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StartupJournal.com Explains How to Reach the Top of Search-Engine Results

SB Informer
Tuesday, September 26, 2006; 02:37 AM

Getting your company listed in the first page of search results for Yahoo or Google can be a marketing coup for a small business, says a report in StartupJournal.com, The Wall Street Journal's guide for entrepreneurs.

"For many businesses, the Web has become one of the best sources of sales leads because a high listing in search results attracts quality prospects," explained David Patton, editorial director, StartupJournal.com.

Businesses can take some simple steps to improve the relevance of a Web site for search engines without spending lots of money on search-engine optimization.

Search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN send out spiders (also called bots or crawlers) to scour the Web and retrieve and analyze certain information from sites. The spiders look for keywords that searchers tend to use, as well as how often they appear on a Web page.

"How many times certain keywords or phrases appear on your page can help determine your search engine ranking," says David Patton, editorial director, StartupJournal.com. "It's better to place keyword text in HTML code because search-engine spiders can't read Web graphics."

Other ways to raise your site's ranking is to use metatags, which are hidden data written into a site's HTML that provide information about a page, and get other prominent sites to link to yours.

"If more sites link to yours, especially if they are prestigious, it can improve your site's ranking in search results," said Mr. Patton. "This will help your site appear more authoritative to search engines."

Here are StartupJournal.com's quick tips to improve your site's ranking in search-engine results:

     * Add relevant keywords
     * Use metatags
     * Get other sites to link to your page
     * Have useful content

About StartupJournal.com

StartupJournal.com (www.StartupJournal.com), from The Wall Street Journal, is the Internet's premier site for entrepreneurs seeking guidance on starting or buying a business or franchise.