Search Engine Submission Checklist

This chapter provides an overview of basic keyword optimization. Growing competition in the search engine space will soon necessitate, if it hasn't already, that your site resolve any deadly design elements prior to submission using either inclusion program. As a way to prepare you for the next level of optimization, review the following checklist that Shari Thurow recommends in her book, Search Engine Visibility .

Yes	No	Are you creating web pages with content your target audience is genuinely interested in reading?
Yes	No	Does your content contain highly focused keyword phrases rather than phrases that are too general and competitive?
Yes	No	Are you optimizing your web pages for at least three to five keywords at a time?
Yes	No	Are you using regionally specific keywords, when applicable ?
Yes	No	Are you using the most commonly used variations of your keywords, based on your keyword research?
Yes	No	Does each optimized page contain a unique title?
Yes	No	Are you using multiple keywords in your title tags (using the power combo strategy) when appropriate?
Yes	No	Are your most important keywords appearing above the fold and throughout each optimized page?
Yes	No	Are you using keywords in hypertext links, whenever possible?
Yes	No	Does each optimized page have at least one call to action?
Yes	No	Does each optimized page contain a unique meta-tag description?
Yes	No	Do your meta-tag descriptions contain both targeted keyword phrases and a call to action?
Yes	No	Does each optimized page contain a unique meta-tag keyword list?
Yes	No	Does each set of meta-tag keywords contain words and phrases that you actually use within the visible body text?
Yes	No	Do you place common misspellings of your keywords within your meta-tag keywords?
Yes	No	Do your graphic images contain descriptive keywords within the alternative text attribute, when appropriate?
Yes	No	Do you provide at least two means of navigating your site: one for your visitors and one for the search engines?
Yes	No	Does your site have a site map, to assist both your visitors and the search engine spiders?
Yes	No	If your site uses frames , is your site navigable with and without the frameset?
Yes	No	If you are using JavaScript on your site, did you place the JavaScript in an external .js file and place the Robots Exclusion Protocol on that file?
Yes	No	If you are using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) on your site, did you place the style sheets in an external .css file?
Yes	No	Do you have any redirects on your site? If so, have you placed the Robots Exclusion Protocol on pages that use redirects?
Yes	No	Are your optimized pages placed in the root directory (along with your home page) on your web server?
Yes	No	Is your robots.txt file placed in the root directory on your web server? Did you remember to transfer your robots.txt file before you transferred any other web pages to your server?
Yes	No	Are you using subdomains instead of subdirectories if you find that your subdomains contain unique and substantial content?
Yes	No	If you are submitting pages to non-U.S. search engines, are you writing your pages in the appropriate language?
Yes	No	If it is within your budget, did you submit your optimized pages to pay-for-inclusion (PFI) programs?
Yes	No	If you use Pay-For-Placement (PFP) advertising, are your purchases based on detailed keyword research and selection?
Yes	No	If you use PFP advertising, do you carefully monitor your bids to get the best search engine visibility at the most reasonable cost?
Yes	No	Did you name your web pages something that your target audience can remember and spell easily, using keywords whenever possible?
Yes	No	Did you design or select a series of landing pages for your PFP advertising? If the landing pages do not contain substantially unique content, did you place the Robots Exclusion Protocol on those pages?
Yes	No	Do the search engines and your site visitors view the same page? (The only exception to this rule is sites that participate in XML-feed programs.)
Yes	No	Do you submit the maximum allowable number of pages per day for each of the major search engines?
Yes	No	Do you avoid submitting the same pages twice within a 24- hour period?
Yes	No	Do you resubmit to a search engine only if a page has dropped from the index or if a page's content has changed significantly?