» Guidelines for successful indexing on MSN
by: MSN Live Search
Here are some recommendations that may help MSNBot and other web
crawlers effectively index and rank your site. We've also
provided a list of items and techniques that MSN Search
discourages.
Technical recommendations for your
website
* Use only well-formed HTML code in your pages. Ensure that all tags are closed, and that all links function properly. If your site contains broken links, MSNBot may not be able to index your site effectively, and people may not be able to reach all of your pages.
* If you move a page, set up the page's original URL to direct
people to the new page, and tell them whether the move is
permanent or temporary.
* Make sure MSNBot is allowed to crawl your site and is not on
your list of web crawlers that are prohibited from indexing your
site.
* Use a robots.txt file or meta tags to control how MSNBot and
other web crawlers index your site. The robots.txt file tells
web crawlers which files and folders it is not allowed to crawl.
The
Web Robots Pages provide
detailed information on the robots.txt Robots Exclusion
standard. This site may be available in English only.
* Keep your URLs simple and static. Complicated or frequently
changed URLs are difficult to use as link destinations. For
example, the URL www.example.com/mypage is easier for MSNBot to
crawl and for people to type than a long URL with multiple
extensions. Also, a URL that doesn't change is easier for people
to remember, which makes it a more likely link destination from
other sites.
Content guidelines for your website
The best way to attract people to your site, and keep them
coming back, is to design your pages with valuable content that
your target audience is interested in.
* In the visible page text, include words users might choose as
search query terms to find the information on your site.
* Limit all pages to a reasonable size. We recommend one topic
per page. An HTML page with no pictures should be under 150 KB.
* Make sure that each page is accessible by at least one static
text link.
* Keep the text that you want indexed outside of images. For
example, if you want your company name or address to be indexed,
make sure it is displayed on your page outside of a company
logo.
* Add a site map. This enables MSNBot to find all of your pages
easily. Links embedded in menus, list boxes, and similar
elements are not accessible to web crawlers unless they appear
in your site map.
* Keep your site hierarchy fairly flat. That is, each page
should only be one to three clicks away from the home page.
Items and techniques discouraged by
MSN Search
The following items and techniques are not appropriate uses of
the MSN Search index. Use of these items and techniques may
affect how your site is ranked within MSN Search and may result
in the removal of your site from the index.
* Loading pages with irrelevant words in an attempt to increase
a page's keyword density. This includes stuffing ALT tags that
users are unlikely to view.
* Using hidden text or links. You should use only text and links
that are visible to users.
* Using techniques to artificially increase the number of links
to your page, such as link farms.
