Key points on the design and
layout of your website.
Web site
-design
Site design -some key points
Do NOT use frames -they don't work with search engines
Avoiding using flash or heavy graphic formats unless you are
well known enough for people to come looking for you anyway.
Do not mask text -for example white text on a white background,
or tiny font size -you will be penalised by the search engines
for doing this.
Put as many cross links as possible between pages on your site
-make it easy for people to stay on you site. You might also
consider including a site map, and of course, don't forget to
link ALL your pages back to the Home Page
Page name and title -should be
supportive of the main area of content/page name. Each page should
be individually named.
Text within page -again use the
keywords as headings in bold, larger text near the top of the
page. Search engines look for such text in preference to other
words on your site.
Meta tags -use these to support
the page content with meta-title, contents and keywords. Make
each page different. However don't rely on this, as it is now
much less important than it used to be.
The opposition -do searches using
your key words and see what comes up top -without copying you
can 'borrow' ideas from other sites. Ask youself why are these
pages coming up top -if they are paying for placement, then you
will have to decide if you can afford to do the same. If not
then ask how many of the principles described here do they follow.
Appearance -finally and most
important, check how others will see your site. If you use Apple
Macintosh, then look at it using Windows, if you use Firefox
or Safari then view with Explorer and if you have a twenty inch
monitor see how it looks with a fifteen inch screen. Also, don't
use unusual fonts -other people will not have them.
