Ask Dave Taylor: Tech and Business

Friday

How do I optimize my Web site for a specific key word?

How can I convince the Google robot that my keywords use the word cat and my page is optimized with the word "cat" more than "cats web". I want Google search to list me under the word "cat": I am listed at the number 3 spot on the first page of a Google search if you use the words "cats web" or #1 on the 1st page if you use "cats web page"

Should I leave everything alone or should I go for the better listing? My site is "A Cats Web Page of Rawhawk & the Hooligans" at rawhawk.net. I have tried to relist with Google a few months ago but, the search stayed the same?

I've spent some time thinking about your question before fielding it because I think that there are some basic misunderstandings about how Google works, coupled with some SEO tricks on your site that can get you in trouble and, quite possible, banned from Google entirely.

Let's start with an explanation of how Google works: Google analyzes the content of your Web page -- and remember, Google looks at pages, not sites -- and uses what it calls your "keyword density" as one important factor in calculating how relevant your page is for a given search term.

In addition to the prose on your page, other important factors are...