Example of Keyword Placement Affecting Rank

To know what kinds of keyword placement or other keyword factors can affect a Web site's ranking is to know how to shuffle the elements that make up your Web site so as to outrank any other site on the Web.

Consider this final series of examples. Which of the following word paintings (representing hypothetical Web sites) would rank higher in a hypothetical search engine for a search on the keyword VanGogh? (HTML is omitted or included as necessary to improve the clarity of the illustration):

Web site #1:

word word, word, word, word, word VanGogh, word, word word, word word, word, word, word, word, word VanGogh, word word, word, word, word, word word word, word, word, word, word word, word, word, word VanGogh word word, word, word, word, word.

Web site #2:

word word, word, word, VanGogh word, word, word, word word, word word, word, word, word, VanGogh word, word, word word, word, word, word, VanGogh word word word, word, word, word, word word, word, word, word word word, word, word, word, word.

Answer: Probably Web site #2, as the occurrences of "VanGogh" are more prominent - they occur earlier or closer to the beginning of document.

Now, consider another more complicated situation, also two Web sites that might be returned for a search on the keyword "VanGogh":

Web site #3:

<TITLE> VanGogh's life and early work</ TITLE>
word word, word, word, word, word VanGogh, word, word word, word word, word, word, word, VanGogh word, word, word word, word, word, word, word word word, word, word, word, word word, word, word, word VanGogh word word, word, word, word, word

Web site #4:

<TITLE> VanGogh</ TITLE>
word word, word, word, word, word VanGogh, word, word word, word word, word, word, word, VanGogh

Answer: There is no definitive answer because each search engine uses a slightly different ranking system, but we believe that Web site #4 would win more often. "How can that be?!" you might ask in shock and amazement, because "Web site #3 has four occurrences of the keyword "VanGogh" and the first three have an equal prominence - they are the same distance from the
beginning of the document!"

It was the keyword weight (the number of times that the keyword "VanGogh" appears on the page as a percentage of the total) that could help Web site #4 outrank #3.

The point is that while not all situations are as clear as the example presented, most ranking problems can be diagnosed by evaluating the same keyword placement variables. Once you understand how to evaluate the variables, you can build Web pages that achieve top rankings.

Caution: Simply because you determine how to and then achieve a high ranking for a particular keyword, does not mean that you will maintain this rank consistently. Every day, thousands of new Web sites are being built and registered in search engines. Search engines continually refine their search algorithms, and sometimes they affect a fundamental change in methodology in pursuit of more accurate searches for visitors.

WebCrawler recently scrapped its entire ranking algorithm and replaced it with Excite's software and search algorithm. Many sites that were ranked well in WebCrawler suddenly needed redesigned pages to achieve similar rankings under this new system.

Nonetheless, your best bet for achieving high rankings is to optimize your pages in the ways described in this guide. Now it's time to learn the techniques and how to implement them on your Web pages.