Does yahoo have a different parameter for ranking from google or msn? what would be the best balancing act to target all these search engines? is there a middle path?
I optimise a site for the user with search engines in mind. I make sure the navigation is clean and it is easy to get to and from everypage in the site with one or two clicks. Make sure the navigation anchor text is sensible and descriptive. make sure there is a sitemap. Make sure the site is broken down into clear sections by topic, and clear hierachy within these sections, make sure the pages are about one focused sub topic. Then to help Google you need to get links. Links are the onlt real difference between them all. MSN likes any links whatsoever, as does yahoo. Google is more particular though and places more weight on the quality of link.
Interesting, i also noticed that google uses the description meta tags for listings in the search engine pages results, but yahoo do not work that way i think, you can confirm that or i am wrong ?
Google will use the description meta as a snippet if it decides that it is the most focused snippet on the page. It will also sometimes use the DMOZ description for your home page.
And i guess if you are listed in DMOZ google will tend more to use the dmoz description than the meta tag description as a snippet
NMo Not at all, Google will use what it considers (algorithmically) to be the most relevent snippet. If you have your keyword in your DMOZ title then there is a fair cahnce it will be displayed.
Google, like all the search engines rely on relevance to perform. they do what they think is most relevant.
Don't forget that the snippet google chooses to show can vary depending on your query and is not set in stone for your page.
Absolutely, and thanks for clarifying that. Google show the snippet they consider most relevant TO THE SEARCH PHRASE SEARCHED FOR AT THAT TIME.