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[28/03/2010] Should I optimize for MSN
Whenever you require to find something on the web, you "Google" it. Most of the web users do this, and the percentage of those who "Yahoo" or "MSN" for information is considerably lower.
Google has imposed itself as the "top-notch" search engine on the market, leaving little room for others. Little, but enough, some would say. Among the search engines, Microsoft's MSN comes third, after Google and Yahoo. So, how do you approach search engine optimization nowadays? Where should your site rank better?
Ideally, optimization for the web should satisfy all major search engines, but each and every one of them has its own likes and dislikes. Most of the SEO is done for Google, because what they advertise is quality, relevance and low spam content. Given that Google's brand is so tough, is MSN search engine optimization value the effort?
MSN Optimization? How?
It is almost impossible to get it right from the start. Much of the SEO process is based on trial and error. There are no precise criteria for each search engine. Basically, what is good for one might be good (or better, or even worse) for the other.
Experts say that, in order to get as much MSN traffic as possible, it's enough to follow the basic guidelines with, of course, some adjustments that will differentiate your MSN marketing strategies from the ones you might use for Google ranking.
Creating a good, easy-to-navigate sitemap will not only help the search engine's spiders crawl your site, but it will also add to its value for the visitors.
Microsoft's search engine has a great response to an increased keyword density (as opposed to Google, which is quite quick at identifying and penalizing sites that, according to its algorithm, are clearly spamming - and sometimes it is not far from the truth). This orientation towards quantity rather than quality makes MSN more spam oriented. But the criteria for choosing the right keywords for your site remain, basically, the same.
Therefore, the more back-links you have, the better. Bear in mind though that the quality of the links is a plus, as well as their relevance to the optimization aiming website. This will help spiders to completely index the website, thus leading to an improved visibility among search results. The logical approach is to focus on building high-quality links towards the site and its content, which will eventually help you rank well in other search engines too.
MSN will give credit to the new content and to the inbound links quite quickly. You should not forget about clean code. It is a major factor for site indexing, and even MSN, which is not as demanding as Google, will rank poorly sites with badly written code.
One of MSN's drawbacks is represented by its robots, used for page indexing, so keep them in mind. They have difficulties in indexing pages that contain frames, pictures, flash elements, Java script or dynamic URLs. If your site uses image or script based navigation, it is advisable to use text links as well, both within the content and at the bottom of the page. Text links are easier to follow and, more highly, they give you the opportunity to link to your home page thanks to the anchor texts.
