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July 15, 2000
Google Tip: Learn what the search engine really saw
One of the easiest ways to gain a top ten ranking is to study the source code of pages that already rank in the top ten for your chosen keyword. The idea is to give the search engine what it wants to see. If it likes to see six hundred words on the page, then create a page with six hundred words. The WebPosition Page Critic does an excellent job of analyzing top ranking pages and then providing the key statistics of the page that you'll want to emulate. It flags you when you fall outside of acceptable ranges so you can easily build a page that has the best chance of ranking in the top ten.
A problem arises with most search engines in that they often take a month or more before re-indexing a page found in their database. If the Web site owner makes changes after the search engine reads and indexes the page, then the HTML YOU are seeing is not the HTML that the search engine originally saw. Therefore, you might see eight-hundred words on the current page and mistakenly assume that's what the search engine saw and liked.
How do you solve this problem? Well, in the case of Google, the solution is simple. They record a copy of nearly every page they index in their "cache." When you do a search on Google, you'll notice a link next to each result saying "Show matches (Cache)." Click on this link and you'll see exactly what the search engine saw when it last indexed the page. This may have been content from yesterday or even two months ago depending on when Google last visited the Web page. The beauty of the cache feature is that you have a much more reliable picture of what Google likes to see on the page in terms of content.
WebPosition Gold is smart enough to take advantage of this feature when it does its Page Critic analysis. When computing statistical averages of top ranking pages, it analyzes only pages from Google's cache rather than the current pages.
In the case of other search engines, we're forced to look at other criteria to weed out pages that have changed recently. On some servers and search engines we can compare the file date of the page to the search engine's last index date. If they don't match, we throw the page out of our averages. Other methods are also employed to improve accuracy, and still others are being developed for future versions. No system can ever be perfect in determining exactly what the search engines wish to see. However, WebPosition does it better than any other product I've ever seen.
Bonus Tip: If you don't want Google to cache your page to their server, they offer you a way to opt-out. You may add the following meta tag to the HEAD area of your page to accomplish this:
<META NAME="ROBOTS" CONTENT="NOARCHIVE">
If you're currently in their cache, add the above tag and then re-submit. Once they re-spider your page, your competitors will be unable to see the exact HTML the engine saw.
There is one drawback to the NOARCHIVE tag. If your Web site is temporarily inaccessible or you rename the page after being indexed, Google users who would otherwise be able to view your page via Google's cached copy will be unable to do so. However, if your site is hosted on a reliable server, this may not be a concern for you.
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