Search Search Engines Search Engine Optimization Search Interfaces Personalization The openness of the Web changes everything Access Technological progress Expectation

Anatomy of a LS Web Search Engine Initial Google Design PageRank PR(A) = (1-d) + d (PR(T1)/C(T1) + ... + PR(Tn)/C(Tn)) “A model of user behavior” probability of a random surfer visiting a page is its PageRank + a damping factor (boredom) Pages point to a page Highly ranked pages point to a page Anchor text is mined (the label for the link) Proximity included

Anatomy 2 Repository of page content Document index Forward (sorted) Inverted (sorter) Lexicon of words & pointers Hit Lists of word occurrence(s) Crawlers Ranking Feedback of selection (~)

Metasearch Issues One place for everything? First place to look? Last place to look? Better interface? Combined results Syntax Errors State Information (monitoring) Copyright User, content and interface mismatches/challenges

Search Engine Optimization Found by spiders and submissions More links to and from site Registration on major directories Links to and from major directories Real Contact information Helps prove validity META tag Header and footer of home page About Us or Contact Us pages Location/Map page

Good Design is SEO Basic interface Well-structured links Comprehensive Site Navigation Updated and accurate links Easy to find (via the Web or on the site itself) Clear labels TITLEs Headings Term consistency Link consistency Small sizes to download quickly

Web Search Tests Perform searches with targeted keywords Compare and contrast top results with your potential site Similar terms Links (external and internal) Popularity (sites that link to the site) Use Data to Build a keyword list Build an introductory text Blurbs Description (2 sentences max) Any page found via a Web search engine should have search for the site itself Regularly monitor Search with your terms

Internal Search Robots.txt Log and analyze search results Measure success and failure Tune for click-through productivity Keep list of terms Match terms to pages Add terms Script terms to certain pages Provide list (links) of most recent search terms Provide list (links) of most popular search terms

Page Design Use CSS Put JavaScript, etc. in external files <style type=“text/css”> Keep content in pages, not CSS templates Put JavaScript, etc. in external files <script language=“JavaScript” src=“scripts/myscript.js” type=“text/javascript”> </script> <noscript> tag too for alternate content Continually verify external links ALT tags & Accessibility Compliance Index link on Splash page (if needed) Exact consistency on internal links (ending “/”s) <noframes> Redirects <META HTTP-EQUIV=“refresh” content=“0”; URL=http://www.newsite.com/index.html>

Search and MIME types Flash now supports internal text PDF files Add comments and authorship info Modify existing PDFs Check Document PropertiesFonts with fonts shows that PDF can be indexed (not a group a graphics files) Provide text abstract or summary of PDF PPT, use text if possible Java interfaces prove difficult Dynamic pages should have key(word) static elements FORMs not always completely indexed

Track your Tracking Keep list of sites submitted to When, Who, Email address, exact URL submitted Suggested categories, Current site description Terms and Conditions Keep list of “goal” keywords Keep list of sites you check keywords Keywords Dates Successes/Failures