How Web Design Can Affect Search Engine Rankings

Uniquely built web sites can create unique issues when being promoted on the search engines. From a basic 3 page brochure site to a corporate site with hundreds of dynamically generated pages, every web site needs to have certain design aspects in order to achieve the full effects of an SEO campaign. Below are a few points to take into consideration when building or updating your web site.

1. Size Matters.

The size of a web site can have a huge impact on search engine rankings. Search engines love content, so if you have only a few pages to your site and your competitors have dozens, it's difficult to see a top page ranking for your site. In some cases it may be difficult to present several pages of information about your business or products, so you may need to think about adding free resources for visitors. It will help in broadening the scope of your web site (which search engines like) as well as keep visitors on your site longer, possibly resulting in more sales.

2. Graphics-Based Web Sites.

While web sites that offer the visitor a more esthetically-pleasing experience may seem like the best choice for someone searching for your product, they are the most difficult to optimize. Since search engine robots cannot read text within graphics or animation, what they see may be just a small amount of text. And if we learned anything from point #1, small amounts of content will not result in top rankings. If you really must offer the visitor a graphics-heavy or Flash web site, consider creating an html-based side of your site that is also available to visitors. This site will be much easier to promote on the search engines and your new found visitors will also have the option to jump over to the nicer looking part of your site.

3. Dynamic Web Pages.

If most of your web site is generated by a large database (such as a large book dealer with stock that is changing by the minute) you may find that some of your pages do not get indexed by major search engines. If you look at the URL of these pages they can be extremely long and have characters such as ?, #, &, %, or = along with huge amounts of seemingly random numbers or letters. Since these pages are automatically generated by the database as needed, the search engines have a tough time keeping them up to date and relevant for search engine users.

One way to combat this problem is to offer a search engine friendly site map listing all your static pages just to let them know that you do have permanent content on your site. If search engines see links going to and from these dynamic pages within a good internal linking system, this may also lead to the pages getting indexed. The link popularity of your site may carry more weight in this case as well, so if you can't offer as much static content as your competition, make sure you have an aggressive link campaign on the go.

4. Proper Use of HTML.

There is quite a bit of sub-par web design software out there. Word processors usually have a way to create HTML documents which can be easily uploaded to a site via ftp. However, in many cases the code that the search engine robots see is mostly lines and lines of font and position formatting, not relevant content. The more efficiently written web sites usually achieve higher rankings. Our choice for web design software is Macromedia Dreamweaver, as it is an industry standard. It also makes using CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) a breeze, which can drastically cut down on the amount of text formatting in HTML code. Hand-coding HTML to design sites is also a good method if you are proficient enough.

There are some no brainers too: Web sites with abnormal amounts of hyperlinks, bold or italicized text, improper use of heading, alt, or comment tags can also expect to see low rankings.

5. Choosing a Domain Name.

The golden rule to web development of any kind is to keep your visitors in mind above all else - even search engine optimization. When choosing a domain name, one should pick either your business name (if you have a high-profile business name such as Chapters or Coca-Cola) or a brief description of your products. Domain names can always help with search engine optimization, as it is another area of your web site that important keywords can appear. Forget about long- winded domains such as www.number-one-best-books-on-earth.com as no one will ever remember it and it will be hard to print on business cards or in ads.

If you need to change your domain name for any reason you obviously don't want to lose existing rankings. An easy way to do this, and one that is currently supported by most search engines, is the 301 redirect. It allows you to keep your existing rankings for your old domain name, while forwarding visitors to your new web site instantly.

6. Using Frames.

Don't use frames. Frames are a thing of the 90's (and in the Internet world that is eons ago) and are not even supported by some search engines. The search engines that are able to index your site through frames will most likely frown upon them. Whatever you are trying to accomplish by using frames can usually be done with the help of PHP includes or CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). Some browsers are not frames-compatible, so there is the danger of some visitors not being able to see your site at all. Bookmarking of individual pages within a frame becomes difficult without lengthly scripts being written.

7. Update Your Information.

Not only does information printed two or three years ago look badly on your organization when it is read by a visitor, it is also looked down upon by search engines. Web sites that continuously update and grow their web sites usually experience higher rankings than stagnant sites. When the trick to SEO is offering visitors the most relevant information, you can bet that the age of web pages is taken into consideration by search engines. Consider creating a section of your site devoted to news within your organization, or have a constantly updated resources area.

Many shortfalls of web sites can easily be attributed to designers who just don't keep the user or search engines in mind. Search engine algorithms are quickly improving to try and list the most user-friendly sites higher, given that the content and link popularity are there to back it up. So first and foremost, know your target market and make your web site work for them before focusing on search engine optimization. If you build it (properly), they will come.

Copyright John Metzler of Abalone Designs, November 2004. This article may be freely distributed if credit is given to the author. Abalone Designs is a family-run Search Engine Optimization firm in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Visit http://www.abalone.ca for a free personalized analysis of your web site.

---

Search Engine Optimisation: The Soon to be Impossible Dream!

There are today search engine and internet marketing services, in... Read More

The Other Side of the Search Gods Abracadabra!

Thousands of servers ...billions of web pages.... the possibility of... Read More

Search Engine Position Report

Since search engines are the first stop for people on... Read More

Tips On Optomizing Your Website For Search Engines

I wish to give a few little tips, about optimizing.... Read More

Designing a Website So the Search Engines Will Like You

Before you go and spend big money on a professional... Read More

7 Steps to Prepare You for The Local Search Bonanza

At One Time Local Searches were reserved for services like... Read More

Boost Your Search Engine Ranking And Generate Free Traffic With Reciprocal Links

Reciprocal links are an important step in your overall plan... Read More

Your Search Engine Optimization Strategy: Make Love, Not War

When it comes to search engine optimization strategy, there are... Read More

How Directories Help Search Engines

At the beginning of the web era, users would go... Read More

Search Engines Are Going to Love You for This

What's the most potent free traffic source on the web?***... Read More

SEO and the Outsourcing of Inbound Link Building

Search Engine Optimization nowadays has a lot to do with... Read More

Content Is King

Over the past few years, there have been many debates... Read More

How to Protect Your Search Engine Placement by Keeping Up-to-date on Industry Changes

There's no denying it: Search engines are a dominating force... Read More

Search Engine Keywords - What Do People Search For?

Do you ever wonder how people search for things on... Read More

The Search Engine Secret That Is No Secret At All

It's common knowledge - we all know that it is... Read More

A Play In The Sandbox Is Necessary

There has been a good deal written about the Google... Read More

Using Meta Tags Wisely to Attract Search Engines and Visitors

There are certain tricks and techniques in SEO industry, which... Read More

Submitting to the Search Engines and WebCrawlers

When you want your brand new site to be indexed... Read More

Pay-per-click ? the Ultimate Tool to Boost Affiliate Sales

The old ways are not always the best ways.The traditional... Read More

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) - Houses on Sand

Do you depend on free search engine traffic for your... Read More

How To Select The Right Keywords

Keyword SelectionThe most important component of search engine optimization is... Read More

Gaining Link Popularity Techniques

Link popularity is very important these days for all websites... Read More

Beating the New Google AdWord Rules with Blogs and RSS

When Google Adwords first came on scene, it was not... Read More

A Link From An Ugly Duckling Website With A PR=1 Could Give You 10 to 80 Times More PageRank

Whether you want to start a business and sell on... Read More

SEO and Google Indexing - Why It Requires A Complex Blend of Skills

If it was easy, everybody would be doing it. Getting... Read More

SEM - Research Measures Success

SEM - Research Measures SuccessSearch engine marketing success comes from... Read More

The 7 Points of Do-It-Yourself SEO

Ever felt intimidated at the convoluted, jargon-ridden information about Internet... Read More

What Constitutes a Complete and Effective SEO Campaign?

Unfortunately, not many Search Engine Optimization companies know what this... Read More

PPC Advertising ? The First Step In A SEO Marketing Campaign

Often, sites view seo and PPC marketing as exclusive marketing... Read More

The Reality of Search Engine Submissions

Over the last few months, search engine submissions have changed... Read More

Taking Advantage of Googles Sandbox Effect

Most new sites submitted to Google (at least within the... Read More

SEO Expert Guide - Ongoing Monitoring of Results (part 9/10)

In the Guide, you have, so far, learnt how to... Read More

Buying Textlinks: The Latest SEO Craze

With search engine algorithms changing seemingly daily, the quest to... Read More