The new MSN Search is quickly gaining popularity among internet search engine users. Google still being the #1 search engine with Yahoo in #2, and MSN in a strong #3. Each of the three major search engines has their own unique algorithm, and MSN is no different. Over the past several months I have had amazing success with MSN. With a few tweaks and tricks I have all of my sites ranked top 3 (mostly #1's) with my targeted key words. This article will give you a quick look at how I have managed to rank so high so often.

Choose Your Key Words

In order to fully succeed with msn, you have to target your key words carefully. For example, if you have a forum which is targeting video gamers, you would likely target a key word phrase such as "video game forum." By targeting a specific key word, or phrase, you give your site direction, which will make ranking on search engines much easier. If you are unsure of which key word(s) to target check out this key word suggestion tool from Digital Point.

http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/suggestion/?keywords=fgfgf

Add key Words To Your Title

As it stands right now, MSN is putting a great deal of weight on titles. What I have found to be extremely successful is using the following as a sort of title template. "Site Title ? key word target"

Below is an example of how your title should look using this template.

GamesForum.ca - Video Games Forum

Since MSN does not currently use meta tags as a source for your sites description, having your key words in you title is extremely vital. It not only gives your site a better chance at ranking high with the search engines, but gives your site identification to those using the search engines.

Backlinks

Like Google and Yahoo, MSN puts a great deal of priority on backlinks. Basically a backlink is a link pointing from one website to another. Without links, your website will more than likely go unnoticed. So how should you accumulate these links? Backlinks can come from many sources. A couple of my favorites include

Articles
Directories
Forums
Link exchanges with relevant sites
And coop networks

For more detail on how to acquire quality backlinks check out another article I wrote found on my blog

Anchor Text

Part of targeting the key words you choose is by using anchor text with backlinks. The anchor text is the text you see with a standard text link. So when you add your URL to directories, forums, articles other sites or wherever, instead of using http :www.gamesforum.ca, use your key word(s) as your link title. Depending on where you are submitting your site, the link should look something like the following

video game forum

It has been shown that the major search engines, including MSN give links with anchor higher weight compared to a standard URL link. For this reason alone, using anchor links are worth the time and effort.

The Importance of a Relevant URL

I believe your domains URL has a significant impact on ranking well with MSN. It is by no means as important as title, backlinks, or anchor, but still can seriously effect your overall ranking. For example if you have a website discussing how hot Britney spears is, it's far more effective to have a u URL which has relevant key word text in it. For example:

www. britneyspearsishot.info

Is far more effective ss opposed to a URL such as

www.jimbubbles.net

Of course, you can still rank well if you target the right key words, but having an appropriate URL with good key word text, will make it much easier and faster to reach the top

Conclusion

The new MSN search engine is unique. To rank high you have to clearly target specific key words. Once you know your key words, develop your site with focus on title, backlinks with anchor text, and a relevant URL. Of course there are many other factors to take into consideration as well, but if you follow my advice, you will notice significant improvement in overall ranking.

Ron is the CTO for Dice Ventures Inc an internet holdings and development company. Some current projects include a Investment forum and a Linux forum