The ROR Advantage
Search engine optimization is a very complex science, but at its heart is the
simple rule: to format your website in such a way that spiders can immediately
recognize and index its content. If they can't "see" you, you might as well not
exist--and if they can't understand your code, no amount of keywords can get you
in the Golden Top 20.
The problem that many website developers used to encounter was that search
engines worked differently; so you could end up with a high ranking in Lycos but
languish at the bottom of Google. How exactly should you optimize your site so
you perform well in all search engines?
Enter ROR (short for Resources for a Resource), an independent XML format
that translates your content in a way that all search engines can understand.
Think of it as a web spider's Cliff's Notes. it describes all the objects,
services, discounts, images, podcasts, etc. If it's on the site, it's on the ROR
feed, but in a format that's easy to process and removes all risks of skipping
or ignoring a link.
ROR calls its "magic file" structured feeds, which guide search engines as
they scan the text. Unlike Google Sitemaps, it's universally understood--and
very easy to process. It's also more detailed. It doesn't just give a map or
"table of contents", it actually summarizes what's inside. It's also been in
existence far longer than Google, so its reliability has been proven by time.
Though it's been around for a long time, ROR is by no means outdated. The
majority of the file formats are already available in ROR, although it is
currently being updated to keep up with the growing number of website
innovations. But to avoid being too unwieldy, the ROR system tries to re-use
existing data structures. It boasts of being very streamlined, a strength that
makes it one of the more efficient ways of indexing a site.
Usually the ROR feed is located in the directory, and is named by default
ror.xml. It is possible to rename the file, and the search engines will still
find it. The only thing it needs to have is a <link> tag in your main page
(between the <head> and </head> tags). Another alternative is to
create a smaller ror.xml file which will direct the search engines to the ROR
feed. You can create this file in the
ROR sitemap
generator.
About the author: Philip Nicosia
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