Search Engine Optimisation
by Richard Langley
Write effective titles - Include keywords
in titles.
Keywords
• Choose keywords early in the design process and use throughout
site.
• Include Keywords in;
1. Titles
2. Document titles
3. MetaTags ( Keywords
and Description)
4. At top of page
in h1 tags
5. Folder titles
6. Body text
7. Linked text
• Keywords to be 4 – 8% of text (at least once in each
paragraph).
• Ensure that keywords appear towards top of the code especially
when using tables as they tend to displace keywords to a lower position
in the code.
• Don’t use keywords for more than 10% of the text.
Body text
Include main text of 250 – 300 words including keywords as outlined
above.
Targeting Spiders (Robots)
By including code as robot.txt files in the site root folder or as Robot
Meta Tags, the spiders can be directed to specific sections of the site
or to the pages you would prefer.
Clean valid code.
• Validate code at site such as Validator.w3.org
• Use external Javascript (i.e. .js file) or put JS code just before
bottom of the body.
• Don’t use Flash navigation exclusively as the search engines
can not follow it.
• Don’t use layers as they tend to clutter site with unnecessary
code.
Effective site structure
Use individual folders for main subject sections. Then by having an index.htm
for each subject, it appears to the search engines like multiple sites
that have links.
Submit site manually
By submitting your site manually rather than with programmed software,
your site can be submitted to more reputable and popular search engines
such as Google – Altavista – Yahoo (Hotbot) - dmoz.
Announce site on popular forums
Paid Placements
Paid placements can locate your site in a prominent position on the search
engines which can be helpful in generating traffic.
Links to your site
By having your site linked to higher ranking sites the search engines
will follow the links from that site to yours.
Guest Books
Make entries in appropriate sites noting your URL.
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