Optimizing Websites in a World of Better Search Engines

In the past two years we have visited thousands upon thousands of Websites. We have analyzed these Websites in a quest to find out whether Websites optimize or not for search engines and whether the optimization efforts result in favorable position within search results.

Trying to trick the search engines with the use of repeated keywords or repeating keywords or key phrases within the content is foolish. What is important is to stick to the basics of common sense search engine optimization. Websites that perform well within search engine results often have the most basic elements of search engine optimization in order.

The title should be unique and contain a readable title with words that are in context with the Web page's textual content. The Meta description is a readable description of the Web page's content containing words related to the Web page's textual content. Look at the title and Meta description together as a small classified ad for your Website. Use it. Do not ignore it.

The ALT tag is used to describe images for improved accessibility and often the TITLE attribute is also used. Create ALT text for each of your images or photos, but do not try to add a list of keywords into the ALT text, just describe the illustration in as few words as possible.

Web pages do not have to contain long text to perform well, but at least they have to have some textual content. A few paragraphs can go a long way if the ratio of text to Html/JavaScript code is at least 1:10. If you have a long text piece then do not split it into many pages unless it is very long. It is better to have one page that is rich in content (text) than many with lesser content.

You have to think about what is best for the users or the readers of your content. You have to keep in mind that your Website might be accessed and read via tablet computers and mobile smart phones in addition to many different screen resolutions and at least five Web browsers. The Web is becoming more complex for Web designers; content creators and Web publishers as well and we have to make the best of it.

Preparation and Planning

One of the most frustrating moments in Web publishing is when a new Website is launched and then found in search engine results within few days and then suddenly it disappears, gone. The masterpiece of content and design is left alone in the wilderness not to be found at all and all you can do is scratch your head.

Thinking ahead is important in search engine optimization. There are basic technical issues that need to be in order for a Website to perform as expected.

Common technical issues revolve around the server such as with redirects, duplicate content (less of an issue nowadays), URL rewrites and load time. These issues have to be in order from the beginning for a successful indexing and performance with the major search engines.

We do not have any inside information to verify this claim. This is just plain common sense. Imagine if you ran a Web crawler and it discovers a Website with redirect errors or somehow makes the crawler slow down to a halt. You would let the crawler log the error and continue to the next Website in the queue and make sure to skip this Website the next time it is in the neighborhood.

If you find yourself in the situation we described above and you assume your content and Html is ready for search engine indexing then you begin at the server side of your Website.

Realistic Expectations

One of the biggest mistakes anyone can make when optimizing Websites for search engine performance is to expect too much from his/her efforts. Search engine optimization is not the only mean or the magic ingredient for a successful Website. Search engine optimization is just one part of the overall execution plan of running a Website competing with other Websites for the much wanted eyeballs we call Web users.

Search engine optimization is an ongoing concern you keep in mind for every Web page you add to your Website and with every link you get or beg for at other Websites. Therefore it is important that you set a strategy at the beginning on how you execute search engine optimization efforts on every Web page you add to your Website.

One of the first realistic goals you can set for your search engine optimization efforts is to make sure your Website is found by its name or the name of the product, service (content) or brand you are promoting. This is the step you want to get right and now you can make use of the SEO guide from Google on how to optimize your Web pages. Search engine optimization is common sense as you will discover by reading the guide.

The latest algo changes at Google are showing us just how good search engines are becoming in identifying quality content. Search engines are becoming much better at understanding common languages, categorizing Website content and identifying and understanding Web site structure and content patterns. Search engines have evolved, in a good way

Filed under: Optimizing Web Sites

Posted by: Webmaster on : March 2011