Imagine the nausea and anxiety of having your site disappear without trace from multiple major search engines in the space of a few days… no longer able to be located on Yahoo’s new search engine, and consequently MSN, plus other Yahoo search partners! And this a niche tourism site which, by design, had for the past few years enjoyed No.1 placement on all the major search engines for an array of relevant keyword phrases, and was generating 10,000+ “qualified” visitors per month.
We are not talking about a slip in the rankings here either – we are talking about a total purge from Yahoo’s web results, despite the site being a long-standing, high ranking site within the Yahoo directory. We are also talking about a site which continued to rank No.1 on Google throughout this little crisis. A site which had not had any significant recent modification, had no “dodgy” optimisation trickery, and which has been a stable, reliable repository of 300+ pages of useful, regularly updated content. How could a site like this disappear, you ask? Could it happen to me, you ask? Let me explain how it evolved…
After checking search results intently for a week, hoping the site would bounce back into the limelight, and wracking our brains to figure out what had happened, we decided to subscribe to Yahoo’s Site Match program to get the site re-indexed. And re-indexed within a couple of days it was, according to the Site Match stats, but still it did not reappear in the index. An urgent message to Site Match support received a very prompt response, as follows;
“Hello Ben,
Yahoo does not like custom NOT Found pages used to advertise other links to your site. You may want to revisit this approach.”
Best Regards, Overture Site Match Support, Overture@PositionTech.com
Gulp… the site had always had a custom 404 page, and since a major site revamp 3 years ago the 404 page has had a mini site-map providing links to content relocated onto other sites. We very quickly blew all that stuff away, but the anticipated reappearance in the Yahoo search results did not occur. Again, a mayday to Site Match support received another prompt response, as follows:
“Hello Ben,
It is apparent that you had fixed your 404 problem. However, we ran your URL through an HTML validator and found that it did have errors in the code. Even though this is not critical, every little bit helps in getting good placement to drive traffic to your site. Here is that URL to the validator. We hope this helps. http://validator.positiontech.com/anthr.cfm”
Best Regards, Overture Site Match Support, Overture@PositionTech.com”
Well, under stress, its always good to have a goal…. So after a visit to the validator URL above, and verifying that there were indeed some issues, we downloaded a copy of CME’s HTML Validator Lite 3.5 from www.htmlvalidator.com and systematically eliminated every issue. None were major – some extra and tags, which translates as incorrect nesting. The home page title had an ampersand done as “&” instead of “&” So now, there is not a single HTML error in the site’s index.htm page…
Now, I have to say we had serious reservations about something as simple as this being the key to reinstatement in the Yahoo index. I mean, since when have search engines been pedantic to the point where they will completely banish a site for a few minor code errors? Google, the epitome of search engines, has obviously accommodated or ignored the minor errors on the site.
White text on white background, ok… but an ampersand? Please!
Well, to my complete amazement, within 12 hours the site was back in the Yahoo index, sitting at No.1 for the expected range of keywords within Yahoo web results.
All the best stories have a moral, and this one could even achieve parable status.
- First thing is, go check your custom 404 pages.
- Second, tidy up your HTML code before they drop your site.
This exercise has got to be good for you (just like organic muesli, bran flakes etc). After all, how often do find a legitimate excuse to mess with raw HTML code these days? Honestly, either option is about as appealing as a bout of self-flagellation!
Speaking for myself, I have an intense dislike of anything that raw – muesli and/or html. I must also make the point that I did not make the HTML code mistakes myself, you understand? (Well, maybe I did the & ampersand thingy) J
Complacency is the issue – the site was error free on creation, but has been online for several years, generating business. The regular maintenance, rebuilds, rearrangements etc had obviously allowed accumulation of some minor HTML code errors over time, and we had foolishly not kept a close eye on that particular issue, relying on the HTML editing software too much.Like most webmasters, since their invention I’ve cheerfully and unashamedly used a “WYSIWYG” HTML Editor - which of course inserts the dodgy code all by itself. In my case, the culprit is Microsoft’s FrontPage, which I am very fond of. I love it because it does lots of really, really clever stuff at a very sensible price. There is a touch of irony to this story, because MSN Search is currently getting its results via Yahoo… Microsoft’s own software could therefore be responsible for eliminating some very good sites from its own search index.
So now, we’re back in the Yahoo index at No.1 but not yet out of the woods. We are out a hundred US bucks though! To sign up for the Site Match program, first there was the US$50 sign-up fee for the indexing for a year, and then the US$50 in advance for the 15c per click-thru from the search result listing…. However, we’re very grateful for the rapid and accurate advice from the Site Match support team!
I wonder what happened to those guys?
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Focus on the Product
1.2.1 Decide on Site Name/URL
1.2.2 Internal Page Naming
1.2.3 Image Names
1.3 Design Issues
1.3.1 JavaScript
1.3.2 Flash
1.4 FRAMES
1.5 Splash Pages
1.6 Databases vs Text
1.7 Page Layout
1.8 Content
1.9 Links
1.10 Geographic/Location Searches
1.11 HTML Coding Errors
1.12 Choosing a Designer
1.13 Site Maintenance
1.14 Ten SEO Design Rules
1.1 Introduction
Should you be contemplating a new web site, or the rebuild of an older site, there are many issues you need to consider. High in the priority list at the outset should be search engine rankings, and design of the site to maximise the site’s potential web profile is crucial to success. A key design criteria should be to ensure that the web site, as launched, will require minimal remedial search engine optimisation. In the process of site creation there is almost always conflict between form (design) and function.
The key premise must be that without visitors, the site is worthless. To achieve a return on investment (ROI) the site needs to generate the maximum volume of “free” traffic. Your design goal is generation of qualified traffic i.e. potential customers who want what you offer, and arrived on your site by choice because it was relevant to their search. These days, you will see this referred to as “organic” search results.
Aside from this, the site may also generate traffic from newspaper advertising, mail-outs, your business stationary and business cards etc containing the site’s URL, and from pay-per-click advertising campaigns on search engines via Yahoo Search Marketing and Google Adwords. This is not “free” traffic because it is generated at additional cost over and above your site’s establishment and operating costs.
Ranking highly establishes brand recognition and there is the underlying impression of credibility if you are always in the Top 10 on search results. Organic search results achieve a much higher click-thru rate than paid advertising.
The items covered here are all elements within any serious search engine optimisation program, and should all be incorporated into the site design to varying degrees. Each of the major search engines has a great many elements in its ranking algorithms and the more you can get right, the better the results. You are setting out to make a crystal clear and unequivocal statement of what your site is all about.
1.2 Focus on the Product
Be very clear what it is you are selling… and aim all content and copy at ensuring that potential customers know that you have it available.
1.2.1 Decide on Site Name/URL
There is definite benefit in having primary keywords in the site’s URL. e.g. www.fast-food-delivery.com There is a balance to be struck between wanting to include multiple important keywords, and user inconvenience in typing very long URL’s.
Separatong words with a hyphen; e.g. www.fast-food-delivery.com is possibly better than stringing them together as www.fastfooddelivery.com - although some SEO guru’s suggest being sparing with the total number of hyphens. Some say one is enough…
1.2.2 Internal Page Naming
There is also definite benefit in having keywords in the site’s internal HTML page names, e.g. www.fast-food-delivery.com/riccarton-food-delivery.html The more clues you can give to the search engines regarding the content of a page, the easier it is for the SE to rank it.
1.2.3 Image Names
There is also benefit in giving descriptive image file names e.g. gourmet-hawaiian-pizza.jpg is better than pic1.jpg
The keywords contained in the image names will not be ignored by the SE’s and will usually gain you some additional traction.
Search engines now index image files, and it is therefore useful to give all your image files descriptive names. Some traffic will be generated this way, so you might as maximise the opportunity.
1.3 Design Issues
There are many elements to be considered in building site that will rank well on the search engines.
1.3.1 JavaScript
Bear in mind that pretty much anything contained within JavaScript is ignored by the search engine spiders. A nice JavaScript menu is all very fine and dandy, so by all means use one – I always do. However, because the links to internal pages within that menu will not always be seen by Googlebot and other spiders, it is crucial to provide an internal HTML pathway that allows the spiders to index all your content. Achieve this by;
- Content links – provide text links to internal pages from within the Home page. Anchor text that uses primary keywords, linked to an optimised page that has relevant information, will score you lots of brownie points. Pages with direct links from the Home page are also accorded a higher value.
- Site map page – ensure you have a text link on the Home page to a site map page which has a text html link to every internal page. Spiders seldom go deeper than 3 levels, so this tactic ensures all pages are accessible at no more than 3 levels deep.
Use JavaScript sparingly – every additional word and comment tag within a page diffuses keyword density within that page.
Use an external file and “call” your JavaScript applications instead of adding them to the pages. This is more efficient and, where a change is required, means editing one file instead of dozens of pages.
1.3.2 Flash
Do NOT use it to build a site in its entirety. There is no known benefit and lots of downside. Seriously, Flash animations should only be used where they can serve a key purpose – perhaps to establish a theme, or to tell a story. Images should be kept small, and file sizes less than 200k if possible.
On the Internet, attention spans are short, time is precious, and we want as near to instant page load times as possible. Flash is slow to load, content is not easy to index, and maintenance is more complicated and expensive. Please remember that not everyone is on Broadband yet…
1.4 FRAMES
Frames are an architecture solution for strictly controlling what the viewer sees on the screen. They are also a disaster from a search engine perspective, as search engines cannot readily penetrate into internal content Were search engines able to index internal pages, a viewer directed to the indexed pages would not see that page within the normal context of framed page menus, headers and footers, making navigation a confusing experience. Do not allow your web designer to use FRAMES.
1.5 Splash Pages
A growing trend on web sites is to have a “splash” page which might have a nice animated Flash graphics introduction etc, and looks superb.
Do not permit your designer to use a splash page. It forces your users to “click to enter the site” and this irritates people enough the first time, and really reduces their enthusiasm to return.
A “Splash” page is like the box-within-the-box type of present – really amusing for the guy who cello-taped up the boxes, but bloody irritating for the person trying to get inside to the goodies.
Splash pages are invariably a monument to the designer’s graphical and artistic genius, and serve no purpose in the site’s function.
1.6 Databases vs Text
I am fixated on not using databases, as this is generally an awful approach to building a web site from a SEO perspective. For most “small business web sites” there is simply no sound justification for a database-driven approach. However, on an e-commerce web site it will almost certainly be necessary to drive your online ordering system via a database, often using extensive JavaScript programming etc. What I’d recommend is building an “outer” HTML-based site with an inner Shop.
For an example of this, take a look at www.kozitoez.co.nz or www.BenArthur-Photography.com - These are modest little static HTML-based sites with an osCommerce core and a reasonably seamless integration of SEO requirements… Perhaps your online ordering application could work in a similar same way, where the outer HTML pages would be unique and fully optimised with individualised file names, titles, description, keywords etc.
Most database-driven sites make it difficult to produce unique pages – usually there are generic title, description and keyword tags to make it easer to maintain. Databases are also famous for impenetrable URLs – any URL having a “?” or “&” in it makes life difficult for search engine spiders trying to index internal content.
Databases are often promoted on the “ease of maintenance” grounds. Instead, I recommend the use of “include” pages to produce standard elements such a header, footer, side menu. One change on one page is reflected across all pages.
1.7 Page Layout
Keep it simple. There are some basic rules to be observed that will ensure best results in search engine rankings. These can conflict with the site designer’s view of the world, and you need to make informed decisions when/if compromises are to be made.
The search engines place greatest emphasis on the top of the page – the 1st heading or title, and the 1st paragraph. Your keywords must be placed prominently there. Use a narrow header holding a company logo, this header could be common to every internal page.
Follow this with a Title/Heading in H1 style to emphasise its importance, and containing the keywords/ key phrase. Follow this with a brief first paragraph, containing the keywords/ key phrase at the beginning, highlighted in bold. If possible, using an iteration of the keywords/ key phrase as the anchor text, add a link to an internal page containing more detail.
Some search engines will look for the first iteration of the search phrase, and include a portion of the paragraph as their results for the search. Its crucial that you control what searchers see by providing good copy.
You need to have around 300-500 words on the page. Place some strategic links to key pages on the footer, plus your address with all relevant geographic location details.
1.8 Content
Content is king, content rules, ok! To achieve consistently high rankings, you need good content, able to be readily indexed. To me, this means a series of simple heirachical HTML pages, which might include;
- Products and/or Services
- Contact Us – a form-based interface for customers to contact you with suggestions, complaints etc
- Web Resources – a links page to sites of interest to your clients
- A “Link to Us” page outlining your preferred link-back text
- Site Map page listing every in text hyperlinks
- Company Profile
- Newsletter
- Location Map if applicable
- Coverage Area Maps
- Special Deals and promotions
- Hours of operation
- Rates
Build yourself a dozen or so unique pages with around 400 words apiece, targeting slightly different keywords/phrases on each page. Now you’ve got some substance for the SE’s to work with.
1.9 Links
Incoming links to your site are a crucial element of the search engine ranking game, and especially important on Google. In fact, its very difficult to get indexed at all on Google if there are no incoming links to your site.
The quality of links and their context are more important than the quantity. E.g. a link to your site from Telecom’s Internet Yellow Pages, on a page of content related to your theme is worth 25 links from B&B’s, hotels etc.
Search out all the local business directories in your area of operation. See which ones rank well and get listed on them even if it costs you a few $ annually to do so.
When you have nothing to do, sit down and look for sites that link to your competitors and contact their webmasters seeking reciprocal links.
1.10 Geographic/Location Searches
These days, most searchers refine their query with multiple words, frequently using location e.g. “fast food delivery Christchurch” or “hotel accommodation Ashburton.” If you are city or suburb specific, be specific about that. E.g. specify this in page Title, Description, Body text etc. Include city, suburb, address, postal code in the page footer on all pages.
Search engines are also heavily focused on “location” as an indexing element that enables increased relevancy searches, in particular geographic location.
1.11 HTML Coding Errors
Ensure the designer does produce perfect HTML code. You can easily validate (check) this, but be sure to indicate to the designer that this is a prerequisite. Yahoo in particular will not index a site if there are HTML code errors – and this as a consequence would exclude you from MSN and many other search engines and portals as well!
1.12 Choosing a Designer
By now, you’ve got a better idea of the overall design goals, and you can use these points to help in specifying your design requirements. Set out a design brief and circulate it to several designers for appraisal and request project cost estimates.
Refine the list to a group of 3 potential designers from the preliminary response to your design brief. Meet with each and discuss the site project with them, ensuring that they understand what you want. Redefine the plan, refine costs.
Request a “fixed price contract” which requires that you have agreed on everything before hand. If it takes longer than estimated, that becomes someone else’s problem, not yours. Any amendments required by you are obviously a variation to the plan, and must therefore be made at additional cost to you. All such amendments should be requested in writing, costed by the designer, and agreed to by both parties.
1.13 Maintenance
Site maintenance is a key issue. There will be ongoing site changes – to the links pages, food specials, pricing etc. You need to figure out who will do that for you, and to keep it as simple as possible. Rather than requiring expensive, complex software, or arcane FTP file transfers etc, you need a simple maintenance process, no more complex than using a word processor.
Many of my clients use MS FrontPage 2003 for site maintenance because it gets the job done reliably and at a modest price. A good alternative, although somewhat more complex, is Macromedia Dream Weaver.
Maintenance becomes an issue for many, either from a technical or lack of time perspective. Usually the task does not require a full-time webmaster, and but for small business there are not always skilled staff available to handle it the task. Your site designer will usually offer to do maintenance for you, and there are also “contract webmasters” available to assist.
1.14 The SEO Guy’s 10 Design Rules
1. No “Flash”
2. No “Splash” page
3. No “FRAMES”
4. No unnecessary databases
5. Simple layout – Logo, Heading, 1st paragraph, followed by balance of body text
6. Use HTML pages – fast, easily indexed
7. Unique Pages – every page has a different title, description, keyword targets
8. Fast page load times, minimal graphics use
9. No Coding Errors permitted
10. Use of Headers, Footers, Side Menus– via “include” pages, to minimise maintenance
Hell, if all designers did this, The SEO Guy would be looking for another job! 
