Site Structure and Uniform Layout

September 29, 2009 by Ray

Color schemes, font size, layout of pages, and navigation structure must be consistent throughout the site for the benefit of both humans and those search engine “tigers” that we want to keep well fed at all times!

Functional and uniform layout
Keep navigation consistent and clear. It is the most important concern for good “usability”. Visitors are more likely to stay at your site when they realize how quickly they can find their way around. Keep the link names (“anchor text”) as simple as possible. Your home page link should be easy to find so people can “start over” if they get lost.

Understandable Navigation
Arrange the pages (navigation) as if you are giving a tour which culminates in a purchase or contact. The hierarchy of the site should flow from most requested information to the least important so that significant areas are easy to find.

Keep site structure logical
Create a list or flowchart of the major content areas and sort individual pages into their relevant categories. It will be easier for visitors to locate the specific information they want if the structure makes sense. If a series of pages is dedicated to a particular purpose, include it as a directory name within your hosting account, giving you additional credit for keywords. For example, a shoe store may categorize items by type and then each type by brand. Great choices of directory and page names for “ABCShoes.com” could be:

Running Shoes
ABCShoes.com/running/asics.html
ABCShoes.com/running/brooks.html
ABCShoes.com/running/nike.html

Tennis Shoes
ABCShoes.com/tennis/reebok.html
ABCShoes.com/tennis/brooks.html
ABCShoes.com/tennis/nike.html

Keep the structure relatively flat, meaning as few layers (directories, sub-directories) as possible. Shorter paths to internal pages result in more credit by search engines.

Organize link menus
Ensure easy access to each page. Large sites may need a Site Map, Search Feature or drop-down menu such as at http://www.HealthandEndurance.com. In particular, a horizontal or vertical drop-down menu allows easy categorization of pages, while using a small area of the page. With multiple sub-menus, visitors can jump from one page to another with minimal clicks. New pages can be quickly added at to the appropriate location.

Maintain consistent layout features
All pages must show consistency in terms of backgrounds, colors, navigation, font sizes, etc. If they don’t look like they all belong to the same website, you don’t look professional. It also invites confusion.

Get a Great Domain Name

June 24, 2009 by Ray

Finding the best domain name (web address) can help you achieve higher search engine ranking.

Use search terms in domain name
When the internet was in it’s infancy, everyone scrambled for the shortest possible web addresses. This works well when your name is “IBM” but can get tricky if your name is “Peoria Day Nursery and Children’s Center Preschool”. Abbreviations can work well if they are logical, but for search engine purposes, “PDNCC.org” is not helpful since it doesn’t include words that people would search for such as nursery, children, preschool, daycare, etc.

Keywords included in web addresses carry considerable weight with search engines. They figure that if the word “school” is part of a web address, then that site would likely be of interest to a web surfer doing a search including the word “school”. So if the name of your organization is “ABC company” and you sell shoes and boots, for SEO purposes, instead of ABC.com you’d be better off with ABCShoes.com or ABCShoesandBoots.com. Adding dashes (-) to separate words does not necessarily help, and it could confuse people.

While it is always proper to use the company name as the domain, if your site has a particular geographic focus, including it can give a significant boost in rank. Using your location as part of the URL helps you show up when visitors key in the city or state they are interested in. “ABCShoesNewYork.com” tells us your company name, what you sell and where you are.

Many organizations purchase several domain names, to prevent their competition from using similar ones to try to confuse people into visiting the wrong website.
At around $10 per year for each name, purchasing a few could be inexpensive insurance. ABC may go with ABCShoes.com, ABC-Shoes.com, ABCShoesandBoots.com, ABCShoes.net and have each of those domains forward to the official web address so visitors would end up at the same destination regardless of which of the above they punched in.
More information

Content is King for Websites

May 25, 2009 by Ray

As a website owner, you must give your visitors what they want.
The main goal of your website is to “sell” your products, services or ideas. An eCommerce (Shopping Cart) site directly earns revenue by taking online orders. Informational sites seek to persuade visitors to travel to a physical location or request further details by phone, email, or signing up for a newsletter or membership. Whatever tactic your site takes, you must study the whole process from the visitor’s point of view.
Right from the start, your web pages must be engaging and provide what people came there to find.

Keep the people happy
“Content is King!” This has been the credo of web designers and SEO experts from day one. Incorporate the “keywords” and “keyphrases” your visitors are searching for throughout the site. Keywords are the words and phrases that people type into search engines. The most popular of these expressions must be included on your pages in various places.

With endless choices for any subject, your site must be customer focused. Catch the attention of visitors within 3-8 seconds or they will try one of the other three million related sites, never to return again. First impression is crucial, so choose your home page headlines, text, images and colors carefully.

Capturing their attention within the first few seconds is most important, but you then have to make it easy to solve the problem that initially led them there. The home page needs to concisely explain how you can help
them. It needs to have a layout and navigation system where visitors will quickly realize that their answer is just one or two clicks away. Don’t irritate them by requiring 4 or 5 clicks or by making it a game to guess
which links may have the most pertinent details. Even if they “get lucky”, they may not be able to stumble upon answers in the future.

Web surfers prefer to sell themselves. In the real world, sales and marketing involves convincing prospects in person or via media to try what you’ve got. It often includes playing to their emotions to close the deal.
In the cyber world, there are so many website choices that surfers continue to look for “free stuff” whenever possible. Without seeing each other face-to-face, it’s harder to play to the prospect’s emotions, so they know
that they have the upper hand in that they can decide against you in one click of a key.

Knowing that they control the situation, your site must offer what they want, not what you think they need. Design the site from their point of view by providing complete information, answering logical questions, giving written and visual examples, displaying choices (such as colors and other options), displaying testimonials that people can relate to, and providing free samples! When prospects feel that a website is tailored to their needs, they’ll bookmark it or take the next step towards becoming a customer.

Know your audience
Keep visitors comfortable by designing from their perspective. Your site should reflect the values of your potential customers. If they expect instructions or FAQ pages or multiple photos, meet or exceed these expectations.

When you really prefer that they contact you for certain information (such as pricing or custom specifications) at least guarantee that the details will be provided without sales pressure. Offering a free or discounted promotional item can also entice them to continue the process. Give them what they want and they will return for more!

Submit to Search Engines

May 8, 2009 by Ray

Submit your site to major directories and Search Engines. Besides appearing in those lists, the additional inbound link helps increase rank in Google and others! Start with these:
Google.com
Yahoo.com
MSN.com
DMOZ.org
Jayde.com (business to business)