(Continued)

However, in Google, and most of the other search engines, the default for the search robots is to index all pages anyway, unless they are told not to! If you don't want the search engines to add your page (or pages) to their database for whatever reason, you would then write your tag "nofollow" and "noindex".

Also, you should seriously read all the articles I wrote about the robots.txt exclusion protocol, since you will find out a lot more on the proper ways of excluding a whole section or sections of any website by simply reading those articles.

The second code snippet you asked about, "noarchive," will actually cause your site not to be in Google's cache. Google's cache can be compared to a small memory that is stored inside Google's database, and it holds "snapshot" data of some or all of a site's pages. Google smartly implemented that feature, in case your site happens to be down at the moment a searcher arrives at your site.

In such a case, all he or she needs to do is to click on the "cache version" and he will still be able to view that page. However, remember that Google's cache is only updated about once a month, so any recent changes done to a page may not be reflected in a cached page.

There is actually a cache link next to most pages in Google's results, which brings you to Google's latest copy of that page in your site. Most webmasters and site owners don't really mind if their pages are archived and show up in Google's cache, and that is the reason why they don't use the noarchive tag.

I generally find that people who would prefer to have their pages stay out of Google's cache could be doing something 'borderline' or experiencing some "SEO black hat" trick, since they generally don't want anybody at Google to find out about.

<<< Previous page      Next: Read what the industry experts are saying >>>

Pages: 1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10   11   12   13   14

Bookmark the Rank for $ales website by simply clicking here.

Legal Notice
If you find this newsletter interesting and of value to you, you are encouraged to link to it, using a normal H REF text link. The Rank for $ales Weekly newsletter is Copyright © Serge Thibodeau, 2004. Any reproduction, full or partial is prohibited without my prior written consent. Address all enquiries for the proper and acceptable procedures regarding certain limited reprint permissions to sthibodeau@rankforsales.com

You can link to the Rank for Sales web site as much as you like. Read our section on how your company can participate in our reciprocal link exchange program and increase your rankings in the major search engines.