Loading ...What is SEO all about? Your answer might include the words ‘rankings,’ ‘my pages,’ ’search engine results’ and ‘higher.’ Your answer would be right, but it’s also subtly wrong. Search engine optimisation, more than anything else, is about improving your site’s communication with the search engines.
If your site cannot communicate effectively with the search engines, you’re sunk. A surprising number of sites have this problem. Sites are not usually designed for the search engines, and the subtleties in communication differences can mean that a lot of information isn’t communicated. Anyone who’s tried to operate a non-Windows piece of software on their PC can testify to how tricky computer code can sometimes be. It’s no different when it’s your site and the search engines.
The SEO process will do a lot to clear up the multiple, minute communication barriers on a site, but there are things you can do beforehand to ensure that your site has the best chance of talking freely with the search engines. Here are just a few of them.
1. Text-based content, where possible. Although the search engines have developed greatly over the last few years, they still react better to text. You need sufficient text to get your message across.
2. HTML-based linking systems. The search engines don’t cope very well with links that are hidden within forms or menus. Your navigation system needs to be set out in clear links on your page. If you feature image-based links in your menu bar, include text-based ones as well. If you absolutely must have a special menu, put a plain, text-based menu system somewhere on the page. Your site users will thank you for it as well if their computer is playing up.
On a search engine optimisation note, it’s a good idea to put your text-based links before any others in the code. The search engines follow the first link they come to, so if it’s anchored by an image, your hard work on keywords is wasted.
3. Search engine-friendly page addresses. The search engines don’t just like text, they prefer words. The algorithms are built to detect words and work out logical links between them. If your page addresses are based on numbered codes, they’re useless for SEO. Putting your keywords into your page address increases that page’s relevance to that keyword.
If your site has dynamic URLs, you need to find a way to work around them. A lot of companies rewrite their dynamic URLs so that they appear to be non-dynamic. Talk to our consultants at SEO Consult Australia about how to handle dynamic URLs and dynamic content.
4. Use an XML Sitemap. Setting up a Sitemap for the search engines is like providing a guide book for your site. It’s an extra precaution that ensures that all of your hard work isn’t missed when the search engine spiders crawl by. It’s important to keep your Sitemap up to date.
5. Don’t duplicate. The consequences aren’t too bad if you duplicate your site’s content between pages, but it can confuse search engines. It’s best to avoid duplicate content.
Related posts:
- Take Some Dynamic Precautions
- How do Sitemaps benefit Search Engine Optimisation?
- The new rules of internet success
- The rules with keywords in search engine optimization
- URLs and keywords: caution
Tags: search engine optimisation techniques, SEO, SEO Consult, SEO Consult Australia
Link to us
If you want to link to this blog, copy and paste the following HTML code to your website.
