Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search Engine Optimization (SEO), which basically means designing a site to be ranked well by search engines, is one of the primary challenges faced by Web designers. Here are some useful tips to optimize a website for good search engine placement:

  1. Have a relevant title on all your pages: site name on home page, different titles on other pages.
  2. Use relevant alt text on all your pictures.
  3. Do not use hidden text: text the same color as background, div with visibility: hidden property or display: none, or have text placed outside of normal browser window.
  4. Straight-forward HTML links are preferable, not Javascript or Flash links.
  5. Avoid duplicate content: Google and other search engines take into account the number of links pointing to your page to determine how important your web page is. If you have identical content appearing on two different pages on your website, some sites will link to one page while others will link to the alternate page. The result is that neither of those pages will be regarded as very important in the search engine's index since you have effectively halved the links pointing to your article.
  6. Validate your HTML and CSS.
  7. Take the time to create valuable Meta tags. Your description meta tag is your chance to describe what your website is about. Keep it short, and every page should have a separate description.
  8. If you use Meta tag descriptions, try not to make them sound too generic: http://www.thesitewizard.com/sitepromotion/meta-description-tag-problems.shtml
  9. Use real URL links as opposed to Dynamic URL links: http://www.searchtools.com/robots/goodurls.html
  10. Avoid frames.
  11. Use real headings with h1 through h6. It's also best to try to have only one h1 tag per page and have it at the top of the page. Use heading tags on the pages of your site - and use site keywords in the headings. Search-engine robots LOVE these.
  12. Get linked to. Links from other sites to yours can really boost your rankings, so it's worth getting involved in forums and discussion boards and linking back to your site.
  13. Write good, clear content without typos. Content is key! Make sure that the content on your site has your site keywords in it throughout.
  14. Submit your site to Search Engines. Here are the links to the "big 3":
  15. Create a sitemap for your site and submit it to search engines. Several sites, such as www.xml-sitemaps.com, will generate one for you.
  16. Photos can help search engines if you use resourceful names for the files. If you have a site on Gucci handbags and have a picture of a handbag, a file name of "gucci_handbag.jpg" will help where as "handbag123.jpg" will do nothing.

To learn more about Search Engine Optimization (SEO), you can read this article Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Tips and check out the following links:

To target Google directly for optimization, consider the information at the following link:

Web Design Best Practices

Throughout the term, we have been learning about many ways to design web pages. We have touched on a few design principles in each of the Tutorials. It’s easy to forget these principles as you become entrenched in the web design process. Review the list of best practices in web design on the following site.

You may print out this list if you’d like. Using this list, examine your Personal Website. How does it do? Does it meet most of the items on the Best Practices list? If not, what needs to be changed?