Newsletter October 2007

Being found on the web

Google is the most popular search engine in Australia and often returns millions of web pages that match what we’re looking for. But do you ever look beyond the first page of search results?

This month Mary reports back from a course she attended on editing for the web. We’ve already started applying some of her tips to our website to make sure people using search engines can find us, and to boost our page rankings.

If you’ve got additional tips, we’d love to hear them.

Regards,

Econnect Communication

Jenni Metcalfe, Michelle Riedlinger, Mary O’Callaghan, Melanie McKenzie, Michelle Burton and (intern) Adriana Velez.

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Scoring a good web page ranking – 8 tips

By Mary O'Callaghan

The fierce competition in the search engine business means that the complex algorithms that companies use to rank web pages are closely guarded secrets.

If you’re not sure why more people are not finding your website, here are a few things you can try to boost its ranking:

1. unique content – it’s all about content; and having content that no-one else has can boost your page’s ranking. But know who you want to attract—a casual mention of ‘carnivorous bees’ had an unintended impact on the ranking of the Queensland Society of Editors website.

1. ageing but fresh – the older the site and the newer the content, the better; so set yourself a regular task to review every page on your website and refresh any out-of-date content.

2. keywords – know what search words and phrases people use when they search for whatever it is your website offers; if you can, have those words and phrases appear on your web page. Find out what search terms people are using with Google.

3. metadata – each web page can have its own behind-the-scenes title, description and keywords; the title is the first thing to appear in the search results page, followed by the description. The keywords metadata is handy for specifying commonly misspelt words and synonyms. For example, if your business is science communication, you might have ‘science comunication’ and ‘communicating science’ as keywords. Metadata is coded in HTML. In your browser, you can see the html code of any web page (right click and ‘view source’ in IE7), including its metadata.

4. deep incoming links from highly ranked sites – the more websites that link to your website, the better—but they need to be relevant. And deep links have more value i.e. links to a page other than your home page. It also helps if the website that is linking to your website has a higher Google ranking than yours.

5. meaningful link text – make the text of your links meaningful (don’t ‘click here’).

6. outgoing links from your website – deep links embedded throughout your content are worth more than a list of links.

7. ethics – in the war on spam, search engines have become clever enough to know when you are cheating on them, e.g. having reciprocal links with other websites (they can cancel each other out) or doing mass updates to make your content appear fresh. It’s best to grow your site organically and honestly.

Thanks to David Hill for these tips.

Don't click here

By Mary O'Callaghan

Lots of websites are still peppered with links that say ‘click here’. It’s time to replace these two words with meaningful text. Why?

1. Having ‘click here’ as link text can slow us down; we have to find the meaningful text that sits (we hope) near the ‘click here’ to see what the link is about.

2. Using meaningful words for link text means we use fewer words – and that’s always better on the web.

3. When ranking your web page, search engines give a higher value to links that have meaningful text. Read my tips on scoring a good page ranking.

4. Because the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) says so:

"When calling the user to action, use brief but meaningful link text that:

· provides some information when read out of context

· explains what the link offers

· doesn't talk about mechanics

· is not a verb phrase"

So, ‘read more about Econnect’, not ‘read more about Econnect’, and definitely not ‘to read more about Econnect click here’.

Creative blogging starts conversations

By Melanie McKenzie

Many scientists rarely get to talk about science with non-scientists; they are often just too busy. And non-scientists can be reluctant to ask scientists about their work for fear of being out of their depth.

This month, we are using a blog to create an interactive virtual space where people can ‘talk science’ with biotechnologists without either party feeling intimidated or awkward. Members of the public ask questions through a website form, and the scientists log in to the blog to answer them.

I’m impressed by the calibre of the questions and the willingness of the scientists to tackle difficult topics. And I think we’ve stimulated some conversations that wouldn’t have happened in ‘real life’.

Surf club

Australia’s newly-established Institute of Professional Editors is introducing an accreditation system for editors to lift their profile and help them gain recognition for their skills. The first exam is scheduled for 2008.

If the idea terrifies you, download the sample exam and complete it in the privacy of your own home. Answers and a marking guide are provided.

Quotation of the month

On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

Peter Steiner (cartoon published in The New Yorker, 5 July 1993)

Articles in this newsletter can be reproduced if Econnect Communication Pty Ltd is acknowledged as the source.