I'd say use dashes, as it's more legible for both search engines and humans. Not worth going back and changing existing pages, but good going forward. As far as individual pages or all on one page... I tend to prefer individual, but it's probably ok either way. If all on one page, here's an example of where you can use subheadings like <h2>John Smith</h2>, to add emphasis for each name. On Fri, Jun 22, 2012 at 2:22 PM, Jeanne Hicks <jmcolby_hicks@yahoo.com>wrote: > I am only asking for some clarification. > > If we have an obituary for John Smith is is okay to label the file > johnsmithobituary or best to label it john-smith-obituary? I have been > typing out everything when labelling the files, but not using the hyphens > between words. > > Jeanne/jmh > > > --- On Fri, 6/22/12, Ray Gurganus <ray@gurganus.org> wrote: > > > From: Ray Gurganus <ray@gurganus.org> > > Subject: [TTTP] search engine optimization tips > > To: tttp@rootsweb.com > > Date: Friday, June 22, 2012, 12:26 PM > > I've mentioned some of these before, > > but it helps to repeat from time to > > time to keep it fresh for everyone. Here are some > > ideas for improving > > website performance in how you're found in search engine > > results. > > > > 1) Be sure to populate the <title></title> tags > > at the top of each page > > with a relevant description for the content of the page, > > plus a brief > > description of the site itself. For example, if your > > site is for Martin > > County, NC, every <title></title> throughout the > > site should contain > > "Martin County, NC" (or some form thereof), plus the title > > for the > > individual page. Besides controlling what shows in the > > title bar of the > > window, it tells search engines what the page contains. > > > > 2) It is helpful to have the filename of the page also > > contain the title, > > something like "obituary-john-smith-1850-1925.html", using > > dashes instead > > of spaces. Using abbreviated names like > > "objsmith.html" will work, but > > don't add much to the meaning when a search engine indexes > > it. > > > > 3) For title that appears on the page, like "Obituary for > > John Smith > > 1850-1925", use <h1></h1> or > > <h2></h2> tags to identify the heading > > format. Using something like <font > > size="20">Obituary for John Smith > > 1850-1925</font> does not indicate any importance for > > this text, and > > usually the title is the most important part of the page. > > > > 4) For other headings and subheadings, use > > <h2></h2> (if not used for the > > title), <h3></h3> and <h4></h4>, > > with the higher numbers for lower-level > > subheadings. > > > > These things help search engines to evaluate and rank your > > information, and > > if you get a better rank, more people may find you. > > > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > TTTP-request@rootsweb.com > > with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the > > subject and the body of the message > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > TTTP-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in the subject and the body of the message >

Thank you for offering us the advice that we need. Jeanne/jmh --- On Fri, 6/22/12, Ray Gurganus <ray@gurganus.org> wrote: > From: Ray Gurganus <ray@gurganus.org> > Subject: Re: [TTTP] search engine optimization tips > To: tttp@rootsweb.com > Date: Friday, June 22, 2012, 2:55 PM > I'd say use dashes, as it's more > legible for both search engines and > humans.  Not worth going back and changing existing > pages, but good going > forward. > > As far as individual pages or all on one page...  I > tend to prefer > individual, but it's probably ok either way.  If all on > one page, here's an > example of where you can use subheadings like <h2>John > Smith</h2>, to add > emphasis for each name. > > > On Fri, Jun 22, 2012 at 2:22 PM, Jeanne Hicks <jmcolby_hicks@yahoo.com>wrote: > > > I am only asking for some clarification. > > > > If we have an obituary for John Smith is is okay to > label the file > > johnsmithobituary or best to label it > john-smith-obituary?  I have been > > typing out everything when labelling the files, but not > using the hyphens > > between words. > > > > Jeanne/jmh > > > > > > --- On Fri, 6/22/12, Ray Gurganus <ray@gurganus.org> > wrote: > > > > > From: Ray Gurganus <ray@gurganus.org> > > > Subject: [TTTP] search engine optimization tips > > > To: tttp@rootsweb.com > > > Date: Friday, June 22, 2012, 12:26 PM > > > I've mentioned some of these before, > > > but it helps to repeat from time to > > > time to keep it fresh for everyone.  Here are > some > > > ideas for improving > > > website performance in how you're found in search > engine > > > results. > > > > > > 1) Be sure to populate the > <title></title> tags > > > at the top of each page > > > with a relevant description for the content of the > page, > > > plus a brief > > > description of the site itself.  For example, > if your > > > site is for Martin > > > County, NC, every <title></title> > throughout the > > > site should contain > > > "Martin County, NC" (or some form thereof), plus > the title > > > for the > > > individual page.  Besides controlling what > shows in the > > > title bar of the > > > window, it tells search engines what the page > contains. > > > > > > 2) It is helpful to have the filename of the page > also > > > contain the title, > > > something like > "obituary-john-smith-1850-1925.html", using > > > dashes instead > > > of spaces.  Using abbreviated names like > > > "objsmith.html" will work, but > > > don't add much to the meaning when a search engine > indexes > > > it. > > > > > > 3) For title that appears on the page, like > "Obituary for > > > John Smith > > > 1850-1925", use <h1></h1> or > > > <h2></h2> tags to identify the > heading > > > format.  Using something like <font > > > size="20">Obituary for John Smith > > > 1850-1925</font> does not indicate any > importance for > > > this text, and > > > usually the title is the most important part of > the page. > > > > > > 4) For other headings and subheadings, use > > > <h2></h2> (if not used for the > > > title), <h3></h3> and > <h4></h4>, > > > with the higher numbers for lower-level > > > subheadings. > > > > > > These things help search engines to evaluate and > rank your > > > information, and > > > if you get a better rank, more people may find > you. > > > > > > ------------------------------- > > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email > to > > TTTP-request@rootsweb.com > > > with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in > the > > > subject and the body of the message > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > > TTTP-request@rootsweb.com > with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > > in the subject and the body of the message > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TTTP-request@rootsweb.com > with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the > subject and the body of the message >