 |
As a webmaster you have a responsibility to your client to make sure their Web site is search engine ready. This equally applies if you are designing a Web site for yourself. The following suggestion will help you in this process.
- Navigation: Make sure it is intuitive and easy to follow. If you are using "Image mapping, Java script or Mouse overs" for navigation you must include a hypertext link
navigation footer at the bottom of each page. Failing to do so will stop search engines spider dead in their track at the entrance. Spiders cannot read Image mapping, Java Script nor
Mouse over links. They have no way of getting to the other Web pages for indexing and ranking. For example see footer at the bottom of http://www.alleycode.com
- Frames: Again search engine spiders cannot read frames. You must include <noframes> tags with hyperlink connection to the rest of your Web
pages.
- So... If spiders are lousy readers what are they good for?. Well, they are very good at reading meta content as well as body text content (most spiders). Alleycode
includes a very useful "Optimizer" wizard which will help you keep your meta content accurate and search engine friendly. Be sure to optimize each
page produced with unique meta content.
- Size is important: When designing your site you must also keep loading time in mind. Remember that many people still rely on dial-up for Internet connection. What may
seem like an instant with ADSL can take 30- 45+ seconds to load on dial-up. Somewhere around 20 seconds you start loosing potential viewers who move on to a faster loading Web
site!
- Test your Website: Be sure to test and promote your website using our free tools at: http://seo.alleycode.com/freetools.htm