Search Engine Optimisation - Key SEO optimisation strategies
As a Search Engine Optimisation Specialist, keen on improving our industry, it is important to share good practice...
What is key in optimising a website?
Good design - Navigation around the website should be easy with clear architecture and simple, clean layout. Flash animation is hard for crawlers (Google, MSN, Yahoo spiders) to read - even the macromedia website doesn't use Flash as it interferes with optimisation ... an interesting observation for SEO specialists - so offer an HTML alternative of the same content from the homepage. CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) are a good alternative to Flash or tables. Site maps give crawlers access to parts they might miss. Designers should avoid session IDs and other 'infinite pages' like calendars that can 'trap' crawlers. Also avoid overlong and complex URLs.
Relevant content - The maxim 'content is king' is repeated by marketers and search engine optimisation specialists alike. More content, frequently updated is best, but only when focused on a theme. Corporate keywords that define the company and its products or services should focus on that theme, and should also be used in page titles - the phrase running along the top of a web browser - which search engines take as the most important way to understand a site and which many sites waste with a welcome message. These should be limited to the 75 characters that show up on search results pages. HTML tags or meta-tags should also use keywords, but web sites built to comply with accessibility standards http://www.w3.org/WAI/ will already include these. Analyst group Forrester recommends choosing keywords based on customer 'personas' and search terms that already deliver visitors.
What is key in optimising a website?
Good design - Navigation around the website should be easy with clear architecture and simple, clean layout. Flash animation is hard for crawlers (Google, MSN, Yahoo spiders) to read - even the macromedia website doesn't use Flash as it interferes with optimisation ... an interesting observation for SEO specialists - so offer an HTML alternative of the same content from the homepage. CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) are a good alternative to Flash or tables. Site maps give crawlers access to parts they might miss. Designers should avoid session IDs and other 'infinite pages' like calendars that can 'trap' crawlers. Also avoid overlong and complex URLs.
Relevant content - The maxim 'content is king' is repeated by marketers and search engine optimisation specialists alike. More content, frequently updated is best, but only when focused on a theme. Corporate keywords that define the company and its products or services should focus on that theme, and should also be used in page titles - the phrase running along the top of a web browser - which search engines take as the most important way to understand a site and which many sites waste with a welcome message. These should be limited to the 75 characters that show up on search results pages. HTML tags or meta-tags should also use keywords, but web sites built to comply with accessibility standards http://www.w3.org/WAI/ will already include these. Analyst group Forrester recommends choosing keywords based on customer 'personas' and search terms that already deliver visitors.
posted by Information @ 11:45 AM
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