Here are some search engine optimization tips for Ning networks, which are relatively easy to get into Google's search results, the reason being that Ning itself is such a large domain and new networks simply need to be linked to from the Ning site to be found.
So, let's assume you have a new Ning network and want to promote it, what do you do?
Getting Your Ning Network into the Search Engine Index
First of all, most SEO experts agree that getting backlinks to your site is a quicker and more reliable way of getting the search engines to index your network. Backlinks are links to your site from another site, and the quality of these is determined by similar or complementary content, and whether the backlink comes from a site that follows the rules correctly.
Search Engine Optimization Tips for Ning Networks
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Saturday, January 26. 2008
Search Engine Optimization Tips for Ning Networks
Your network will be linked to by Ning as soon as you make it publicly available, the Ning home page has a link on it that reads "All Social Networks" and then goes through close to 8,000 pages that lists almost every single Ning network. However, this is a slow approach to getting your network indexed.
A better approach is to join another network with similar content if this is possible, and if it isn't, then at least one with a lot of active members, create a profile page and add your network URL as your website address. Then create a discussion in their forums, or post a few replies to other discussions.
If that network has an activity module on it's front page the link to your profile page will be easily seen by the search engine spiders, and so in turn will your network's URL. This will get your network into the spider queue very quickly although it may still be several days until your site is visited.
Network Name, Description and Meta Tags
To maximise your chances of getting good search engine rankings and therefore higher clicks to your network it's important to include proper page titles and descriptions within the HTML code at the top of your page, otherwise known as the <head> section of the HTML. Meta Tags aren't considered very important these days for SEO purposes but are definitely very important within your network so should be used.
Ning networks have been very cleverly constructed so that titles and descriptions are included within the head section by default, however there are two things that network creators need to be aware of.
It is really important to provide your network with a descriptive name and description for your homepage and top level pages such as the members list, forum page etc. To do this click 'Manage' then 'Network Information' and complete the name, description and tags fields. Earlier I said the tags weren't important for SEO, and this is true, but anyone searching for your network from the Ning homepage may find it if you've added appropriate tags so go ahead and complete these as best you can.
The second thing to be aware of is search engine optimization in blog posts and forum discussions, wherever possible try to use descriptive titles and make sure your first paragraph is as descriptive of the discussion as it can be, it might even be a good idea to adopt the techniques used by journalists who provide a summary of their articles in the first paragraph.
The reason for doing this has to do with the way Ning populates the title and description in the head of the HTML on these pages. You see a blog entry title or forum discussion title becomes the page title, and the first paragraph of blog entries and discussions becomes the page description. Powerful stuff, and all you have to do is write them well. No HTML required.
Sitemap Submission for Ning Networks
One of the best methods of getting your pages, especially your deeper older pages, into the major search engine indexes is to provide the spiders with a sitemap telling them where to find them.
Ning doesn't provide a sitemap generator within the 'Manage' tab of your network, and if you want to improve our SEO efforts you'll need to use an off-site third party sitemap generator. Often an online sitemap generator is good enough, but larger networks should consider buying software you can run from your own PC. A Google search for 'online sitemap generator' will find many that will do the job for you.
Once you've created you sitemap you'll need to upload it to your network, to do this, simply click your username in the Ningbar above, then click the little icon (the document with the <> in it) which will open the site editor. Now upload your sitemap.
Next you need to let Google know that it's there. Simply use this URL,
but change websiteURL for the URL of your network. Google will do the rest.
If you'd like to read more about search engine optimization, check out my 4 Must Use SEO Pointers for Bloggers or go download a free SEO tips and tricks ebook.
A better approach is to join another network with similar content if this is possible, and if it isn't, then at least one with a lot of active members, create a profile page and add your network URL as your website address. Then create a discussion in their forums, or post a few replies to other discussions.
If that network has an activity module on it's front page the link to your profile page will be easily seen by the search engine spiders, and so in turn will your network's URL. This will get your network into the spider queue very quickly although it may still be several days until your site is visited.
Network Name, Description and Meta Tags
To maximise your chances of getting good search engine rankings and therefore higher clicks to your network it's important to include proper page titles and descriptions within the HTML code at the top of your page, otherwise known as the <head> section of the HTML. Meta Tags aren't considered very important these days for SEO purposes but are definitely very important within your network so should be used.
Ning networks have been very cleverly constructed so that titles and descriptions are included within the head section by default, however there are two things that network creators need to be aware of.
It is really important to provide your network with a descriptive name and description for your homepage and top level pages such as the members list, forum page etc. To do this click 'Manage' then 'Network Information' and complete the name, description and tags fields. Earlier I said the tags weren't important for SEO, and this is true, but anyone searching for your network from the Ning homepage may find it if you've added appropriate tags so go ahead and complete these as best you can.
The second thing to be aware of is search engine optimization in blog posts and forum discussions, wherever possible try to use descriptive titles and make sure your first paragraph is as descriptive of the discussion as it can be, it might even be a good idea to adopt the techniques used by journalists who provide a summary of their articles in the first paragraph.
The reason for doing this has to do with the way Ning populates the title and description in the head of the HTML on these pages. You see a blog entry title or forum discussion title becomes the page title, and the first paragraph of blog entries and discussions becomes the page description. Powerful stuff, and all you have to do is write them well. No HTML required.
Sitemap Submission for Ning Networks
One of the best methods of getting your pages, especially your deeper older pages, into the major search engine indexes is to provide the spiders with a sitemap telling them where to find them.
Ning doesn't provide a sitemap generator within the 'Manage' tab of your network, and if you want to improve our SEO efforts you'll need to use an off-site third party sitemap generator. Often an online sitemap generator is good enough, but larger networks should consider buying software you can run from your own PC. A Google search for 'online sitemap generator' will find many that will do the job for you.
Once you've created you sitemap you'll need to upload it to your network, to do this, simply click your username in the Ningbar above, then click the little icon (the document with the <> in it) which will open the site editor. Now upload your sitemap.
Next you need to let Google know that it's there. Simply use this URL,
http://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/ping?sitemap=websiteURL
but change websiteURL for the URL of your network. Google will do the rest.
If you'd like to read more about search engine optimization, check out my 4 Must Use SEO Pointers for Bloggers or go download a free SEO tips and tricks ebook.
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Paul said,
Saturday, January 26. 2008 at 17:12 (Reply)
Carl said,
Saturday, January 26. 2008 at 23:00 (Reply)
Paul said,
Sunday, January 27. 2008 at 09:09 (Reply)
Carl said,
Sunday, January 27. 2008 at 09:11 (Reply)