13 Aug 2008

Search Engine Friendly Web Design

Search Engine Optimisation isn't just about the activities we undertake to make your website appear more visible to the search engines.  The ability to get the best results really starts with good website design.  

Using as many of the following "SEO Best Practices" at website design stage will enable you to get the best results possible.  This list is by no means exhaustive but provides you with a solid framework of best practices:

•  Create clean, valid code. Search engines prefer code that is lighter, cleaner, simpler, more semantically defined, and in line with W3C standards. CSS can help you achieve this.
• Use tables appropriately. Tables distort the flow of the HTML code and may push more important elements like the body copy further down in the code. A CSS layout enables you to influence where in the code elements appear.
  
• Place keywords closer to the beginning of the file code. CSS can be used to visually position the text wherever you want it, while making it appear higher up in the code for search engines.
• Use header tags instead of <div> tags or images. If a page heading or title contains a keyword, it should ideally be text. If possible, use the important keyword in an <h1> tag, a secondary keyword in the <h2> tag, and so on.
• Use keywords in the URL. This can be accomplished by ensuring your file-naming conventions make good use of your keywords.
• Include targeted content on a page. Ideally, each page should contain two to three paragraphs of descriptive, keyword-rich body text.
• Limit HTML file size. Keep a lid on the number and size of images and unnecessary code.
• Add alt text for images. Be descriptive. This is another opportunity to tell search engines what the page is all about. All images should have alt tags, including logos, headings, and so on.
• Use internal text links instead of image links. Search engines use the content contained within a link to determine what that page being linked to is all about. It needs to be text so they can read it.
• Deploy search-friendly DHTML. Avoid JavaScript DHTML, if possible. Use CSS for cover effects. However, if your site has a menu built this way, be sure to include a secondary text-based navigation.
• Avoid frames-based Web design. Frames and inline frames (iframes) generally make it difficult for search engines to crawl Web sites.
• Ensure correct application of the robots.txt file. This enables you to restrict or allow access to your site by search engines. Employ it carefully and properly.
• Follow proper site redirect architecture. Avoid 302 (temporary) redirects and employ 301(permanent) redirects to ensure the search engines index your content appropriately.
• Avoid hidden text and other potentially deceptive practices. Any tactics that are considered black hat SEO will probably get you penalised. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday.
• Steer clear of splash pages. Most splash pages are very graphic-heavy and text-light. They offer little value to users or search engines.
• Avoid query strings in URLs where possible. We strongly recommend keywords be placed in the URL instead of query strings. URL aliasing can be used for ugly URLs.
• Avoid duplicate content. You should never have the same content on multiple domains or within the same site. If you have various versions of your URL, choose one main one and redirect all the others to that.

For further SEO guidance, contact Bang Online Marketing today .