by Herman Drost - www.isitebuild.com
When I first started out doing web design work I only focused on the design. I did not think ahead how to prepare the site for promotion until I had finished the actual design.
I think a lot of web designers still think and act this way...they build the site first then think about the marketing aspect later.
This is a big mistake!
A web designer should build elements within the design making it easier to attract search engine traffic.
16 Elements You Must Include in Your Site Design:
1. Create search engine friendly pages
Each web page should contain your targeted keyword phrases. Your search engine rankings will increase in proportion to the number of content pages. Other factors that contribute to search engine friendly pages are included below.
2. Include a site map
Creating a sitemap allows search engine spiders to index your whole website from one page. Make sure your site map page links to all your internal pages and update it whenever you add a new page.
Sitemaps will also help visitors navigate your site because they can view all the pages from one source.
3. Redirect non www pages to www pages.
Non www pages (ie domain.com, domain.com) should be redirected to www pages (ie www.domain.com). Search engines will view your site as having duplicate pages if this is not done. Learn how to correct this by reading my article titled:
How to Avoid Duplicate Content
www.drostdesigns.com/blog-seo-avoid-duplicate-content/
4. Link all internal pages to the home page using absolute URLs.
Using absolute URLS in all your web pages will help create back links to your web site. Increasing the number of back links both from within your site and from other sites will help boost your search engine rankings.
Search engines such as Goggle rank web sites based on how many links are pointing to your site.
5. Place content near the top of the page
Search engines spider the content that comes first in your source code. This can easily be done by using cascading style sheets.
Read my article titled:
Web Page Accessibility - Placing Content First With CSS
www.drostdesigns.com/web-page-accessibility-placing-content-first-with-css/
Be sure to also place your web copy at the top or first on the page. Don't insert your images first and web copy after it because search engines don't spider images.
7. Design with the latest technologies
Web designers need to constantly update the technologies they use to design web sites. Most modern designs now use xhtml and css because it cuts down on the amount of code to build the web site. This reduces the load times and also allows search engines spiders to easily index your site.
8. Validate all pages for correct html/xhtml/css
Correctly coded web pages have better chances of being spidered because they are following correct the web standards. Run all your web pages through an html validator (validator.w3.org/).
All web pages should include the doc type tag. (www.drostdesigns.com/how-to-convert-html-to-xhtml-the-3-doc-types/) so they render properly.
Thousands of new web sites appear online everyday. Search engines are getting smarter so creating a cleanly coded web site will protect yourself for the future.
9. Check for broken links
Search engine spiders will have a difficult time indexing all pages on your web site if it finds broken links. Web designers should check for broken links both during the design process and after the completion of the site. Run your web site through a link checker.
10. Limit use of tables
If your site consists of many tables or nested tables (tables within tables) it will slow the loading of the web page. Web designers should use the latest technologies such as xhtml and css for design. This removes a substantial amount of unnecessary code that may clutter your page if using tables. It also allows for proper positioning of elements on the page and easy site maintenance.
Only use tables for tabular data where you need to use rows and columns.
11. Limit use of flash
Flash web pages are not search engine friendly, require the macromedia flash plug-in to view the page and don't allow the visitor to use the back button to return to the previous page. If you must use flash within your web site, offer an html page as an alternative so visitors with a dial-up modem can still access your site's information.
12. Limit use of frames
Framed pages consist of a number of pages for each page. i.e. if you have a top frame and a bottom frame for your framed page you will need to create topframe.html and bottomframe.html pages. The framed page will not be search engine friendly because the content is on different pages and may not be compatible with all browsers.
iframes (a page framed within a page) are also not search engine friendly because your main page contains no content (only the external page contains the content).
Use framed pages only if you have to frame external pages from another site. This ensures the visitor will not leave your main site because the navigation structure still remains visible to them.
13. Use external files for CSS and javascript
Instead of cluttering up your web page with CSS or Javascript code, place them in external files that can be linked from each page. This will help speed up the loading of your web site.
Here's an example of javascript code placed in an includes file. This line of code is inserted into each page on the web site.
<'SCRIPT language=JavaScript1.2 src="/includes/virtualmenu.js">
Read How to update your site using server side includes www.isitebuild.com/serversideincludes.htm
Here's the line of code you may use for linking all your sites' pages to an external style sheet.
<'LINK REL=STYLESHEET TYPE="text/css" HREF="includes/menu.css"'>
14. Incorporate keywords in file names, image names, title, description, keyword, h1, h2, alt tags and web copy.
Search engines find your web site based on the keyword density used. Don't overdo it as your site can be penalized. If so, you may suddenly see a drop in rankings. When designing or redesigning your site be sure to include your most important keywords in all your file names, then integrate them into your web copy and meta tags.
15. Include contact information on all pages
Some search engines such as Yahoo require your address to be on the site, if it is to be indexed. Include your postal address and telephone number on all your web pages. This will not only help the search engines but make it easy for customers to contact you from any location on your web site. It will also help win customers trust.
If you don't want to use your own address get a Suite Number address from your post office so it looks like a real address. Don't use a P.O. Box number. It's very impersonal and gives the impression you want to remain anonymous. Visitors to your web site want to talk to a real person and see a real address.
16. Limit use of images
Only use graphics that are relevant to your sites purpose, and aim for a file size that is 12 KB or smaller. If you must include an image that is larger than 12 KB, then use a thumbnail image. Including large or many graphics on your site hinders search engine spiders, since spiders primary food is content. Use images sparingly. Add relevant content that will attract both users and search engine spiders.
Conclusion
If web designers incorporate these 16 elements during the building of their web sites, search engine spiders will more easily index them and visitors will have an easier time navigating, finding and reading the information they seek.
About The Author
Herman Drost is a Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW) and owner of iSiteBuild.com, Web Site Design, Web Hosting, Web Site Promotion
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