pages are linked together in some way. Orphan pages with no outgoing links to other parts of the website are less likely to be indexed, resulting in a loss of that page’s content. Orphan pages also waste a valuable opportunity to use a link with good anchor text to benefit another Web page.
Clean coding is a must with MSN Search, since its spider has a strong preference for well written code. If a website’s coding is poorly written, it appears as if MSN Search downgrades the site’s search rankings heavily. Be sure to run the Web pages through a validation program to ensure the code is properly written.
Double check that all html tags are closed, for example. The MSN guidelines indicate that proper coding is a factor in their algorithm, as it is for all search engines. While correct code is important, it’s highly unlikely to result in dramatically lower rankings if there are a few coding problems. Of course, in some highly competitive keyword searches, invalid code could be a major deciding factor. Check the code with a validator to make sure it’s all correct.
Next: Links count in MSN Search too >>
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