Creating an effective an attractive website is an acquired skill over years of practice. Even someone who thinks they are know everything about search engine optimization truly doesn't know everything.
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| The Web Design Process |
This is because the Internet is always changing and the way search engines find content is consistently changing. Because of this, no one is truly an expert.
Content
There are several things that web designers take into account to create effective websites. One of the first and most important things is content. In order to get high rankings, you have to have a lot of content that is relevant to your information. This doesn't mean to go out and pack keywords into your current sites content but to effectively use it within your content. If you do go out and pack in the keywords, your ranking will most definitely go down. This is known as keyword stuffing.
Title
Rather than putting "home page" or "my site name" for the title, create a descriptive title that sums up the pages information. Make sure to use the meta tag, title to your advantage.
Description
The description meta tag isn't used much, but it is still very important that you use it. The reason being, some search engines still specifically use it. Especially if you don't have any content.
Keywords
Now I know your probably thinking that the keywords tag is pretty much useless and for the most part you are correct. The reason why I still use it, is because I believe that everything together matters. Making sure you include this might not make much of a difference, but it doesn't really hurt you to have it. Make sure you don't stuff keywords in this tag, try to keep it under 25 words.
HTML Validation
Make sure you have coded your site to use the most up to date standards for the HTML type you are using. There are several tools online you can use to do this. Make sure you don't use deprecated tags or anything else that isn't a standard.
Source Files
Take advantage of being able to link to a cascade style sheet file, JavaScript file, or any other scripting file. The smaller you can make your source code the better. Get rid of extra white space and remove anything that can be linked with a simple file. When viewing the source file, it is better to see more content than coding. Don't confuse the search engines with extra coding.
Alt Tags
Alt tags are a simple and effective way to make sure search engines find your site. Make sure you use descriptive tags that describe the link or image.
Don't try to write content for search engines!
If you try to write your content and meta tags for the search engines your site is sure to fail in website optimization. Rather than thinking about what you want the search engines to find, instead try to describe your site to effectively communicate to your customers who you are and what you want to do. Just write whats going on, use captions, use alt tags, use effective titles. Keep what the search engines are looking for in the back of your head, while you create your sites content that describes your websites goal.
