Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2004 9:48 pm Post subject: Do the names of your stylesheets make any difference?
Hi everyone,
I have recently taught myself how to create pages with CSS.
I like how I can create much smaller, cleaner pages for the
spiders to visit.
I was just wondering, have any of you ever read about how the
name of your "styles" effects ranking, or does it matter? I have
seen that you should name your style <h1> for headlines, but what
about other tags?
For instance, if I am optimizing a page for "antique doorknobs"
and I use the tag...
<span class="doorknob">
do you suppose it would have any effect? If so, it might be an easy
way to get your keywords all over your page. _________________ Jim Crawford
www.crawforddirect.com
"ingenious creativity"
You can try it, but don't overdo it. Like anything else, if it gets read, and it's excessive, it can be considered spam. IF not by the SE's, by your competitors.
You may want to consider using alt and Title tags for elements instead. You can legitimately get your keyphrases in that way.
Debs _________________ Learn how to turn keyphrases into quality, well-targeted articles your visitors and SE's will love with Gary Antosh's new ebook "Web Content Made Easy!"
Joined: 14 Jul 2003 Posts: 1761 Location: Bangor, Maine
Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2004 11:27 pm Post subject:
I frequently redefine CSS tags. But they still perform the same basic function.
For instance, I may change the color and size of my H1 tag, but its still a header. the STRONG tag (or B) may have some padding or something, but its still for strong emphasis...
One problem with getting top search engine rankings is that you tend to get jealous competitors... some of whom are looking for a chance to report you for some hideous crime in the vain attempt of getting you back down behind them ("where you belong").
The real problems are from penalties any human reviewer at Google (or wherever) thinks you deserve. If you are optimising for the long term, make sure that you act in the spirit of things.
In other words, would a human reviewer think you were primarily trying to enhance the look of the site, or to manipulate their results for your gain. Considering how little effect this particular change is likely to have for the latter, I think the risk is not worth it.
Certainly your example of the <h1> tag is a good example. It's an important tag - just make sure it's being used for it's intended purpose, as Eric said.
If you act in good faith, complaints from jealous competitors will be quickly sent where they belong.
All the best,
Charlie. _________________ "Before I speak, I have something important to say."
- Groucho Marx
If you act in good faith, complaints from jealous competitors will be quickly sent where they belong.
To be honest, I'm not even sure that Google is responding to spam reports anymore. They are more likely to use the information to adjust their algo.
I haven't seen a new PR0 penalty or a ban for months.
Anyway, as Charlie and others have said, just use tags for their intended purpose and everything will be fine. You can adjust an H1 - just make sure it's the biggest text on the page.
In regards to the original question, SEs basically strip tags out when they are looking at the text on a page. So, <span class="doorknob"> would be ignored.
I figured it wouldn't make any difference what I
named the stylesheets, but it was worth a try.
I thought perhaps I had stumbled on to a new idea. Oh well.
Have you really had other webmasters "tell" on you?
I just imagine the scenario.... "Mr Google! Jim is cheating!" Ha. _________________ Jim Crawford
www.crawforddirect.com
"ingenious creativity"
Google is inundated with emails complaining about what other webmasters are doing that's against the rules Google doesn't "ban" or "penalize" anymore (as far as I know) but they do take the complaints under consideration when developing algo updates.
Debs _________________ Learn how to turn keyphrases into quality, well-targeted articles your visitors and SE's will love with Gary Antosh's new ebook "Web Content Made Easy!"
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Google doesn't "ban" or "penalize" anymore (as far as I know) but they do take the complaints under consideration when developing algo updates.