Mastering Search Engine Optimization: A Comprehensive Guide

Understanding the Importance of SEO in Web Design

When developing a website, it's crucial to consider how search engines will rank your pages. Many issues that negatively affect search engine ranking are embedded during the design phase and are more challenging to rectify once the design is complete.

Most web design contracts are considered fulfilled once a site is live, looks as intended, and is functional. However, what happens to your site beyond this point is often not the concern of the designers. Therefore, if you're in the early stages of planning a website, it's essential to ensure your site is 'search engine friendly'.

Choosing the Right Web Designer

When selecting a web designer, ask them specifically about the steps they will take to make your site SEO-friendly. Gauge their understanding of how search engines work, how they crawl your pages, and how they process the information they retrieve. If their response doesn't inspire confidence, consider seeking the services of a company with a proven understanding of SEO or provide your designer with basic SEO guidelines.

Basic SEO Guidelines for Web Design

Here are some fundamental SEO guidelines to consider when designing a website:

• Include essential Meta tags (Keywords, Description, and Title tags) on each page, focusing on the content of the specific page and maintaining the overall 'theme' of the site.
• Add 'robot instruction' tags indicating which pages should be indexed by search engines and which should not. Use 'noindex', 'nofollow' tags for pages that detract from the overall theme of the site.
• Avoid using 'Meta Refresh' tags that automatically redirect the viewer to another page. If necessary, set the refresh time to a minimum of 15 seconds.
• Design a navigation structure that allows search engines to crawl the important content pages from the home page. Avoid using Java, Flash software, or 'Frames' for navigation as they can prevent key areas of your site from being indexed.
• Use the alt-attribute and name images descriptively. Some search engines read the alt text, which can marginally improve your ranking.
• Name pages using keywords. For example, instead of 'page2.html', use 'american-ginseng.html' if your site is about herbal products.
• If your site uses 'Frames', ensure your designer includes a detailed description of your business, products, or services on the 'noframes' page.
• If the site is designed using dynamic content pages as with ASP, consider designing additional pages that use static HTML.

Submitting Your Site to Search Engines

Once your website design is complete, consider who will submit your site to the search engines. Avoid design companies that use 'bulk submission' software, as it can often be ineffective. We recommend manually submitting your site to leading search engines, following their instructions carefully. On directory sites like Yahoo and the Open Directory, submit your site only once, so make sure to get it right.

Choosing the Right Hosting Service

If you're serious about your online business, avoid free-host sites as they often use redirection scripts that some search engines cannot follow. If you're considering a 'Mall' site or any 'template' based site, find out the constraints they impose on the information you can post. Many only allow basic text, product, and image loading, and may not allow you to load 'optimized' HTML pages.

The Bottom Line

Having a website is all about exposure, and search engines provide the most effective vehicle for reaching your target audience. On average, businesses spend around $1500 on improving search engine rankings, often after a period of being 'lost in the wilderness' of the Internet. However, with careful design, you can avoid this cost, adding only around $200 to the initial design cost of the website.

Even if your site is already online, the above techniques can still be applied retrospectively, though making changes is more challenging than getting it right the first time.