ERT WEB DESIGN - SEO TECHNIQUES

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"What is so important about search engine optimization and how does it apply to my website? What kind of things do you look at to determine what needs to be optimized on a website to get it noticed (out of the millions of other sites on the internet in my same field)?"

When we look at optimizing a website we look at the following criteria:

• Optimization
• Design Elements
• Accessibility
• User Experience

Here is a breakdown of the items we look at in these criteria:

Optimization - this is probably the most important section when it comes to good search engine results. Optimization is a look at how well optimized your website is using nown best practices for Search Engine Optimization.

1. Total Word Count - One of the most fundamental rules of SEO is that "content is king". Typically, content-rich pages are ranked higher in search engines than pages with limited or no content.
2. Meta Keywords Count - Meta keywords are one of the key building blocks of a well-ranked site. They are ideally responsible for letting search engines know which keyword searches should contain your site in a result set. While most search engines no longer solely rely on Meta Keywords in this respect, they are still and important part of the equation.
3. Total Keyword Frequency - Keyword frequency is a measure of the number of times your keyword phrases appear on your page. This is important because most search engines use it as a gauge of how much your pages relate to your keywords. Pages with higher frequency will typically be ranked higher in search engines for their targeted keyword phrases.
4. Keyword Frequency in the TITLE tag - Search engines place a high level of importance on the keywords that appear i the title of a web page. Accordingly, it is a good idea to put your most important and relevant keywords in the title of your page. When doing this, also make sure that it is readable and makes sense to the user. Many search engines will aso use this title as the title of your site in the index, this area is a ery important and key factor.
5. Link Text - Search engines also place a high level of importance on the keywords that appear in the link text of a web page. Accordingly, it is a good idea to work your keywords into your link text whenever possible.
6. Keywords in URLs you link to - Another area that search engines place a high level of importance on is the text in the HREF portion of your links. Accordingly, it is always a good idea to work keywords into filenames when applicable.
7. Keywords in Alt Attributes - Search engines also place a high level of importance on the amount of keywords in your alt text of the images on your page. Alt text s the text that your users see if they mouseover n image on your age. Accordingly, it is always a good idea to work keywords into Alt text when applicable.
8. Total Keyword Prominence - Keyword prominence is a measure of how close your keywords are to the beginning of their containing HTML element. This is important because most search engines use it as gauge of how much your pages relate to your keywords. Pages with higher keyword prominence will typically be ranked higher in search engines for their targeted keyword phrases.
9. Keyword Prominence in the TITLE tag - Remember that search engines place a high level of importance on the keywords hat appear in the titleof a web page. This rule applies to prominence as well. The closer your keywords are to the beginning of your title, the more importance search engines will likely attribute to your page in respect to the listed keywords.
10. Total Keyword Density - Keyword density is the measure of the percentage of keywords in a certain body of text. This is important because most search engines use it as a gauge of how much your pages relate to your keywords. Pages with higher keyword density will typically be ranked higher in search engines for their targeted keyword phrases.
11. Content Weight - Remember that one of the most fundamentalrules of SEO is that "content is king". Typically, the more content on a page, the more importance search engines attribute to that page.
12. Inline Scripts - Remember that one of the rules of SEO is that "content is king". Stuffing your HTML files full of scripts is known as code bloat and results in pages with extremely low content weight and excessive file sizes and download times. Excessive script code in your page can also slow down the search engine crawler making it more difficult to get to the true content of the page.
13. Credibility - Website credibility is a key component of online marketing. People are less likely to buy your products or use your services if your site doesn't seem credible. Some elements that can help users identify your site as a credile resource are: an about this website section, contact details, discussion forums, a news section, an affiliates program, user testimonials, a privacy policyand a terms of service section.
14. H1 Tags - Heading tags provide a goodway for sites to emphasize certain keywords and phrases.In the same way that search engines place high levels of imprtance on title tags, they also place high levels of importance on heading tags. Of all the heading tags, the H1 tag is the most emphasized and one of the best places to put your most important keyword phrases.
15. H2 Tags - The H2 tag is another eample of a hding tag that search engines place higher levels of importance on. Just like the H1 tag provides a good way for you to emphasize your most imortant keyword phrases.
16. Redirects - Using redirects can get your site delisted from the search engines when not used properly, it is best not to use them at all when possible.
    

Design Elements - the design of your website has a substantial impact on the usability of your site by users as well as search engines. The better your site is designed, the easier it is for users to navigate your site and allowing search engines to scan the content of your site faster. In this section we analyze various design elements such as fonts, tables, CSS and more.

1. Valid HTML - We have to make sure that your site complies with W3C standards.
2. Use of CSS - Cascading Style Sheets are a great way to control the layout and the look of your site. Not only do they ad standardization to your layout but they remove a lot of unecessary HTML which helps improve your content weight. You should try your best to use style sheets whenever possible.
3. Valid CSS - If your CSS is in compliance, the browsers will be able to render your site correctly as specified in your CSS file.
4. Flash - Flash movies, when used properly, can greatly enhance the user-experience for your site. It is important to realize, however, that while Flash movies may add to your user-experience, they can harmyou in the areas of accessibility and SEO. Currently, most search engines and screen readers have trouble accessing all of the content embedded in a Flash movie.
5. Sound - Many people and search engines view embedded sound objects as a sign of unprofessionalism. This can also make your load slower for your users and slow down earch engine spiders on your page causing them to leave.
6. Fonts - Using font tags on your site can make your site more readable and appealing to your users. However, using the font tag can also cause code bloat and force the search engine crawlers to wade through more code. Using Cascading Style Sheets will help to eliminate the problem.
7. Frames - Frames hinder search engines from indexing all the pages on your site. By not using frames, you are allowing the search engines to index all your web pages. This will help to increase your search engine saturation for your site as well.
8. Tables - Using tables to layout your site leads to excessive markup which decreases your content weight and increases your home page download time.
9. Meta Tags - Using meta tags properly allows search engines to match your keywords with the content of your page.

Accessibility - Accessibility of your website is very important for users with disabilities and automated web browsers (like search engine robots). In this section we will analyze different areas of your site to ensure that your site is compliant with accessibility standards.

1. Accessibility - We have to make sure that your site meets accessiblity standards. By doing this, you allow users with disabilities the opportunity to browse your website.
2. Alt Attributes - Alt attributes for your image are a essential part of SEO. Because search engines and screen readers cannot read images they rely on the Alt text that describes that image.

User Experience - There are many reasons why a user will leave a website. One reason is because the website fails to load in the users browser quickly; thus, keeping them waiting. In this secion we wil take a look at several aspects that can cause your site to load slower so that you can improve the load time. We will also look at the features of your site that can make the site more interesting and pleasurable or your users.

1. Download Speed - We determine your page load speed in seconds for persons using a variety of connection speeds.
2. Total Requests - We determine how many request objects are on your page. The more you have the longer wait times for your visitors.
3. Total Request Size - We determine the current request size of your page. Again, the more images, scripts, styles and other media objects on the page the longer the wait times.
4. Images - We determine how many images are on your page as well as the sizes, and optimization, of the images.
5. Scripts - We determine how many scripts are on your page.
6. CSS - We determine how many external CSS files are on your page.
7. HTML - We determine how many external HTML files are on your page.
8. Media - We determine how many external media files are on your page.
9. Image Size - We determine the size of the images on your page.
10. Script Size - We determine the size of the scripts on your page.
11. CSS Size - We determine the CSS file size.
12. HTML size - We determine the size of your HTML files.
13. Media size - We determine the size of the media on your page.
14. Forms - The use of forms can make your site more usable to your users and add functionality to your website, making it more user-friendly.
15. Quality Rating - We determine your quality rating (%). We check to see if your site avoids the use of common marketing keywords and foul language. Search engines will likely recognize that your site is of the highest quality if your quality rating shows well.
16. Features - We determine what kind of features your ste currently has (i.e. search facility, website map, downloads, help, frequently asked questions, etc.). These features encourage users to come back to your site, resulting in repeat customers.

Anna Dalea, Web Designer
ERT Website Solutions
1710 W. Hillcrest Dr. #188, Newbury Park, CA 91320
Phone: 805.391.1305     Fax: 814.286.5089      Email: anna@ert2go.com
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