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How to Design a Website for the Search Engines
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This is a one of the most important questions any webmaster should ask him or herself : which keywords, how much, and how to naturally include it in the site's content ? Many people refer to this plainly as keyword density. Getting back to basics -...
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Table Structures For Top Search Engine Positioning
So you have a beautiful website that you paid a pretty penny for
and you are completely happy with it ... except no one can find
it. Many web designers do not understand search engine positioning,
so when they design your website little or no thought is given to
the elements of design that may affect your rankings on search engines.
On the other hand some search engine positioning companies offer
services that will boost your rankings but at the expense of your
design. A good search engine positioning company can get your website
ranking for key phrases without affecting the overall design and
navigation of your site. You can make small changes to your website
on your own as well utilizing the tips noted in this article. There
is a happy medium, you can "have your cake and eat it too."
The first step in designing a website that will rank well on search
engines is to build the proper table structure. This framework for
your website will easily guide the search engine spiders through
your site taking the route you want them to. A good table structure
is essentially a map to the spiders, it guides the way as they travel
through your website.
A standard website should use the table structure below:
This table structure is very beneficial to your website ranking
as it guides the spiders to the text rich, most important content
of your site as quickly as possible. The spiders will enter your
site at the first table, the header, and then travel through to
the empty cell in row 1 of the second table, the next stop is your
content area, the "meat" of your website. After going
through your content the spiders will then continue onto row 2 where
you have inserted a table holding your navigation, if your navigation
is image based, as most is, it holds very little content that matters
from the spider's perspective. The spiders will then follow
through to row 3 where you have your footer, a place to add in valuable
text links rich in targeted keywords.
If this table structure does not fit your design at all there can
be work arounds. A good example of this
is shown on http://www.far-sited.ca.
Notice that the index page upon load has a very simple look, no
text, clean, crisp image. This is a good way to present your business
with a simple entry page. If you scroll down the page you will see
that there is in fact a lot of text below this main image. With
a simple 100% x 100% table you can achieve this affect on your website.
This table will open the same way in all resolutions giving your
index page the look of a text free page when in fact it is not.
100% x 100% table used as mentioned above:
If you choose to use the 100% x 100% table noted above you should
still try to stick to the general table structure shown first for
your internal pages. There can always be room for adjustments based
on the size of your site however most websites use left hand navigation
and this table structure is based on left hand navigation. If your
navigation is across the top of your page, maybe reconsider it.
It can remain at the top, I have designed a few websites that are
ranking well with this top navigation, but for the best result,
the left hand navigation using the table structure first mentioned
in this article is best.
All in all I cannot stress enough that a well designed site will
rank higher. Even if you do not have a complete SEO overhaul of
your site this table structure will increase your rankings over
those that do not have a clean, properly structured website. Though
the table structure is not noticed so much by the visitors to your
website aside from the look of it, it is very noticed by the spiders
and they will go through your website based on it. For an added
edge, have your site designed with this table structure, or do it
yourself. Make a point of not only giving the visitors to your website
the information you want them to have but also the spiders and as
quickly and easily as possible.
About the Author
Mary Davies is the owner of Beanstalk
Search Engine Positioning. Mary works and writes with years of experience
in website design and search engine optimization.
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