SEO For MSN

This is article one of a four part series on optimizing your website for the "BigThree". Part two will focus on Yahoo!, Part three will focus on Google and part fourof this series will explain how to perform SEO on your website to attain high rankingsacross all three major engines. We are beginning with MSN as rankings are generallyfaster attained on this engine and thus it is a good place to begin, especially ifyou have a new site that is likely still in the sandbox on Google or are just at thebeginning stages of link building.

Like all of the major search engines, MSN builds their index of sites using spidersto crawl the web finding new and changed information. This information is then processedby the MSN servers using complex algorithms to determine which sites are most relevantto the search query entered. This may seem like an extraordinarily complex processand it is however the resulting environment is simple: all search engine algorithmsare mathematical and thus, there is a fixed set of rules and factors which, if addressedcorrectly, will result in a high ranking. In short, because it's math we have the benefitof knowing that if we take action x and action y we will get result z.

The Rules For MSN

Assuming that you are following the right rules, the results you can achieve on MSNcan be fast and solid. MSN does not apply the same types of aging delays that the othertwo engines do and thus, when you change your content the change in results can berealized as quickly as they reindex your site and as quickly as your incoming linksget picked. This differs greatly from Google and Yahoo! in that those two engines ageboth domains and links requiring a longer period of time before the full effects ofyour efforts are realized.

As an additional note on MSN, users of MSN are 48% more likely to purchase a productor service online than the average Internet user according to a comScore Media report.

So what are the rules for MSN that can help us get top rankings? As with all the majorengines, there are two fundamental areas that need to be addressed to attain top rankings.The first is the onsite factors, the second is the offsite. Because they are fundamentallydifferent we will address them separately.

Onsite SEO Factors

The problem with writing an article about the onsite factors is that by the time manyof you read this some of the weight these factors hold and the optimal levels notedmay well be out-of-date. Thus, rather than listing overly-specific-and-sure-to-changefactors we will focus on how to know what the factors are, how to get a handle on whatyou need to adjust and by how much, and how to predict what will be coming down theroad. And so we'll begin:

How To Know What The Factors Are:

Unfortunately there's no one over at MSN Search calling us up weekly to let us knowwhat the specifics of their algorithm are, we have to figure it out for ourselves withresearch, reading and playing with test sites. From all of this there is only one conclusionthat an SEO can make: the details matter. When we're discussing onsite factors thisincludes:

• the content of the page including keyword density
• the internal linking structure of the site (how the pages of your site are linkedtogether)
• the number of pages in your site and the relevancy of those pages to your maintopic and phrases
• the use of titles, heading tags and special formats

There are a number of lower weight factors however the ones noted above, if addressedcorrectly, will have very significant results on your rankings if the offsite factorsnoted below are also addressed.

Page Content:

The content of your page must be perfect. What I mean by this is that the contentmust appeal to both the search engines and the algorithms. In order to write properlyfor the visitors you must be able to write clearly and in language that is both appealingand understandable to your target market. While there is much debate about whetherthe keyword density of your page is important I am certainly one who believes thatit is. It only makes sense that a part of the algorithm takes into account the useof the keywords on your page. Unfortunately the optimal keyword density changes slightlywith each algorithm update and also by site type and field. For this reason it wouldbe virtually impossible for me to give you a density that will work today and forevermore.For this reason you will need a keyword density analysis tool which you will want torun on your own site as well as the sites in the top 10 to assess what the optimaldensity is at this time. You may notice a variation in the densities of the top 10.This is due to the other factors including offsite which can give extra weight to evena poorly optimized site. I recommend getting your site to a keyword density close tothe higher-end of the top 10 but not excessive. Traditionally this percentage willfall somewhere near 3.5 to 4% for MSN.

Internal Linking Structure:

The way your pages link together tells the search engines what the page is about andalso allows them to easily (or not-so-easily) work their way to your internal pages.If your site has an image or script-based navigation it is important to also use textlinks either in your content, in a footer, or both. The text links are easy to followfor a spider and perhaps more importantly, the text links allow you the opportunityto tell the spiders what a specific page is about though the anchor text and, in thecase of footers, allows you to add in more instances of the targeted phrases outsideof your general content area.

The Number Of Pages & Their Relevancy:

MSN wants to please their visitors. For this reason they want to insure that highestlikelihood that a searcher will find what they need once they get to your site. Forthis reason a larger site with unified content will rank higher that a smaller siteor a site with varying content topics. (note: this assumes that all else is equal inregards to the other ranking factors)

When you are optimizing your site for MSN be sure to take some time to built qualitycontent. Do a search on your major competitors to see how large their sites are, overtime you will want to build yours to the same range through general content creationor the addition of a blog or forum to your site.

Titles, Heading Tags & Special Formats:

Titles are the single most important piece of code our your entire web page for tworeasons. The first is that it holds a very high level of weight in the algorithm. thesecond reason is that it is your window to the world. When someone runs a search theresults will generally show your page title in the search results. This means thata human visitor has to be drawn to click on your title or rankings your site is a futileeffort (this isn't about bragging rights, it's about return on investment).

Heading tags are used to specify significant portions of content. The most commonlyused is the H1 tag though there are obviously others (or they wouldn't bother numberingthem would they). The H1 tag is given a significant amount of weight in the algorithmprovided that it is not abused though overuse (it should only be used once per page).Try to keep your headings short-and-sweet. They're there to tell your visitor whatthe page is about, not your whole site.

Special formats are, for the purpose of this article, and text formatting that distinguishesa set of characters or words apart from the others. This includes such things as, anchortext, bold, italic, different font colors, etc. When you set content apart using specialformats MSN will read this as a part of your content that you want to draw attentionto and which you obviously want your visitors to see. This will increase the weightof that content. Now don't go making all your keyword bold or the such, simply makesure to use special formats properly. Inline text links (links in the body contentof your page) is a great way to increase the weight of specific text while actuallyhelping your visitor by providing easy paths to pages they may be interested in.

Offsite SEO Factors

With MSN, the offsite factors are much simpler to deal with than either Google orYahoo! MSN will give you full credit for a link the day they pick it up so link building,while time consuming, is reworded much quicker on MSN. When dealing with MSN and offsiteSEO there are two main factors we must consider when finding links:

• Relevancy. The site must be relevant to yours to hold any real weight.
• Quality is better than quantity. Because PageRank is Google-specific we can't useit as the grading tool for MSN however upon visiting a website it's generally fairlyclear whether we're visiting a good site or not. Spending extra time to find qualityis well rewarded. Also, finding one-way links as opposed to reciprocal links is becomingincreasingly important and I'd recommend utilizing both in your link building strategies.

You will have to begin your offsite optimization by running link checks on your competitorsto see what you're up against. This is also a good place to start for potential linkpartners though those of you using a tool such as Total Optimizer Pro or PR Prowlerwill find it far faster and more effective to use these tools.

Conclusion

This entire article may seem fairly simplistic and there's a reason for that, whatwe've noted above is a list of the more important areas however to save you frustrationand me from receiving hundreds of emails a few months from now noting that the keyworddensities don't work, etc. I've tried to keep it general. Below you'll find a listof recommended resources. These are tools and SEO resources to help keep you updatedand on top of the rankings.

Next week we will be covering Yahoo!

Resources

Total Optimizer Pro -A keyword density and backlink analysis tool. This tool breaks down a variety of onsiteand offsite factors giving you a full snapshot of how the top 10 got their positions.

MicrosoftPress Room - Read the latest press releases from Microsoft. This may not giveyou the algorithm but it will tell you the direction they're going. Understand thisand you'll be better equipped to deal with changes down the road.

SearchEngineWatch'sMSN Forums - Read the latest news, feedback and discussions on the SearchEngineWatchforums. A great way to keep updated but beware, not everyone in there is a qualifiedopinion.

About The Author
Dave Davies is the owner and CEO of BeanstalkSearch Engine Positioning, Inc