FP98: Some FrontPage Content Scores Low w/ Some Search Engines

• Microsoft FrontPage 98 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

Some search engines rank your content lower in the search results than you expect.

CAUSE

This behavior occurs because some of the FrontPage templates place the <title> tag below the <meta> tag. Some search engines expect to find the <title> tag before the <meta> tag. Therefore, some search engines rank your content lower if the <title> tag is found after the <meta> tag.

The following FrontPage wizards and templates place the <title> tag below the <meta> tag:

• Homepage Template
• Personal Web
• Corporate Presence Wizard
• Tutorial Web

RESOLUTION

To work around this problem, open the page in a text editor, such as Notepad, and move the <title> tag to the top of the page.

NOTE: If you reopen the page in FrontPage Editor, it will rewrite the HTML and move the <title> tag below the <meta> tag. Therefore, if you re-edit the page in FrontPage Editor, you will need to modify the page again in a text editor.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

Placing the <title> tag at the top of a page is an accepted practice. Generally, keywords placed within the title tag have greater importance in relation to how the search engine scores the page. Greater relevance is given to keywords that appear closer to the top of the page.

For more information about improving your score with a specific search engine, contact the consultant for the search engine.