SEO-Friendly Webdesign

Some website designs perform better when it comes to search engine placements than others. While assessing a website to make it more SEO-friendly, here's a quick checklist of what to look for:

Navigation
Content
Doorway, Splash Page, or Hidden Text
Cross-Browser Accesibility
Focus of Message
Nuts and Bolts of Website Performance
Templates

I know that sounds like quite an intimidating and vague list of terms, but stick with me and I'll explain what each of them mean and why they’re important when considering your website's design.

1. Navigation

First off, Flash is a big no-no. But if your navigation has been designed in Flash, in the great words of Douglas Adams, Don't Panic. If your main navigation is a big Flash piece, understand first of all that search engine spiders can't read it. The robots merely see it as a big, moving image. They have no way to know if it's the impressively designed layout of your site, or a big dancing banana. To help them understand, we can add text navigation in conjunction with your Flash, so it is visible to both human and search engine eyes alike.

Ideally, your navigation will be created in text. Not sure which yours is? Simply try highlighting part of the words. If you can highlight the letters individually from their background, you’re looking at text. If not, it’s probably time to reconsider your navigation.

2. Content

The content itself should be easy to read and understand. Visitors to your site should not have to endlessly hunt to find what they are looking for. And, once they find what they're looking for, try not to confuse them with endless industry jargon. True, it's hard to replace some terms, like search engine optimization, but offer simple explanations to the necessary five-dollar words. Do your best to present one message per section (or page) when organizing your material.

3. Doorway, Splash page, or Hidden Text

Yet another big no. Doorway and Splash Pages are pages where you enter a site and see only a 'click to enter' flash piece or 'welcome to our site' in flashing red letters. Often these include hidden text—text the same color as the background—the use of which is a great way to get your site banned from the search engines.

The best way to introduce your site is to take visitors directly to it, not force them to wait through a collage of pretty but irrelevant images, and the best way to present text is in an organized, visible manner that won’t get you blacklisted.

4. Cross-Browser Accessibility

Although Internet Explorer still dominates as the most used browser, Firefox has shown the first-base player a few tricks, becoming widely popular and even changing the usability of Internet Explorer. (Remember the days before 'open a new tab'?) While it's widely accepted that diversity in the browser arena is a positive change, not every browser displays website code in the same way. In some cases, important elements of your design might be lost or not show up on as you intended. Make sure you’re checking in more than one browser to be sure the 47% of us who use a different browser are really seeing what you want us to see.

5. Focus of Message

So many websites lack a concise message. Are people able to understand what you are trying to say? Do images and shapes help convey that message, or do they distract from it? If we find that your site is offering conflicting messages, we'll inform you that your site is a good candidate for a redesign. The use of organized and clear content does in fact open more doors for SEO tactics on a website.

6. "Nuts and Bolts" of Website Performance

Quick Loading
Do visitors have to wait to view your website? Even graphic-heavy websites should load quickly. Images and content should not only look attractive, but must also be available very quickly, or you’ll lose your visitors before they ever see your site.

Page Titles
Page Titles are extremely important when considering your redesign. Not only do they help indicate what your page is about, but can act as an SEO boost for your site.

Meta Content and Alternative Content
Meta Tags may not be as important as they once were, but with the major search engines these days it still is prudent to have these included within the code of the site itself. We often come across high-end designs for companies of all sizes that do not include Meta content, and subsequently perform poorly on the search engines.

7. Templates

You may hear your account manager talk about getting you into a templated site. Don't be confused! While there's such a thing as a website template which means several sites may look exactly that same, when we're talking about the programming of your site, this could have a hugely positive impact on your site's performance. The more straightforward the code of a website, the more easily search engine bots can move through your site, determine what it pertains to, and catalog it—and the more likely they are to visit again sooner.

While we recommend custom designs for all clients when that option is viable, creating a site where the layout of each page looks similar and cohesive is highly important. Not only will it help your visitor understand that he or she is still on the same site, but it cuts down on the cost of those updates which are so important to make frequently to your site.

Any questions?

I hope you got to the end of that list of explanations and heaved a huge sigh of relief. You've already done everything perfectly? No problem? Fantastic!

If you're on the other side of the fence, however, and staring at your site thinking, 'This thing is never going to work,' don't be discouraged! Call or email your account manager and let us know your concerns. Not only do we want to make sure your site looks great, our goal is to help your site perform at peak level.