Google Hacks, 3rd Edition

Chapter 7. Webmastering

When the Web was younger, the search engine field was wide open. There were lots of major search engines, including AltaVista, Excite, HotBot, and Webcrawler. This proliferation of search engines had both advantages and disadvantages. One disadvantage was that you had to make sure you submitted your query to several different places, while one advantage was that you had several inflows of traffic spawned from search engines.

As the number of search engines has dwindled, Google’s index (and influence) has grown. You no longer have to worry so much about submitting to different places, but you do have to be aware of Google at all times.

Google’s Importance to Webmasters

But isn’t Google just a search engine web site like any other? Actually, its reach is far greater. Google partners with other sites to use the Google index results, including the likes of heavyweight property AOL. Google is also on the multitude of sites out there that use the Google API, advertise through Google, or even display ads for Google. So when you think about potential visitors from Google search results and advertising, you have to think beyond traditional search site borders.

Google’s perception of your site has become increasingly more important, which means you have to make sure your site abides by Google’s rules or it risks not being picked up. If you’re concerned about search engine traffic, you have to make sure that your site is optimized for luring in Google spiders and that ...