|
Written by James Doc Lewis
|
|
Tuesday, 01 November 2005 |
|
Page 2 of 2
OK, time out! I tried not to mention specific software in
this article but, hey! Have you ever wondered why Microsoft
doesn't use FrontPage to create pages on Microsoft.com -- even
the pages that deal with the FrontPage software? Perhaps,
they're trying to tell us something. I've spent literally months
of my life removing and rewriting the loopy code and
nonessential tags that have been produced by FrontPage editors.
>From an optimization standpoint using FrontPage to produce a
website is akin to shooting yourself in both feet before you
start to run a marathon. If Microsoft doesn't use it, why should
you?
Now that that's out of the way . . . After the code
bloat removal process, good SEO will address getting all
pages on the site to validate to the professional standards set
by the W3C. Validation is simply a process of ensuring that the
right coding elements are used and used correctly. This isn't a
good guy - bad guy question or even a matter of not breaking the
rules, it's about being accessible to everyone who uses the web.
There is a growing number of the blind and visually impaired who
use Voice Readers or text-to-speech software which "speak" the
text on the web page. Many of the old tricks and shortcuts that
web designers used in the past don't work with these or any of
the growing number of other software designed to make a level
playing field of the Internet. While many validation issues are
not a big problem in and of themselves, if you find it on one
page, it will likely run all through the site (and can take many
hours of head scratching and work to clean up affectively).
META what? Everyone has heard about meta tags, alt
and title tags, and making them all search engine-friendly, but
there are few sites that actually use them to full advantage.
There's so much already written that I hate to add to the
plethora of information, (real and misinformation) on the
subject, but I will say that the purpose of the "alt" tag is to
provide an "alternative" to a graphic and not, as widely
believed, to go on and on about what a superior product you have
or how wonderful your business is. <img alt="picture of DoDo
bird"> Nuff said!
Title Tags<title>What You Do - Where You Do It -
Who You Are</title>
There are varying opinions about what should and shouldn't be
included in a title tag. What is agreed upon is that all of the
major search engines give the content of the title tag
significant weight in determining what the page is all about.
It's my practice to only write a title after everything else on
the page has been written, and then with an eye to using at
least two (better 3) of the keyword phrases that apply to the
page. Unless you're "GE" or "Maxwell House," or intend to spend
the kind of money they spent getting to be a well known brand,
there is simply no reason to place your company name in the
title tag. Save it for the terms that people will use to find
your services/products. I know, you wanted mama to see your
company name right up there in the Title Bar. It's ok with me,
but it will cost you.
We Don't Need No Stinking Map
Site maps help both search engines and visitors quickly and
easily get to the information that is important. It's amazing
how simple a matter the design and implementation of a usable
site map is, and how many websites either don't have one, or
have an incomplete or obscure site map - an even worse scenario.
If you're not sure you need one, build one anyway. Trust me on
this one. If I come to your site and can't find what I'm looking
for, I'll look for a site map. If I can't find a site map, I'll
look somewhere else. Oh yeah, that's how 95% of website visitors
are. Get a site map.
The robots.txt file is useful to communicate with the search
engine spiders about content they should or should not index.
This allows the "bot" to focus its time on the good stuff and
not the irrelevant portions of your site.
Good SEO is all of these things and more. Your site will
be off to a great start by following the suggestions mentioned
here. And hopefully, this article will get you thinking that
just maybe those "seo firms" which offer "Complete SEO $100." or
"Get Your Site To #1 In Google" $295, aren't talking about the
same things that we've been discussing here. After years in the
business, I've yet to give even a "ballpark" figure for an
optimization campaign without thoroughly researching the needs
of the client, the structure of the site, and the competition
for the target keywords. Every situation is different. Be wary
of anyone offering a la carte SEO; without research, an
individualized plan of attack, and careful implementation, you
might as well wait for the next full moon.
About the author:
James (Doc to his friends) Lewis spends much of his professional
time as SEO for the Internet consulting firm of Emerald Coast
Entrepreneur, www.EmeraldCoastEntrepreneur.com/. Doc started
practicing his magic long before the term SEO was coined and
continues to study and perfect the art & science of speaking
enticingly to both human and robot visitors.
|
|
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 01 November 2005 )
|
