How to write great web pages!

While most of this page talks about search engine optimization (SEO), take a minute to explore the links on the left. There are pages on a number of topcis of interest to those building websits.

Search engine optimization, what does it mean? How can my site achieve a high page rank and show up in Google and other search engines? How can I tame search engine spiders? What are the tips and tricks that will make my web site a success?

There seems to be a lot of confusion and innocent ignorance surrounding search engines, how they work, and why one's site isn't listed higher than it is. While there is a fair measure of black magic involved there's more science than art at work. I'm going to share a few tidbits to get you started. (If I share too many, I lose my advantage.)

Don't be accused of being a spamming pornographer Don't cheat. Build a good site for your target audience. Stick to the basics. Trying to outsmart Google/Yahoo/MSN doesn't work.

Why? Because many of the things you're thinking about doing have been done by spammers and/or pornographers. Emulating them will get you treated like them. You've been warned. Build an honest site for your users and you shall be rewarded.

Google. (and then everyone else) Let's state the obvious: it's a Google game. They rule the roost and one assumes that Yahoo!, Microsoft Live, Ask, and the other wannabe's all model themselves on Google whether they admit it or not. Google works by algorithm. So learn the math, reap the rewards.

Assume that the other search engines are trying to catch up with Google and in doing so reward many of the same things Google does. Make honest, organic sites, not contrived, synthetic ones.

It's the math stupid. There is no one magic bullet. Instead there are multiple little tricks and techniques. Taken together they represent a solid approach. Remember: Google is rumored to have a 200 variable algorithm behind search. If so, it's no wonder one needs multiple techniques, each of which trigger one or more of those 200 fabled variables. So yes, the little stuff matters so do everything little thing you can all the time.

Make it a habit: templates & boilerplate Create templates and boilerplate with search engine optimization (SEO) in mind. Then there's no additional effort needed to get high page rank. Build a blank page with all the elements you want or need and make new pages as copies of it. Reuse elements within pages. Be careful about using duplicate content though; that's a no-no.

Verify to standards I write XHTML instead of HTML. It's a habit once you get used to it and it assures you that the widest number browser/OS combinations can display your pages correctly. lowercase tags, use hspace/vspace/border even if you don't need to, always use alt tags for images, etc.

Use online validation servers to check your code. Then cheat wisely.

Meta matters While no one meta tag is a magic bullet, in toto they make a significant difference. Make them unique to each page. The title, keyword, and description meta tags are the bare mimumum so put some thought into them.

The title is more important than most people think. What terse fortune cookie would best describes a given page? That's your title. Keywords are like the three bears: not too many, not too few, just right. What words and phrases should people use to find your site? Include misspellings, synonyms, alternate phrases, etc. The description: if I search for your site, what line or two in your entry will make me click on the link? The title should be 64 characters or less, the description 180 characters or less.

Make search engines look at and analyze your pages. Don't let them use the Open Directory Project entry for your site. You have no control over that. Prevent the ODP being used by including this line in your head:
  <meta name="robots" content="noodp">

Breadcrumb trails: alt, URL names, naming conventions As good as they are, search engines are just machines. Help them along by giving them as many clues as you can. The elements at the top of the page are more important than the bottom. The first paragraph is weighted more than the last. Things on the left are more important than the right. Use literal names for URLs, image and media files, link text, etc. Leave nothing to chance. Be explicit: www.jetcityorange.com/cell-phones  www.makeupcbarcodes.com/UPC-barcode-check-digit.html  www.code128barcodes.com/Code-128-character-set.html

Graphics Name graphic files with search engines in mind (West-Seattle-map.jpg instead of WSmap32.jpg). Use descriptive alt tags that further describe the image to search engines (alt="West Seattle map of Olmsted gardens"). Search engines are incapable of looking into the image and figuring out what it is.

I link, you link, we link The anchor text for links is extremely important. Make sure that it's unambiguous and descriptive. <a href="http://www.yourURL.com/">vegetarian black bean chili recipe</a> is better than vegetarian black bean chili <a href="http://www.yourURL.com/">recipe</a>. The same goes for images, audio, video, etc. The search engine can't listen to an MP3 or watch a video. You have to "tell" it what the anchor text is.

Inbound links from other sites are one of the major ways search engines use to figure out how important your site is. If 100 people link to you you must be more important than my site that has only 17 incoming links. The search engines assume that the rest of the world has ranked various sites' relevance. The sites that link to you should be related to yours and that they should be quality sites that the search engines rank high. There's little value in a link from a cooking site if your site is about car repair. Reciprocal links are tricky. If A links to B and B links to A, that really doesn't convey any weighted data to the search engines. Better to have 100 inbound links and 10 outbound.

Sitemaps Search engines send out spiders to explore the web. Create a sitemap that tells them what's in your site and when it was last changed. When you update your site, update the site map too. Use a sitemap.xml file built by www.auditmypc.com/xml-sitemap.asp Include a link to your sitemap somewhere on your home page.