Time to Tune up Your Web Site?
Here are Some Areas to
Address
While designing or tuning-up your Web site, keep both the Web site user and search engines in mind. Good search engine ranking won't help you without a well-designed site and a well-designed site can't bring you visitors if no one knows it's there. Build your site to attract traffic from the search engines because if you can obtain high search engine ranking, you can reap increased site traffic.
Good content
If possible offer something of value for free, even if it is simply information. Help visitors solve a problem. Offer information that they might not get elsewhere. Present store or industry news or articles. Give your viewers a reason to come back.
Update Your Information
Keep your site fresh. Search engine rankings improve when you periodically add new pages to your site and keep the content new and updated. Search engines love lots of content and your customers come there for what you have to offer.
Proper Use of HTML, the Internet programming language
Use high quality Web design software or hire a reputable Web site designer and check your work.
No Pop-ups
Most Internet users find them annoying. The demand for pop-up blockers is a good indication that visitors don't want to see them
No Frames
Frames - which divide Web pages into multiple, scrollable regions, are undesirable. Some search engines do not support them. Those that are able to index your site through frames still don't recommend them. Some browsers are not frames-compatible. There is a danger that some visitors will not be able to see your site at all. Bookmarking of individual pages within a frame is difficult. Achieve the same results with other more modern programming methods like CSS (cascading style sheets.)
Graphics and Flash
Avoid unnecessary animations, Flash programming, large graphics (pictures) and dramatic backgrounds. If you have background music on your site, allow the visitor the option of clicking on a link to listen or not.
Search engines cannot read graphics so what they see may be just a small amount of text. Small amounts of content will not result in top rankings. If you must offer the visitor a graphics-heavy or Flash Web site, consider creating a text portion of your site that is also available to visitors. This part of your site will be much easier to promote on the search engines and your site visitors will have the option to view it either way.
Alt Tags
Search engines do not index images; therefore any information on your site that is presented in image format will not get indexed. To solve this problem, you can enter the image description in the ALT programming tag. Fill in your ALT tags with your keywords. This will increase your keyword frequency and help your site achieve better ranking.
Easy navigation and a logical flow
Design a logical flow. Lead your site visitors to where you would like them to go. Clearly state at the top of your pages your purpose and what you would like your visitors to do. Lead people through a simple process so that they can complete their task as quickly and easily as possible. Don't confuse your visitors with links all over the page. Leave plenty of white space and keep your pages organized. If your pages are cluttered, it is hard for a visitor to find what they are looking for. Keep contact information on each page. Include a 'tell a friend' and 'bookmark' script on your site to give the visitor an easy way to remember and return to your site.
Include a Site Map
Site maps tell visitors what information you have, how it is organized, where it is located, and how to get to it quickly. Include a site map link in the navigation of every page on your site.
Site maps also provide links for search engine robots so they can easily visit every page of your site and increase your chances of becoming indexed.
Keywords
The words your potential customer types into a search engine to find information are called "keywords.” Keywords require careful thought and research. Once you have found what words are important to your product, use them often in your site.
Choose a domain name using your keywords. Include your keywords or keyword phrases at the top of your page and in headers. Work keywords into the body of your text as often as you can without being redundant.
Use your keywords in the “Title”, page “description”, and the “keyword” programming tags.
Follow these tips and increase your Web site traffic and your visitor’s satisfaction.
While designing or tuning-up your Web site, keep both the Web site user and search engines in mind. Good search engine ranking won't help you without a well-designed site and a well-designed site can't bring you visitors if no one knows it's there. Build your site to attract traffic from the search engines because if you can obtain high search engine ranking, you can reap increased site traffic.
Good content
If possible offer something of value for free, even if it is simply information. Help visitors solve a problem. Offer information that they might not get elsewhere. Present store or industry news or articles. Give your viewers a reason to come back.
Update Your Information
Keep your site fresh. Search engine rankings improve when you periodically add new pages to your site and keep the content new and updated. Search engines love lots of content and your customers come there for what you have to offer.
Proper Use of HTML, the Internet programming language
Use high quality Web design software or hire a reputable Web site designer and check your work.
No Pop-ups
Most Internet users find them annoying. The demand for pop-up blockers is a good indication that visitors don't want to see them
No Frames
Frames - which divide Web pages into multiple, scrollable regions, are undesirable. Some search engines do not support them. Those that are able to index your site through frames still don't recommend them. Some browsers are not frames-compatible. There is a danger that some visitors will not be able to see your site at all. Bookmarking of individual pages within a frame is difficult. Achieve the same results with other more modern programming methods like CSS (cascading style sheets.)
Graphics and Flash
Avoid unnecessary animations, Flash programming, large graphics (pictures) and dramatic backgrounds. If you have background music on your site, allow the visitor the option of clicking on a link to listen or not.
Search engines cannot read graphics so what they see may be just a small amount of text. Small amounts of content will not result in top rankings. If you must offer the visitor a graphics-heavy or Flash Web site, consider creating a text portion of your site that is also available to visitors. This part of your site will be much easier to promote on the search engines and your site visitors will have the option to view it either way.
Alt Tags
Search engines do not index images; therefore any information on your site that is presented in image format will not get indexed. To solve this problem, you can enter the image description in the ALT programming tag. Fill in your ALT tags with your keywords. This will increase your keyword frequency and help your site achieve better ranking.
Easy navigation and a logical flow
Design a logical flow. Lead your site visitors to where you would like them to go. Clearly state at the top of your pages your purpose and what you would like your visitors to do. Lead people through a simple process so that they can complete their task as quickly and easily as possible. Don't confuse your visitors with links all over the page. Leave plenty of white space and keep your pages organized. If your pages are cluttered, it is hard for a visitor to find what they are looking for. Keep contact information on each page. Include a 'tell a friend' and 'bookmark' script on your site to give the visitor an easy way to remember and return to your site.
Include a Site Map
Site maps tell visitors what information you have, how it is organized, where it is located, and how to get to it quickly. Include a site map link in the navigation of every page on your site.
Site maps also provide links for search engine robots so they can easily visit every page of your site and increase your chances of becoming indexed.
Keywords
The words your potential customer types into a search engine to find information are called "keywords.” Keywords require careful thought and research. Once you have found what words are important to your product, use them often in your site.
Choose a domain name using your keywords. Include your keywords or keyword phrases at the top of your page and in headers. Work keywords into the body of your text as often as you can without being redundant.
Use your keywords in the “Title”, page “description”, and the “keyword” programming tags.
Follow these tips and increase your Web site traffic and your visitor’s satisfaction.