Web design has changed.I can’t find my website listed in search engines.
Better get on the SEO train.
By Todd Bertsch
part 1 | part
2 | part 3
SEO – Search Engine Optimization (basically
means, tweaking your website to be crawled by search engine spiders).
Sounds gruesome doesn't it?
Before I begin, let me preface this article by stating that I
am not by any means of the word, an EXPERT on this subject. I’m
a web designer of 8 years that has jumped on the SEO Train as it
takes off. SEO is somewhat of a magical process that only a select
few at Google can probably say they are experts in. However, there
are many SEO shops out there that will sell you their services.
Just be careful. Ask for references, and ask to see some real case
studies. This is a tough game that changes by the day it seems.
So you need someone in the trenches everyday working to get your
site to the top of the list.
So I’m not an expert, but I have been highly involved in
this area in the past year and did my research as others have done.
So I’ve put together a compilation of tips and suggestions
that seem to be consistent throughout the net. Especially on the
more credible sites. Many of the suggestions below are just basic
common sense web standards that we have always done in traditional
web design. And there are some new ideas to think about as you
build a site from the ground up. None of these ideas will have
a negative impact on your site. In fact, even if you did not gain
SEO, you would gain in other areas like; retention, download time,
simpler user experience, accessibility and much more.
So without further adieu, here is my list of suggestions for improving
your search engine rankings. This will be a work in progress to
accommodate this ever changing arena.
Tips for SEO — Search Engine Optimization
- Titles – It’s #1 for a reason. Most search engines
still rely on the title of your web page as the single most critical
factor in listing your site. So be smart and make your title descriptive
and keyword friendly. Not too much. And don’t make it “salesy”.
These spiders are smarter than you think. There is much controversy
over how many characters to use for your title. My research has
seen numbers from 50 to 200. I usually stick with no more than
125. Don’t ask why.
- Meta tags – These may not be as important
as they once were, but none the less they won’t hurt you
either. Keep them in. These include: Keywords & Description.
If you do not submit a description or include one in your code
some search engines
will use the first 100 some odd characters for your website's
description. In most cases this is not the text you want to be
your sales pitch
to potential new customers.
- Rich, relevant and keyword heavy text – Integrate your
top searched keywords and phrases into the content of your site.
It must be relevant. Don’t get to overzealous…the crawlers
are smart. If you think it doesn’t make sense when you read
it…well it probably is more like Spam and you should revise
it.
If you're new to search and not sure of what keywords to
target, there are many good tools to use. First try reviewing
your
web analytics. Most of these web analytics will give you some
indication
of how your users are coming to you from search. Or you can
use Overtures FREE
keyword suggestion tool. Click on Keyword Selector Tool.
- Content Headlines – Make your content
headlines keyword rich when applicable and right above the content
with a link to
the entire article.
In the code for these headers use the H1,
H2, H3 tags. Crawlers look for these and consider these headline
titles as important
content.
- Alt tags – These are like the Meta tags of old. They
may or may not be useful for some of the search engines, however
it will not hurt to use them. In fact, it will only help you with “Accessibility” to
your site and help those of which have dialup. Again try to use
the keywords your targeting but in a relevant way. As for length
of characters…wish I knew. Everyone says something different.
I try to stay no more than 50 characters.
- Navigation & Links – Internal links are important
for crawlers looking for relevant copy and links. Make your labels
of your navigation in text, NOT images. And make them descriptive
with your keywords. Oh, and it doesn’t hurt to have these
text links duplicated in the footer text as well. For now this
seems to be a web standard and not looked at as Spam.
- Link Popularity – Probably the hottest topic right now,
is how to get high link popularity. Unfortunately this is probably
the biggest proponent of getting a high page rank and listing in
Google right now. And the most difficult to achieve. It takes TIME!
Be patient. Research your competitors. Create good relevant and
timely content that people would like to link to. Yes, people.
That’s why Google views these so highly in their website's
rankings. If lots of people link to it. It must be good stuff.
STAY AWAY from LINK FARMS. The last thing you want is to get
black listed from any search engine. By participating in a link
farm
you just may end up there. Do it the right way. Here are a couple
of options to consider:
Associate Program: Create a robust and professional
Associate program.
Reciprocate links: Ask clients or vendors
to reciprocate links with you.
Blogs: Some research has said that by having
a blog hosted by a third party and linked to your site with lots
of relevant content
and links it will get indexed and boost link popularity.
Submit
to as many FREE directories as possible. Many of these directories
are spidered by the main search engines frequently.
Do a search for directories in your website's genre. Also submit
to Dmoz.org. Many say Google spiders this site regularly. This
is hard to get in, but worth it.
- Files names – Yes, believe it. Down
to even the files names. Everything counts. Again, try to use
your keywords as much
as possible in your files. Whether it be for your page names,
images or site structure.
- Site architecture – try to keep the depth of your site
to 3 levels. I’ve read that some search engines stop indexing
after the first 3 levels.
- The code – Keep as much keyword
rich relevant text near the top of the page as possible. This
is where the spiders
start to make a first impression about your site. Make it a
good one. Try not to clog your pages with JavaScript or countless
font
tags. Use client side files for your java and CSS for your
font attributes. This will clear the way for spiders to find
the good
stuff on your site.
- Domain name – Although it’s
not as important as it use to be, try to register a domain name
that has at least
one of your keywords in it. This will also draw attention to
your listing in the rankings as each keyword will appear in bold
(for
most search engines).
- Re-directs – If you have re-directs
to any of the pages on your site use a “301” re-direct
instead of “401”.
Not sure why, but that’s what Google likes. It's been proven
that it works.
- Consistency – Try to keep the basic
structure of your site to a consistent design and structure.
Of course keeping integrating
new content, but keep the foundation the same. As Google spiders
your site, the more times you re-design your site the more
your site will be in page rank flux.
- Bad or broken links – Some research has mentioned that
if a spider catches a bad link it will stop indexing and move along.
Even if it’s not true, this is a good practice to enforce
anyhow. NO user wants to click on a link, only to find out the
page doesn’t exist. DAMN, I hate when that happens. Don’t
you?
- Search engine submission – Submit your website manually.
Do NOT use one of those automated “FREE submission to 2000
website's offer”. Many search engines do not like these
automated systems. Regardless of what these one-off companies
promise do
it YOURSELF.
- Google page rank – Download the FREE Google toolbar.
Turn on the option for “Page rank”. Take a look at
your website pages and your competitors. Google’s listing
weigh heavily on this page rank.
BE PATIENT! Getting a HIGH Google page rank and listing is a difficult
task to achieve. Especially for keywords with high market saturation
through top big brands. Competition can be tough. As you get
further down the listings, the less FREE clicks you'll get.
By following these 16 tips you should be on your way to climbing
up the search rankings. At the very least your customers will benefit
from a more content relevant site, with less clutter and easy navigation.
Oh, I forgot # 17: LUCK.
It doesn’t hurt in this ever changing, highly competitive
game. •
Next: part 3: From pixel
to pixel we go
About the Author | More
by Todd Bertsch
Todd Bertsch received a Bachelors degree in Fine and Applied Arts, with a
concentration in Graphic Design, from the University of Akron. He has
been working for both design firms and his own design consulting firm
bertschdesign for over 10 years. He's also the Editor/Creative
Director
of the popular graphic design resource portal designdump.com.
06/21/05
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