Friday, July 11, 2003

Solving the boundary issues one step at a time
Search engine optimization standards for generating optimum query results.

Have you ever submitted to a search engine directory? If so you may have noticed that they tend to vary based on information required to complete the submission.


Directories are typically based on open source database management systems like MySQL. The database design usually specifies data types by file specifications like URL, Images, Descriptions of content, and summaries of the submitted file type. Search engines are not directories search engines themselves are a developed technology in order to explore directories, submit queries, and deliver data.

In spending time researching search engines I have found a very incisive explanation of the standard order to utilizing the Internet for queries and data extraction.

The result of this information I am including comes from Chapter 3, Page 53 of Web developers.com Guide to Search Engines by Wes Sonnenreich and Tim Macinta.

 How a web browser communicates with the computer its running on
 How a browser communicates with the Internet
 How data travels through the Internet
 How a web browser communicates with a web server
 How a search engine is like a web browser
 How search engines gather data on sites
 How an engine knows not to read certain pages
 What other methods of gathering data are in use



For my own web site I use freefind.com though there are several search engine customization options and of course creating your own. Whether one chooses to build a search engine for their site or simply offer one it is important to understand how and why they work in order to choose the best software to fit your personal preferences and vistor needs.

Some key criteria I preferred in my effort to locate the best selection was:

1. Price – do they offer a free service for non-commercial use like web logs.

2. Customization – do they allow for site only searching, which doesn’t spill out into the entire web?

3. HTML Customization- do they offer HTML placement that may be customized to adhere to web page requirements like those at a web log?

4. Tracking/reporting- do they offer tracking features so that the webmaster may keep record of query types and usage rates? Will these records be emailed to me directly?

5. Spidering- this is an important aspect of search engines within a web site and is slightly different from those found through major search engines. When dealing with just one or a limited number of web sites or web pages within a search engine frame the web sites unstructured data then becomes the directory itself. Searching “cars” through the entire web will produce different results than the same query at an individual web site. Spidering is automatic with larger search engines when customizing a search engine for an individual site it is important to have your own spidering for new content.

Freefind provides an index table that users may customize for their web pages weekly, monthly, quarterly; etc. in order to maintain newer content based on update frequency. If you are busy these automated responses are intuitive and very helpful. After all one of the perks to maintaining a web presence is to free up time restraints and to minimize distraction possibilities.

Unless programming is what you do and developing technologies is your sole focus.

How do you know when you need a search engine at your web site? You know when one you have content that is intended to reach others based on information desire, demand, and necessity. Once you have more than 10 pages of relevant content, you will definitely need to consider a search engine for your site. After 10 pages locating data becomes less intuitive and more stressful for the individuals you are attempting to accommodate. Keep the focus human. Do you like having to hunt around for what you are looking for? Dealing with the goose chase and chaos or would you prefer to simply locate it so that you can move on?

Of course, it is obvious that indexes are relevant, that convenience is attractive and that time is always a factor. Technology has to be learned but once it is learned it serves to ease previous burdens and demands rather than add to them which is the fear that prevents individuals from embracing these technologies all together.

It is easier to be impressed with technologies when you understand they that they are structured and how far they have come in a short period of time. It makes you wonder what took the human race so long to figure that out.

When I first started using the Internet. I was found search engines to be perplexing with the multitude of selections that appeared more vague with every new layer of query. Over the last four years, however, I have learned how to better interact with them to get what I need quickly as I have experienced a diligent effort to improve them on a consistent basis.

Now, search engines are clearly headed in the right direction and will ultimately be developed to acknowledge and address the user end requirements and expectations.

So it is a good time to get in the mix and start realizing what each user or individual may contribute to further the over all cause!

Give me your thoughts or feedback on search engine facts and theories..

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