MSN Search Engine

[CrazyTech]

What factors contribute to the MSN search engine?

I'm curious because I had a site listed as #1 for a term and suddenly I've been rocketed down to #11, back up to #7 and then back down to #13 in a 2 day period. I realize ranks change and all but I'm lost as to why things would change so much while sites around me change little to none.

Input is truly appreciated.

 

[jstep]

this isnt going to help you

But frankly I dont understand, check your marketleap standing they jump around quite a bit

I had 600 msn links like two days ago

down to 11 this morning

up to 435 now :?

i think its really too new for anyone to tell

 

[CrazyTech]

Thanks for the input. I don't consider myself a newbie to search engines but this has literally puzzled me how it jumps around so much after about two weeks of being solid.

 

[selfmindead]

When MSN created their new search engine they obviously created it with new technology... when it goes out and indexes websites now, it catalogs them differently then it did before... soooo, MSN is still indexing and re-indexing websites... it may take months before listings start being a little more permanent... or perhaps they are making minor changes frequently throughout these last few weeks of its launch... actualy i dont doubt that that is the case... Either way the new MSN search engine was created to be different so maybe they are making their listings have to be continually active and up to date, and modified regularly in order to have steadily good listings... take some of your recent actions into account and see if there is anything you've recently done that may have changed MSN's minds on your placement... just because they havent been by to reindex your whole website or even 1 page doesnt meen they're not checking up on you :D

 

[RJ]

MSN cares more about link popularity than anything. If you get lots of sites using the same anchor text, your ranking will increase.

 

[selfmindead]

actually i wouldnt have them use the same anchor text... make sure they have the same link obviously but the search engines do all they can possibly do to stop link exchanging & purchasing from working so if your link has the same anchor text everywhere its listed search engines don't like it :P

 

[ZuraX]

MSNBot seems to love my sites. They are always on it...

 

[ezimedia]

HI

Msn is now in position 3 for my best source of search engine traffic to my websites, Second is Google and Yes Yahoo seems to bring me the most visitors for search engine traffic.

Thanks
Tom Dahne

 

[ZuraX]

Yeah Yahoo has its own bot again. The IP isnt a Yahoo IP though. The bot idents as Yahoo Slurp!

Right now on my forum theres yahoo! slurp , google adsense(2) , msnbot

 

[CrazyTech]

Google hangs out at my website but nothing ever really seems to come from it. MSN is probably the third most active one but I had really good listings with them.

BTW, my ranking has now changed again for this keyword, we moved back up to 12 from around 15th yesterday...sheesh.

 

[selfmindead]

do what you can by recording your changes... eventually you'll be able to balance it and hopfully stay on page 1

 

[CrazyTech]

That's what I'm doing. The only changes I had were changes in news stories amongst other things including new posts and such (this was the same before when things didn't change). It appears as though it's shuffled again and I'm #9 now (first on p 2). Another forum has grabbed the top spot and there is a lot of shifting so I'm thinking it's MSN that is fine tuning things or they have a system as mentioned above.

 

[CrazyTech]

Hate to double post, but I'm just noting the changes going on for possible understanding of what the heck is goin' on. Our site continues to jump in the rank - it seems pretty steady and even rising in other categories. However, there was a shift that left x sites way down the list and then x other sites right where they were. Many of the sites that were with my listing are restored.

However, I get the short end of the stick and now I'm next to last on the 2nd page of results. (Naturally.) I thought perhaps MSN has some sort of reshuffle for the listings but it doesn't seem to follow and rhyme or reason at this point. Or at least one that I can pick up on yet.

 

[Mark]

I've been loving the new MSN search results so far ~ It's not the highest traffic source by far - But I seem to be getting a lot more Clickthroughs on My Parked Sites listed there !

 

[CrazyTech]

It was a huge boost to me as well - I was getting anywhere from 50-75 uniques a day from the term teen which was very nice for activity. It's by no means my only source of traffic but it's very dissappointing to drop so far and lose all of that traffic.

 

[sunken]

MSN moved into first place for me in their search. They seem to be right on top of every thing that goes on. Yahoo is second, and Goo gle 3rd since they've done a very poor job of keeping up with the site's changes, especially the images...

 

[IAmAllanShore]

MSN is the most "active" right now on most of my sites, having indexed the entirity of some large sites every day for the last few days. Muy impressivo thus far, esse.
-Allan

 

[iNod]

MSN Search has 5 Billion pages indexed. With a 8.1 billion from Google. MSN Search has been around for about 2 years or so and Google well lets says atleast 10 years. Lets see what the future holds.

MSN Search 20 Billion pages
Google 10 Billion
Yahoo 13 Billion.

Looks like unless Google picks it up and stops being so picky with everything the earch engine MSN Search is going up so is Yahoo.

Current pie chart for 2004 Dec.

http://searchenginewatch.com/reports/article.php/2156431

Each time the index is updated, you may notice a shift in your site’s ranking. As new sites are added and some sites become obsolete, previous relevance rankings are revised.

This is from MSN Help Page. Basicly says they update ther index twice a day.

Help getting pages index in MSN

Technical recommendations for your website
Use only well-formed HTML code in your pages. Ensure that all tags are closed, and that all links function properly. If your site contains broken links, MSNBot may not be able to index your site effectively, and people may not be able to reach all of your pages.
If you move a page, set up the page's original URL to direct people to the new page, and tell them whether the move is permanent or temporary.
Make sure MSNBot is allowed to crawl your site, and is not on your list of web crawlers that are prohibited from indexing your site.
Use a robots.txt file or meta tags to control how MSNBot and other web crawlers index your site. The robots.txt file tells web crawlers which files and folders it is not allowed to crawl. The Web Robots Pages provide detailed information on the robots.txt Robots Exclusion standard. This site may be available in English only.
Keep your URLs simple and static. Complicated or frequently changed URLs are difficult to use as link destinations. For example, the URL www.example.com/mypage is easier for MSNBot to crawl and for people to type than a long URL with multiple extensions. Also, a URL that doesn't change is easier for people to remember, which makes it a more likely link destination from other sites.
Content guidelines for your website
The best way to attract people to your site, and keep them coming back, is to design your pages with valuable content that your target audience is interested in.

In the visible page text, include words users might choose as search query terms to find the information on your site.
Limit all pages to a reasonable size. We recommend one topic per page. An HTML page with no pictures should be under 150 KB.
Make sure that each page is accessible by at least one static text link.
Create a site map that is fairly flat (i.e., each page is only one to three clicks away from the home page). Links embedded in menus, list boxes, and similar elements are not accessible to web crawlers unless they appear in your site map.
Keep the text that you want indexed outside of images. For example, if you want your company name or address to be indexed, make sure it is displayed on your page outside of a company logo.
Items and techniques discouraged by MSN Search
The following items and techniques are not appropriate uses of the index. Use of these items and techniques may affect how your site is ranked within MSN Search and may result in the removal of your site from the MSN Search index.

Loading pages with irrelevant words in an attempt to increase a page's keyword density. This includes stuffing ALT tags that users are unlikely to view.
Using hidden text or links. You should use only text and links that are visible to users.
Using techniques to artificially increase the number of links to your page, such as link farms.

Regards,

 

[The Equivocate]

MSN does jump around a lot. Just like you, one of my top keywords went from a mid 20's ranking to 10 to 1 to 5 to 2 and then anywhere in the top page, all in a matter of 2 weeks.

 

[CrazyTech]

iNod helped point some things out to me. I really hope what I did helps a bit, I've lost some pretty important rankings in good keywords.