| |
| |
|
SEO Articles |
|
|
|
Ten Steps To A Well Optimized Website - Step 3: Site Structure
Welcome to part three in this search engine positioning series. Last week we discussed the importance and considerations that much be made while creating the content that will provide the highest ROI for your optimization efforts. In part three we will discuss the importance of site structure. While there are numerous factors involved with the search engine algorithms, site structure is certainly of constant importance. Cleaner structure that removes lines of code between your key content and the search engine spiders cna mean the difference detween second page and first page rankings. Over this series we will cover the ten key aspects to a solid search engine positioning campaign. The Ten Steps We Will Go Through Are:
Step Three - Site Structure Developing the structure of your website is a very important step in its overall optimization. The site structure will dictate how the spiders read your site, what information they gather, what content holds the most weight, how much useless code they must weed through and more. You must structure your website to appeal to the visitor and the spiders. When developing your website you want to be sure not to create useless code that can confuse spiders and take away from the content of your site. When developing your site I recommend hand coding as the best option however not everyone has the time or the skill to do this so I would suggest Dreamweaver as a great option. (Though the code will not be as clean as hand coding it does not create an over the top amount of extra code like programs such as Front Page do.) The object here is to keep the code as clean as possible! Remember the more code you have the more the spiders must weed through to get to your content, where you want them to be. A great way to cut down on extra code as well is to use style sheets. You can use style sheets in ways as simple as defining fonts or as advanced as creating tableless designs. There are many ways to use style sheets and the biggest perk to using them is to cut back on the code on any given individual page. When you are setting up the initial structure of your site you want to be sure that the table structure is laid out in such a way that the spiders can easily and as quickly as possible get to the most important content. the most important content. A great way to attain this is to create your website using the table structure outlined in my article "Table Structures For Top Search Engine Positioning" (http://www.beanstalk-inc.com/articles/se-friendly-design/table-structure.htm). When the spiders visit your site they read through it top to bottom, left to right following the rows and columns. The key to the table structure outlined above is the little empty row. Were this row not there the spiders would read through that first column hitting nothing but images and Alt tags, your navigation, until it would then move onto the next column, your content area. Placing this empty cell in the first row of the main table guides the spiders directly to your content, they hit the empty row and with nothing to read move onto the next column to the right, where you want them. After they have read your content they will then move back to the left in row 2 and read your navigation images and Alt tags, finally they will end the page at your footer, a great place for keyword rich text links. (Internal linking structures will be covered in part 5 of this 10 part series.) Once you have created the site structure and inserted all of your content you will then begin the basic optimization of your site. In your code you will want to create Meta tags that fit your keyword choice. The two most important Meta tags are the Description tag and the Keyword tag. Your description should highlight your keyword phrase, keeping it focused, to the point and readable. Your keyword tags should also be focused using each keyword a maximum of 3 times in any set. These tags should be customized on each page to fit the specific phrase targeted. After the Meta tags have been inserted appropriately to fit each page it is important to title each page appropriately. The main targeted phrase should be the focus of the title, keep it simple, focused, to the point, do not bog it down with extra descriptive text, this is not your description, it is your title. Next move onto Alt tags. Though it is good practice to add Alt tags to all your images the spiders only put weight on those that are contained within links. An example of this: These Alt tags allow you to make your images matter. Most main navigation is image based so be sure to add appropriate Alt tags targeting your keywords to this very prominent area of your site. Another great place to add a link along with its Alt tag is in your header image. Linking this image to your URL adds the ability to make the first thing the spiders hit within your tables to at least hold some content that "matters" rather than simply a static image. H1 tags are also great way to add weight to your content however, use them wisely. You can use any of the H1,2,3,4 tags, the idea being H1 has the most weight, H2 a little less and so on. Do not over use these tags or they will lose their value all together. The correct way to use these is to use them where they actually belong, for example the first line of text on a page, the title. Also, if you are defining your fonts in a style sheet, which you should be, be sure not to abuse these tags. An H1 tag should be defined bigger than an H2, etc. Utilizing the above tips will create a site structure that is the perfect environment for the spiders, it is clean, focused and easily read. Your site structure is now optimized and ready for the more advanced content optimization elements to come. Next Week Next week in part four we will be covering content optimization. This will cover everything from meta tag optimization to the use of heading tags. About The Author Mary Davies is the owner of Beanstalk Search Engine Positioning (http://www.beanstalk-inc.com/). Mary works and writes with years of experience in website design and search engine optimization.
MORE RESOURCES:
SEO - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
How to Prevent Duplicate Content with Effective Use of the Robots.txt and Robots Meta Tag Duplicate content is one of the problems that we regularly come across as part of the search engine optimization services we offer. If the search engines determine your site contains similar content, this may result in penalties and even exclusion from the search engines. Search Engine Submission - What to Look for when Selecting an Australian SEO Company Every business owner I've met has been encouraged at some point to invest in a website; often convinced with hype that if their business didn't have a website then they might as well pack their bags and retire to the social security queue.Hype aside, this statement is basically true. Why Fear? Now Change Your Filenames Without Disturbing Search Engines/Visitors And Rank Well By now, you know that to rank well in the Search Engines, you need to have the keyword in your URL's directory name and filename, if not in the domain name as well.So, if you want to target a keyword, say, 'Woolen Socks', the best way to do it is (a) to have a domain name that contains the word 'woolen socks' in it (like: BuyWoolenSocks. PPC Advertising - The First Step In A SEO Marketing Campaign Often, sites view seo and PPC marketing as exclusive marketing techniques. Each marketing method has its advocates. Why Search Engine Traffic Should be Your Top Priority Most Internet marketing methods are risky and many will not have any affect on traffic to a web site. Some online marketers will sell you anything from banner impressions, to mass email campaigns (spam), to popup ads. Keyword Research Made Simple! Keyword Research is the first task in optimizing your web site and pay-per-click campaign. Here you need to know what keywords your target group is using. Got Spiders? Many internet marketers blow mountains of start-up cash on their websites just trying to break into search engine rankings. I was one of these internet marketers. Search Engine Optimization for Everyone There are many facets to SEO and the search engines continually change their methods of indexing sites to help prevent the same sites from staying up in the ranks all the time.Here are some strategies we have personally used with our web design firm:1. Google Patent Application - Linking The recent patent application filed by Google details numerous items the search engine uses to rank web pages. The specific application is summarized as:"A method for scoring a document, comprising: identifying a document; obtaining one or more types of history data associated with the document; and generating a score for the document based on the one or more types of history data. Reciprocal Links to Boost Link Popularity ? Link popularity means the number of incoming links pointing to your website. This is one of the criterical factor that rank the search results. STOP Writing for Search Engines Back when I was starting out with my first internet venture, I did a crazy thing. I subscribed to a Search Engine Optimization newsletter. SEO Made Easy! Search engine optimization remains a minefield of old advice, outdated ideas and outright dangerous techniques that can get you banned. Here's the main points to great search engine optimization. How To Start An Internet Business - Meta Tags and Keyword Density Okay, you have a domain name, layout and content. Now we get to a step that will go a long way to determining how the site will rank. How Search Engines Work Before anyone can start optimizing a web site, you must understand how search engines work.Search engine optimization is the hardest thing to do for a webmaster because there are so many rules to it and you have to stay up to date with all the new search engine optimization techniques. Submitting Your Site To The Open Web Directory: Some Dos And Don'ts One of the most important steps in any site's publicity campaign is the submission to the Open Web Directory (http://www.dmoz. Search Engine Visibility - The Mantra of Corporate Profitability The corporate fundamentals are par excellence! The product is unsurpassable and the website is a web designer's dream in creativity and design - but there is a vacuum - of potential online customers! - The website lacks the basic ingredient of success - Search Engine Visibility! - which is what search engine optimization is all about.Increasing the search engine visibility is vital to any online business. Search Engine Strategies for Affiliate Websites The major search engines are always on the lookout to improve their search results and to weed out websites with duplicate content. They are also weeding out websites that mainly contain affiliate links. How Do I Submit My Site To Search Engines? You've built up a good site, put in a lot of content, but none of the search engines lists your site? If you'd like to know how to go ahead with Search Engine Submission the right way, read on.How do I get my site to be included in search-engines? That's a question a lot of people ask me. Ten Steps To A Well Optimized Website - Step 5: Internal Linking Welcome to part five in this search engine positioning series. Last week we discussed the importance of content optimization. The Reality of Search Engine Submissions Over the last few months, search engine submissions have changed dramatically. Now is the time to analyze the way we're submitting our Web pages and to rethink our submission strategies.
|
| Home | Sitemap | Forums | Contact Us | Advertise |
| © 2006 SEO Articles. A Real Web Talk Presentation. Network Sites : Index Rated Directory | SEO Care Directory | Humour Inc. | Free Mobile Ringtones | A1hosts | SEO Blog the four required words |
