We believe that Search Engine Optimization , or SEO, has
gotten a bad rap. There are thousands of shady SEO firms
that have given SEO a bad name. Because of them, we have
all heard of keyword stuffing, cloaking, comment spamming,
blog spamming, etc.
In reality, SEO is really about improving
your web site's visibility to the search
engines. To improve visibility, there are many legitimate
methods at your disposal.
These include:
Keyword selection
Write down all the words you think are related
to your site, and then enter them into
Overture's Keyword Selector Tool. When you do this,
the tool will report all related keywords, and how many
searches were conducted last month. Next to your keywords,
write down how many searches were conducted last month.
If you find any new keywords, add them to the list, along
with searches conducted. When you are done with all your
keywords, rank them according to how many searches were
conducted last month. This is the traffic you are trying
to tap into.These keywords should go into your planning
document and be a part of your navigation and site structure.
Planning document
Before you start designing your site, sit down for a while
and write up a planning document. It's much easier to change
keywords, navigation and site structure at this early stage.
Include main topics, design elements, keywords , and try
to work this into your navigation scheme. More info on planning
documents. When you write your planning document, you
essentially design your navigational structure. Site architecture
is very important because the search engines must be able
to find all that great keyword rich content on your website.
Your site should be like an outline, with the most important
keywords/themes at the top, and then linking down to other
themes. The index page should be at the top, and then major
keywords/themes below, and even more below that.
Legible, easy to ready text
We recommend that you use CSS to implement a consistent
type face on your website. When you decide on a typeface,
consider how it looks to your visitors. Consider that Verdana
and Arial were both designed for computer viewing. They
are easier on the eyes.
Also consider using absolute size keywords in your CSS,
for example, xx-small, x-small, small, medium, large, x-large,
xx-large. Using this simple syntax will allow visitors to
view your site, regardless of browser type or settings.View
sample CSS (Cascading Style Sheet)
For more info on typefaces, visit motiv.co.nz.
Straight forward, easy crawled navigation
If at all possible, try to use a search engine
friendly menus on your site. This usually means avoiding
javascript or DHTML based pull down menus, animation or
flash menus, image maps, session ids, and dynamically generated
urls. Search engine crawlers all have problems digesting
these navigation schemes, so it's smart to avoid them. For
more info, view
Googles technical guidelines. Instead, use a simple
menu, like the one above, which has no images, no javascript,
and is very search engine friendly. Also, make sure to include
a duplicate menu on the bottom of the page, just to make
sure your site is crawlable.
Consistent layout and design
Use your planning document to design a straight forward
layout. Set up folders in your site's directory for images,
notes, and style sheets. Keep things well organized in the
early stages, and you will save time later.
Make it easy to find information. This is what most visitors
are looking for. If your visitors have problems finding
things on your site, the search engines will too. Make sure
to use a consistent theme and layout throughout your site,
by using CSS. Start with your home
page, get that looking exactly like you want, then use that
page as a template for the rest of the site.
Effective use of meta tags
A meta tag is an HTML tag that gives information about the
contents of a web page. You only need three tags for the
search engines:
HTML specifications
Description of the content of your web page
A Title for your web page.
For example, on this page we have the following meta
tags:
Doctype Tag
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
This tag tells the browser what conventions to use when
displaying the web page. In this case, HTML 4.01 Transitional.
This is also what is used as a benchmark when checking
coding at WC3.org.
Title Tag
<title>Woolley Design: Information on Search Engine
Optimization, SEO, marketing</title>
This tag tells the search engine crawler information about
what this web page is all about. This tag should include
relevant keywords from your planning document.
Description Tag
<META NAME="description" content="Woolley
Design:: Information on SEO and search engine optimization">
The description tag gives the search engines a short description
about your web page. It should include relevant keywords
from your planning document.
A word about meta tags.
Meta tags are frequently used by shady SEO practicioners,
to stuff pages full of irrelevant keywords. This is why
so many meta tags are no longer used by the search engines.
They have been abused. Don't make that mistake. Make sure
that the tags are a reflection of what is actually on the
web pages. Make them relevant to the copy on the page.
Quick loading , error free pages
While still working on your home page, make a duplicate
and call it tester. Upload all your images, style sheets,
and view online, using at least three browsers: Internet
Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Opera. Also, check for loading
time, at Web
Site Optimizaton.com and check for coding errors at
W3C Validation page.
When your site loads in under 8 seconds on 56K modem, and
has no coding errors, you are ready to proceed. For more
guidelines, see Jakob
Nielsen interview.
Good content
Content is information. Usually text based, and the search
engines love it. So, give them what they want. Useful, unique
information about the subject of your page. Do not copy
any one else's content, or duplicate content that is on
your site elsewhere. In short, minimal graphics, maximum
information. For more info about writing for the web visit
Webreference.
Make sure your content includes the same keywords as the
title tag and description tag, otherwise it will be viewed
as spam.
Tip
You want to make your site the authority on a particular
niche topic, and include information not available anywhere
else. Get in the habit of adding content regularly, even
daily.
Good Linking strategy
A good linking strategy is always one that will benefit
the visitors to your web site. You should not be afraid
to include relevant links to outside resources, again, to
benefit the visitor. Make sure your site includes a multi
page resources directory, with very relevant and
useful links.
Make sure your link directory is included in your duplicate
menu on the bottom of the page, so it is easy to find (especially
for the search engines). Try to have 10-12 high quality
links on each page. Intersperse in these links some sites
that you think would be potential linking partners. Give
them a good link first. After your site has developed page
rank, especially the directory pages, send out a personal
email to the webmaster asking for a reciprocal link. If
you have a high quality site, with unique content and high
quality links, they will usually reciprocate.
