This graphical Java Applet which lets you visualize search results; Very useful for seeing how keywords relate!
- TouchGraph — This awesome tool lets you enter any search phrase or keyword(s), and returns the results in a graphical format which represents the way that the results are related to each other.
Some tools do even more than just track statistical data; they give site developers a way to create a permanent registration of their site(s) with their respective search engines. They also allow the site to expose an RSS feed which the search engine can use to collect links and information to be used in displaying indexed content to users.
- Yahoo! Site Explorer — I’m not sure which came first, but this tool reminds me a lot of the Google Sitemap tool, which I describe next. Basically, what it does is to allow you enter your URLs into the online database, verify that you actually control those sites, and then explore the information that the search engine carries for your site. Additionally, by providing RSS feeds of site content with links, the search engine can be automatically informed of updates to your site.
- Google Sitemaps — As mentioned above, Google and Yahoo! provide very similar offerings, but there are some key differences. First off, it seems that Yahoo! uses a standard RSS feed, which allows you to stuff it with more keywords and content. Google, however, uses a very simple format which only lists links to pages, and when was the last time they were modified. Any additional information about your pages has to be collected by the GoogleBot.
I’ve seen some pretty good results with the sitemaps; this site is maintained in the engines almost primarily via these mechanisms… My rankings aren’t great, but then again, I don’t always have full content articles in here, as this site mainly serves as a knowledge base of disparate technologies.
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