A Few Newbie Questions

URL to use, H tags, TD vs. TH, Image Linking

[ALbino]

Hey folks,

I've only been stumbling about this board for a few days now and I've learned a ton. Previously I had no idea there was even a method for calculating the actual Page Rank number other than the green bar in the DMOZ listing. With that said, I want to make a few inquiries and clarifications. Any feedback would be appreciated.

1) Currently I try and force most of my traffic to an inside URL (www.widgets.com/catalog/). My actual domain (www.widgets.com) has a PR of 4 whereas my catalog has a PR of 3. Despite the fact that most of my links from high PR websites are to /catalog/. Should I be forcing those links to the root directory instead of to the catalog in order to improve my overall PR rating, or should I leave it as is?

2) I've read in several posts that the use of H tags can help improve keywords. At the top of each page I have a table that contains various information, including the name of the widget I'm selling. In order to maximize the keyword effect with Google I should be placing that widget's name in H1 tags and then formatting it using CSS, correct? Does the same hold true for content later on? In other words, if I use say an H2 tag on my widget description does that make that more valid as a keyword?

3) Similarly to using H tags, is using a TH tag as opposed to a TD tag more useful? For example if I have Widget SKU, Widget Name, Widget Description and Widget Qty at the top of the table would I benefit to place not only that, but the content contained within the table inside of TH tags as opposed to TDs and then formatting them with CSS?

4) My last question is probably answered all the time. I get the impression that having a link back to your root URL (www.widgets.com/index.html) is a good idea to do from every page on the site. I currently do have that, but through a title graphic located in the corner of each page. Does that qualify as a link back to the index page? Or should I be creating a text link somewhere within my navigation table?

Thanks for providing this great service, and I look forward to reading your responses.

AL.

[creative craig]

WebmasterWorld Welcome and Guide to the Basics [webmasterworld.com]

1.
I Would try and keep all incoming traffic to the root page of your site if its the PR your interested in.

2.
If you use an H1 tag for a important it will stand out to a search engine spider, which is good, I wouldnt use it for all the content though, if you get an old browser and the CSS support isnt to good the page will look a little odd :)

3.
Not to sure.

4.
It cant hurt, Webmasterworld has a link to westhost at the bottom of every page, that must be a few thousand links. A text link is better as you can get your anchor text in there, but at the end of the day a link is a link ;)

Hope that helps abit :)

Craig

[garylo]

Should I be forcing those links to the root directory instead of to the catalog in order to improve my overall PR rating, or should I leave it as is?

A. To increase the overall PR of your site you need external inbound links. If possible, you should request they point to your catalog page.

B. Internally, you should restructure your internal links so that many pages will contain a link that point to your catalog page.

[ALbino]

Thanks for the help. Currently I have a link back to my catalog page from every page contained within the catalog. Are hard links better than relative links? In other words, is a link to "http://www.widgets.com/catalog/index.html" better than just a link to "/catalog/index.html"? Or does it not matter? I would imagine it doesn't matter, but just in case ;)

AL.