Skip options and Categories

[firstrebel]

I have been playing around with the various options to get certain pages high in the search return. It is not working too well.

1. PDF files. I have over 2000 word searchable pdf files and some are large. So if I am reading the manual right the more times a searched word appears the higher the score. I assume that Content Density should be Standard to reduce that score, and not set to Strong? Any other way to reduce the position of pdf's?

2. I have a number of php files in several directories that pull data from MySQL. That data will have a large repetition of a searched word. I found this was putting these files at the top, and I wanted other files there. For example, a php file that lists all the Volvo 240 cars produced on an annual basis. This means each row will have the word '240'. Result is a huge score. I tried with /history/*.php in the Skip Options but the files were still indexed. I am now reindexing without .php in the Scan Options and need to look for a workaround for the php files I want indexed.

3. I cannot find how to exclude files in Categories, only what to include.

Thanks for any help you throw my way.

Bob

[David]

1) Setting Content Density to strong will help reduce the score of large files and give preference to shorter files. See also the Users Guide and this FAQ
Q. How do I make some pages appear higher up in my search results? How does Zoom's page score system work?

2) What is the full path of the PHP files you are trying to skip? The use of wild card in the middle of skip entry (like in your example above) won't work. You could also use ZOOMSTOP tags on these pages. See,
Q. How do I prevent parts of my webpage from being indexed (eg. exclude navigation menus, or page footers)?

or use the noindex meta tag.<meta name="robots" content="noindex">

3) Anything that isn't included is excluded. What is the exact scenario? You can also use meta data for force a file into a category. e.g.
<meta name="ZOOMCATEGORY" content="News">

[firstrebel]

You have given me all the info I need to resolve my issues. Many thanks. Now I know why we paid our SEO specialist so much to optimise our site.

Bob