News & Media

Q: Is once a month too often to resubmit your site to Open Directory)? A: Yes. Resubmitting will probably only hurt your chances of getting your listing approved. If it’s been a while and you’re getting worried, first check for discussion of your submission at the DMOZ Resource Zone (https://www.resource-zone.com). If several months have passed, […]

Q: Are there any rules about the number of characters/words that should be used in meta keywords and the meta description? A: No, the search engines have not published any rules about length of meta tags. Personally, I’d suggest restricting the meta keywords to no more than a dozen key phrases, and the meta description […]

Q: Can you explain again where the snippet of information listed below a link in a Google search result page comes from? I believe you said some search engines use the meta description, but where else in the code should this information be placed? A: Google pulls content for the snippet mainly from the body […]

Q: What books would you suggest I begin reading to get a better idea of optimizing a site? A: I wouldn’t pick up a book for SEO. At least I haven’t yet found an SEO book that stands the test of time. Print is too remote a medium from the Internet – ideas expressed in […]

Q: How do you set up custom error pages? A: It depends on the web server software. On Apache, you add a line to your configuration file like so: ErrorDocument 404 /error.html On Microsoft IIS, first you’d go to “Properties” under your website, then select “Custom Errors”, then error code 404, and then “Properties” and […]

Q: Does it matter whether the JavaScript code is in the section or the , as far as affecting Google spiders? A: Either place will work, but JavaScript code that’s high up in the page pushes your keyword-rich body copy lower down the page, which in turns lowers the keyword prominence of the keywords in […]