Are your links consistent?
Google is trying to help webmasters ensure their sites
are correctly indexed by their spider 'googlebot'. They have
recently published a survey of over a billion documents to see what code
elements are actually being used. In the process they highlighted
many inconsistencies and outright errors.
Google Blogger, Mat Cutts, has
also pointed out the need for consistency in linking strategies. You
may not be able to control incoming links to your site but you should be
very consistent in your own internal link structure. Yet links can
work technically even when they are actually different as in:
- www.example.com
- example.com/
- www.example.com/index.html
- example.com/home.asp
Potentially each of these links could give a different
result even though we normally expect them all to land on the same page.
If your site uses more than one variation, Google has to try and
distinguish the most important but they are unlikely to rate a page highly
for link value if the they see the links split between different URLs.
Basically, if you want to improve your rankings in the
natural listings, you should do everything in your power to ensure your
pages are fully indexed and your message to the spiders is consistent.
Just because they appear in your browser window as required does not mean
necessarily they are indexed to best advantage.
Check you site in the
official W3C validator. You will probably be horrified by the results
but it would provide a useful discussion point with your webmaster!
Regards
Stephen Orr
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