Premium Or Affordable Web Design Company ? Which Is The Right Choice?

All that glitters are not necessarily be gold as all that hypes may not generate desired results – and not every expensive web designing company may not match up to your expectation in designing the layout you want. One way to avert yourself from making an expensive blunder is to hire an affordable web design company.

‘Affordable’ word may show you ray of hope in the midst of expensive website designing services charging outrageous costs for their services labelled as either as ‘exclusive’ or ‘premium’ services – however, are they really worth or assure you higher returns on your investment in web designing? Though we are quite tend to assume that just because we are prioritising on our budget we certainly need to compromise on quality – this can be true in some cases, but also a cliché which is limiting your choices or inhibiting you from seeking quality services within your budget.

Experience and expertise – the proficiency of a web designing depends a great deal on the industry exposure it has generated throughout its total years of services. An affordable web designing company might have catered to the industry or types of websites akin to yours – all you need to do is scrutinise its clients’ testimonials. If the technical skill set, information on their services, seek reviews on their promotional solutions and materials. At the same time consider having an in person confrontation or conversation with the company to probe about their knowledge.

Company’s case studies and portfolio – another way to know whether you are sacrificing on the quality through taking a analysis of the portfolio which showcases their previous works and designing samples. Another area to give you better insight on how the company handles its web designing is through case studies that reveal how capable they are in understanding web designing projects similar to yours. Thus, you can take a prudent decision which will be based on real facts and observation, not to be misguided by assumption or hypes.

These above mentioned factors should be taken under consideration to take a good affordable web design company from a hyped expensive website designing company.

Katie Wilson is expert in Online Marketing and rendering her services to NextGen Web Solutions Pvt. Ltd., affordable web design company offering affordable web development, multimedia graphics, Online Marketing etc.

Need for a Professional Website Design

A website is a corporate identity on the internet. An online website of a business or company helps you with consistent branding of your identity across all global market; strategically helps your business to grow. A well designed online presence can effectively promote your brand message and deliver a pleasant user experience. Websites are not only to be visually pleasing but must also be user friendly so that user can understand what you are offering. There are many things to consider when you want to put up a website online. However, first, you must decide on the topic of your website.

An important thing to remember when you are designing your website is that you want a clean professional look. It might look pretty if your construction business site looks like a nightclub type, but your visitors will only get confused and lost in the gleam and will leave your site, go onto another site. A failed design does not necessarily mean poor design or an ugly Website. Rather, a failing design is one that fails to function properly for the site where it’s used. A design can be very nice, but be terrible for its purpose. You want a clean, uniform design on all pages which should also be easy to navigate. If your Website target is to sell something or generate excitement over a specific idea, you’ll want to design accordingly. For a site promoting surveillance cameras, you wouldn’t want to use a calm ocean picture as your header with deep ocean blues and blacks in your design, you will want some surveillance camera video or picture in your. Sure, you may be able to make a very pretty design many other ways, but it would be a failed design because it would not supplement the site’s goal or message. Visit a few popular sites and see how they are set up and take notice of which ones you can easily find your way in and which ones you easily get lost in and the kind of feeling the design of the sites give to you and you will understand what I mean.

The easy to use well designed sites help businesses to flourish. If your business website is not delivering the results that you had hoped for, take some time to seriously evaluate your site and make some changes before spending your time and money on advertising and marketing. You may be pleasantly surprised after you get search engine optimization services and your well design website will bring you good rate of conversion.

While creating a website for your business, you must consider what color combinations you are using. Colors speak their own language and convey about emotions instantly. Use colors sparingly and  intelligently, in the creation of your website. Once you understand how to use colors into your site, your website performance will get better. Your site should cover all features from excellent homepage to easy navigation to a discussion board or online forum etc.. We know building and maintaining a website takes time and work, but once you get  things done, it will be beneficial for you in the future.

Many amateur designers mix up the process of design. What is worse is that this is a direct path to failure and they do not even realize it. This, at its most basic, is the process of web design:

Planning: Before you even get any idea in your head about what your latest Web design is going to look like, you need to do all the appropriate planning. Mostly, this includes knowing the answers to important questions related to the business you are into. And how you will lay out all these information in your website.


Content Building: You need to build all of the texts, literatures, photos and other content of your site after you have a clear plan. This doesn’t necessarily mean getting every detail down, but you need to know what your text length will be, where it will go and what grphics or photos to put along with your texts that will match what your descriptions etc.


Designing: Starting a website designing is a crucial step, of course, but if you have already done the planning and content building first, this part will be the most fun, and most likely the most result-driven.

Development: Once you have finalized your design, you’ll turn it into XHTML/CSS/PHP/MySQL and whatever else your site needs. Development typically refers to the technical side of Website design ie. the coding and and other backend work.

As you can see, when you are a professional designer, designing the site comes late in the game. Many amateur designers make mistake of wanting to jump right into the design step, because that is after all where a designer’s talents are. But if you avoid the planning and content building steps, you will end up with a design that fails in helping the site achieve its targets.

Mitch Murgi is the writer providing information on website designing and other software services. You can find more information and resources at www.designtorontoweb.ca

Outsource Web Design

Web designers in India have gained significant recognition for their work from top SEO companies and web development companies.  They offer services for both big and small business houses located in India and abroad. Some of outsource website development offer complete web design services like clean code design. PSD to HTML, HTML to XHTML, logo design, Web 2.0 style design, web redesigning services, website maintenance and complete internet marketing solutions. Beside this, they have the attitude to provide professional and practical online presence to the company whose web sites is being designed.

In this competitive world, these outsourcing web development help in providing user centric design and their solutions range from professional corporate website to development of flash design. They implement the latest multi media features and see that the site is constantly upgraded. Easily products can be uploaded or deleted and for this nothing extra is been charged by them. Some of the advantages of hiring them are:

* Reliability and efficiency

* Highest level of interaction possible with your company

* Easy to access,

* Portable and

* Scalable and dynamic marketing tool

* Make use of unique advantage of reaching the audience across the continents.

 

Their team of professionals comprises of most talented and expert. They can easily track the latest changes and improvements happening in e commerce world and accordingly implement them in your site.  This helps in capturing the attention of audiences and keeps the needs of the ultimate user in mind. For more information about outsource web development, visit developmentindia.com

outsource web design India ,web site designing , web site development company, search engine friendly website design , web development, web development India , web site designing services, professional web development

Web site design and web site development company
www.developmentindia.com
solutions@icreon.com
+ 91-9810045139

Web Design Articles – How to Market the ?accessibility??

here’s always the argument of legal requirements for sites to be accessible, but, unless they’re big names or a business of equal stature, it’s pretty unlikely that this will ever affect your client. There are negligible instances of any legal action arising from Web accessibility issues in the entire world.

We firmly believe that you should take this matter seriously. The sites you build should be as accessible as possible, and that means work. To the client, it means a higher project price. So, how can you justify the cost of accessibility?

The Business Case

There are two very valid reasons why your client should start to think about Web accessibility:


An accessible Website will make your client money.
An accessible Website will save your client money.

Now, if that doesn’t get his attention, I don’t know what will. Here are eight ways in which accessibility will save or make your client money.


His Website will be easier to manage.

An accessible Website separates the content (HTML) and presentation (CSS) of each page. Wave goodbye to tables! Now, to adjust the layout of the Website, developers only need to make changes to the CSS file, rather than amending each and every page of the site, saving considerable time (and, therefore, money).


His Website will be compatible with new browsing technologies.

In the near future, PDAs, mobile phones and in-car browsers will all regularly be used to access the Internet. Do you think your client knows that some 50 million PDAs will be sold in 2008 alone as per a dependable source?

The people making use of these new technologies are generally high-income individuals. To reach this lucrative audience, your client will need a Website that functions effectively on these machines. (Now would be a great time to show him just how bad his current Website looks like on a mobile phone, using the Wapalizer.)


His Website will appear higher in search engine rankings.

By making a Website more accessible to Web users, you also make it more accessible to search engines. Search engines can’t typically understand images, JavaScript, Flash, audio, or video content. Provide alternative content to each of these programs, and search engines will have a better understanding of the purpose of the Website.

The more confident a search engine is of what a Website’s about, all other things being equal, the higher it will rank that Website in its listings.

Does your client know that 64% of Internet users employ search engines as their main tool for finding things on the Internet? Be sure to tell him!


The download time of his Website will be significantly improved.

Just 17% of Web users are connected to the Internet via broadband in the UK . You can be sure that if your Website takes much longer than ten seconds to download, site visitors will be leaving in herds!


The usability of his Website will be enhanced.

There is a certain degree of overlap between Web accessibility and Web usability.

A leading expert on web has shown that a usability redesign increases the sales/conversion rate of a Website by 100%. Look for the money value in your client’s eyes when you tell him this!


He’ll gain good publicity

“Make your Website accessible to everyone, Mr. Client, and you can proudly announce it to the world!”


His site won’t cause his business to incur legal fees (or bad press).

Although the client has dismissed this as insignificant, now might be a good time to mention it, as he’ll be thinking about all that good PR he can get by ensuring his site is accessible.

The RNIB (Royal National Institute for the Blind) and the DRC (Disability Rights Commission) have been exerting pressure on both commercial and government entities to make their Websites accessible. The DRC is currently investigating 1000 Websites to ascertain their accessibility. If your client’s Website is on this list, he can expect to hear from them soon.


He’ll increase his site’s reach.

This is a huge topic — let’s talk about it in detail.

Increase Reach via Accessibility

“Disabled people don’t access my Website,” your client might say. Why should I care?”

Well, Mr. Client, check out these statistics (for the UK):


There are 8.6 million registered disabled people in the UK, totaling 14% of the population (source: DRC)
One in 12 men, and one in 200 women, has some form of color blindness, totaling 9% of the UK population (source: Institution of Electrical Engineers)
Two million UK residents have a sight problem — that’s 4% of the population (source: RNIB)
There are 12 million people aged 60 or over — some 21% of the UK population (source: UK government)

Now, there’s bound to be some overlap between these groups, but if you add up the numbers, you get a total of 48% of the UK population. That’s right — 48% of the population of the UK, not to mention those of other countries, could potentially face problems using your client’s Website.

Beyond Disabilities

Non-disabled people can also experience difficulties on Websites. Not everyone uses the latest version of Internet Explorer, with all the plug-ins and programs that are required for them to have optimal access to every site they come across.

If your clients’ Website relies on images, Flash or JavaScript, and fails to provide alternatives, then numerous Web users will be unable to access his site. Explain the following to your client:


Users on slow connections regularly turn images off to enable a quicker download time. Some browsers, such as the text-only Lynx browser, do not display images at all.
Not every user has downloaded the latest Flash plug-in that is needed to view the site. Additionally, the download time on Flash Websites is often so long that low bandwidth users lose patience and don’t even wait to see the content. Remember, just 17% of Web users in the UK are connected to the Internet via broadband.
JavaScript is unsupported by about 4% of Web users, either because they’ve turned it off to prevent pop-up ads, or because their browsers don’t support it.
WebTV, mobile phones, and PDAs have limited support for large images, Flash and JavaScript. Check your client’s site by downloading the free WebTV viewer.

Would your client agree?

With these kinds of arguments, the only type of person who’d say no to an accessible Website would be an immature, unethical, money-hating individual. If your client’s one of them, just forget that client and leave him there itself!

Otherwise, hang in there, persuade him with these arguments, and perhaps a few examples of large, big-name sites that have already answered the accessibility call, and you’ll be on your way to landing a project you’ll be proud of!

Head SEO, Marketing at AIT India

Best Website From Thomasgarciastudio.Com New Mexico Web Design Company.

Today when economy is running in the worst phase there is need for everyone to do business in the prudent way. Unlike past when most of the companies believe in employing as many people as possible now things have totally changed. Today companies prefer to have online businesses or websites that work better in comparison to hundreds of marketing people.

It is worth to note that with the help of a good website you can not only introduce your company in the better way but you can also advertise your products in the best manner. Unlike marketing people or the staff members that charge a very good amount of salary and work for limited point of time such drawbacks are not at all applicable with a good website that works 24*7 for the whole year. So if you want to turn your loss into profit this recession the best option is to have a website that can do wonders for your business.

Looking around, you will around end number of web design companies offering services related to development and maintenance of websites. But when there are so many web design companies offering services related to web design now the question emerges is it same to take services from any of the company? The answer to this question is no! Surely not!

As the success of your business depends mostly upon your website so it is very important that it should be made by the professional hands only. One such company that can offer simply the best and extraordinary website is ThomasGarciaStudio.com New Mexico Web Design Company. It is the specialty of this web design New Mexico Company that it not just prepares website rather a thing that is enough to magnetize end number of visitors instantly.  

Unlike other web design and development companies where you can expect ordinary work, here at TGS Web Design New Mexico you will get web design that is simply second to none. With years of experience and dedication, ThomasGarciaStudio.com has acquired such expertise in designing and development that it is even beyond imagination of other companies. So if the urge is of getting something different and extraordinary in web designing then there is no better option than ThomasGarciaStudio.com New Mexico Web Design Company.

If you want to know more about this one of a kind web design New Mexico Company then it is advisable to have a look on some of its most important features. Some of the most important features of ThomasGarciaStudio.com New Mexico Web Design Company are as under:

1. Expertise: The first and the most important feature of ThomasGarciaStudio.com is that it is one such company that possesses the expertise in website development, graphic designing as well as several other important areas. Unlike other companies that just claim to provide best results, TGS Web Design is one such company that ensures guaranteed results as it has the confidence to prove what it claims. 2. Perfect market knowledge: The second most important feature that helps Thomasgarciastudio provide effective website to its customers is its in-depth knowledge of market as well as customer behavior. Thus with the help of mix of knowledge of market and better understanding of customer behavior it develops website that not just attract visitors rather convert visitors into potential customers. Etc.

So ensure your success by giving your website in professional hands only i.e. to ThomasGarciaStudio.com.

Thomasgarciastudio New Mexico web Design Company is undoubtedly the best provider of web design New Mexico .

How to Design a Search Engine Friendly Website

 

One of the first questions you should ask for Search Engine Optimization is how to design a search engine friendly website. A website that is shall we say as non-friendly to search engines will lose potential traffic thus reducing visitors surfing their sites, and as far as we know such decrease in website activity will result in loss of potential sales from a potential consumer if you gear your site for selling things in the market. That is why it is also very important to build a search engine friendly website.

Now in doing such thing there quite a few things you should consider. In the book “Winning the Search Engine Wars” by SearchEngineNews.com, they list 6 things to consider in how to build a search engine friendly website, they are:

· Use of valid HTML and CSS codes

· Avoiding as much as possible the use of Flash, Javascript, and frames

· URLs should be properly used

· Well and organized website and directory structure

· Keep your pages as limited as possible

· Proper use of what is called the “robots.txt” file

HTML and CSS codes

Web pages should at the very least meet the requirements of or should be in accordance with W3C guidelines. That would mean that you should close all tags which need to be closed, as well as avoiding the use of source code in which will confuse the search engine spider (yes, avoid the use of old source codes), so that your web page can be spidered and cached properly by the search engines. In order to achieve this, the code must meet the minimum requirements of functionality and successful display.

Flash, Javascript, and frames

Now we all know that the use of these things will be an eye-candy, or will be very pleasing to look at, thus making your site very attractive. In the other side too much use of these things will slow the computer, it will just take too long to download your website, and, as most people tend to make most of everything especially time. They just tend to cancel the page and go back to surf another site. So to build a search engine friendly website, one must avoid the use of Flash, Javascript and frames, or if it is really needed, to limit the use of it.

URL

Another important thing to consider in building a search engine friendly website are the URLs. Search engine spiders find and process webpages by following links from one site to another, so consider building in which they can be easily followed. Broken links as others think will degrade your rank in search results.

Accessibility

Consider also the use of site maps in which to organize your websites. If a page is too far deep which means the viewer has to click a few pages to open it, the search engine will have a harder time of indexing it. Thus a well and organized web structure will ensure that the search engines will process all pages in your site.

File Size

File size also plays a major role in building a search engine friendly website. File size with more than 100k (or 150k, depending on the search engine) will not be properly cached, so that would mean you may not appear on those search results. So the best way to overcome this is to limit the file size of your website to 100k.

Robot.txt

The robot.txt file is another important thing to consider as this file tells the search engine whether or not to index a page from your website. Search engine spiders process things in a limited capacity. Robot.txt helps these spiders to direct their searches for the things that you really wish for the viewer to see on your pages.

The article was written by Leia Mahalo a freelance SEO and SEM specialist working for i-trepreneur.com. If you wish to contact Naomi please visit Internet Entrepreneur Blog.

Looking for Miami Web Design company in USA

1804design is a Florida based USA Website Designing Company. Founded with a mission to give services to its customers in web designing, website development, testing and managing software, E-Commerce solutions, total internet marketing to grow their business by search engine friendly website designing, web hosting and many more.

Web Development Company 1804design is a USA based growing web solutions provider specializing in web page designing, website development, website promotion and internet marketing services. We are a professionally managed creative web solutions company thriving on the latest web technologies offering affordable SEO in Florida,USA. Our workforce, a perfect blend of web technology specialists and our creative Indian web designers, work together to develop user-friendly, fast downloading, easy to navigate, effective and creative web pages in the best professional format.

Our company offers the clients the widest range of services on development, preservation and promotion of web sites. We have the talented command of the professionals, use the most advanced technologies and use the individual approach to problems of each client. Whatever your budget, we can create cost effective packages for successful presentation of your company in the Internet.

The 804design experts will help you from the very first Internet steps – we shall help you to register a domain name, we shall offer web-hosting services for your site, we shall create for you web site design and E-Store, we shall Submit Your Site in search engines and we shall develop for you the individual website Promotion Program.

==> Database-Driven Web Site Development

A database-driven Web site combines a basic, static HTML “container” wrapped around records from an external database, which are loaded into a pre-set space within the page.

By combining the power of today’s databases with the Web’s ability to distribute information, database-powered Web sites are a key driver of today’s e-commerce revolution.

Companies today are faced with an opportunity to transform their Web sites from collections of static, text-based information into dynamic business tools. Database-driven pages offer some advanced capabilities, such as publishing data from corporate databases into Web pages and customizing a visitor’s view of a site around their individual needs and preferences. A new generation of Web-based buying and selling tools is emerging, that will enable any industry to develop valuable new forms of one-on-one interaction with customers and suppliers.

==> Websites Designing and Development

For thousands of prospective buyers that see your company on the Internet your web site delivers the critical “first impression” of your company. Hire 1804Design Web Technologies and you can have a great looking web site that will put you a cut above your competitors.

An Author of this article Devid Smith is working for Freelance Business Analysis. 1804design.com Provides excellent Web Designing and Development Services, Miami Web Design, Web Design Miami, Website Design Miami, Florida

Web Design In Newcastle – Selection Guidelines for Short Listing Experts

Online presence is almost mandatory in today’s business setup and thus if for any reason you decide to forward information or reach out to the potential customers in Newcastle or any other part of the world, the search for an expert in web design in Newcastle must be initiated. But why just an expert and why not any provider in the category of web design in Newcastle?

 

An expert is essentially needed, because there are millions of websites, all struggling to gain as much traffic and online visibility. However while there are these many portals, only the first 15 or 20 actually manage to gain relevant attention. And among these top rankers as well, viewer has enough choices. This essentially implies that even if there are slight discrepancies with the web design, which inhibit easy information search, the user will quickly move over to the next one. It is thus a domain, marked by serious competition and if resources must be invested towards developing an online presence, the only person who can be entrusted with the task is an expert in web design. Newcastle or let that be any other geography, the stated is universally applicable. That is to emphasize upon the fact that online search parameters are common and do not vary with regional searches.    

 

Before initiating the search for a Newcastle web design expert, be clear on your requirements. That is you should be clear on the eventual objective of the website. You must know what you expect from the web design and thus should be able to concretely figure out the answer to questions like, how big the website should be, what all users should pay increased attention to, would regular updates be needed, will there be any online exchanges / sale, etc. In case you find it difficult to answer all such imperatives, spend time in understanding the competition and thereby evaluating their online presence. Pay attention to the facets others in your field are focusing on and thus initiate the search of a qualified veteran in web design Newcastle.

 

The search begins with search engines. Simply type ‘web design Newcastle’ in any of your preferred search engines and the results in desired category would be displayed. While short listing from among the various choices, start by looking at the portfolio section. This section should be able to provide a quick insight to the earlier works of the company or expert in web design in Newcastle and thus answer the suitability question. This search will also produce credentials of graphic designers, who would propose to undertake the designing task for you. A graphic designer could be great for the visual appeal, but if you eventually intend to ensure good rankings for any of the keywords, say ‘web design Newcastle’, only a web designer with adequate knowledge of SEO and other online web promotion techniques can suffice. The same section should also be able to generate the details of references, which you might like to check with.

 

As the next step, check the package offered. There will be pricing details, guarantees and list of any other additional costs. A simple search for ‘web design Newcastle’ will generate quite a many names and thus you have enough options in the category. Use this choice to the fullest, by comprehensively comparing the various vendors for quality and price. You would not want just one time support, thus while looking at the cost tag, and all so pay attention to the post completion website maintenance charges.  

 

Last but not the least, check the time commitments and before getting into any contracts with any of the vendors in category web design Newcastle, do carefully go through the agreement clauses. After all, why leave scope for any hassles at a later date!

Emma Leighton wrote the Article ‘Web Design In Newcastle – Selection Guidelines for Short Listing Experts’ and recommends you visit http://www.unionroom.com for more information on web design in Newcastle.

Ecommerce Web Design ? Easier Methods for Merchants

There are so many web designers and web design companies available online today for merchants to use as resources for their ecommerce needs, choosing the right one can sometimes be a difficult decision. What if the decision of who you decide to forefront your company’s ecommerce look and feel could be an easier decision than ever before? You would probably feel much better knowing that there are more affordable solutions that can be accomplished quickly and effectively to get your ecommerce business the online presence that it needs to sell the products and services you offer your clientele. With so many options, choosing the right ecommerce web site designer can be an overwhelming and stressful decision. Take these ideas into consideration before you hire your next ecommerce web site design company or web designer to assist you with your ecommerce web site needs.


One of the best available resources for ecommerce capabilities is using a web designer that can customize your ecommerce website using a third party shopping cart system. Ecommerce websites that are designed using third party shopping cart systems can be just as attractive, if not more attractive than a completely customized system. Because there are some very popular and useful third party shopping carts available, it not only is affordable, it makes customizing them a stress free process. Because more and more ecommerce developers are coming to third party shopping cart systems for their ecommerce needs, there are now lists of programmers that create modules to customize your ecommerce shopping experience to the next level. That means, having a shopping cart that can do everything you need, having your site laid out in a fashionable and professional manor, without sacrificing design or functionality.


Expanding your online resources to a more modern and professional system like many of the popular third party shopping carts can be an easy transition, if you select the right web design company to do the job. When selecting the right ecommerce web design company, consider their portfolio. Does there portfolio include several different web sites that they have designed in various industries? Is there portfolio impressive and professional? Speak with the web design company on the phone to discuss what specific needs you have for your ecommerce business. Many times, especially with the modules available, a talented ecommerce web designer can build you the ecommerce web site you have been waiting for. Finding an ecommerce web designer that’s affordable and provides quality work is the most important part. There are typically two different ways that ecommerce web sites can be built. By the hour and by the package. You will have to search around to find the best package that will work well for your ecommerce company. If there aren’t any packages that would support your ecommerce web design needs, inquire about paying per hour to have your ecommerce third party shopping cart system and web design packaged more personalized. Many web designers that are fluent in using third party shopping cart systems and are talented web designers can use there talents to come up with the perfect design and ecommerce implementation that will work perfectly for your business.


No matter what company you decide to go with for your ecommerce web site design project, make sure that your new ecommerce store is user friendly, professional and search engine friendly. Just having a website won’t make you money, you have to advertise via pay per click, search engine optimization and other methods of advertisements. Once you have the ecommerce web site you’ve been waiting for, show it to the online world and let them know about the great products or services you offer.

http://www.aarcmedia.com

info@aarcmedia.com

888-526-4479

The Design Checklist

Before any SEO campaign can begin, a site must be analyzed to determine how well the site is being spidered by the search engines. It is also important to assess and modify the architecture of the site as needed. We always assess and recommend changes to the design of a site before doing any optimization. This ensures that a solid base is beneath the optimization and minimizes the amount of design changes we’ll have to make later. Before you begin optimization of a site, you should review the following areas. Ignoring certain aspects of the design can seriously limit the impact of the optimization.

1.) Spiderable Links

The search engines typically follow standard HTML.  They do not render most scripts.  The most common design problem is the inclusion of non-spiderable links.  Often, these links are coded in either JavaScript or Flash, but non-spiderable code also includes HTML Forms.   It is important to the optimization that as many pages as possible be indexed by the search engines.  If the pages aren’t indexed, they can never rank and do not provide value to the other pages on the site.

The most common usage of non-spiderable links is in dropdown navigations.  The most common dropdowns are coded in JavaScript and are not spiderable.  It is always ok to use JavaScript for animation or other functionality, but the link itself must be in standard HTML.  There are numerous CSS/JavaScript alternatives that allow using standard HTML links with div tags to accomplish the same drop down effects without using non-spiderable links.

2.) Maximum Internal Linking

The architecture of the site tells the engines a lot about what pages are important and what pages are not.  The search engines try to view sites the same way a user does.  This means that pages linked to from prominent locations like a main navigation will automatically receive more attention and authority.  This is why search engine-friendly CSS drop down navigations are a good thing. Our goal should be to provide as many direct links to important pages from as many other pages as possible on the site.

As a rule of thumb, do your absolute best to ensure that no page is more than 2 clicks from any other page on the site.  It is not possible to link every page from every other page on a larger site, but proper organization should lead to pages being accessible through main categories that are accessible from anywhere on the site.    Authority filters down.  If a page is available from only one other page on the site and that page is hard to get to, the original page will never rank well.  Make it easy for users to find and you’ll make it easy for search engines to find.

Depending on the size of the site, it can take a good bit of planning to optimally lay out an architecture and internal linking structure. Generally, it’s best to lay out a site like a pyramid. The home page should act as a true hub to the site with main categories providing maximum access to pages under its control.

3.) Portal Home Page

This ties directly into maximizing internal linking, but is important enough (and a common enough problem) to get a special note. The home page is given the most authority of any page on the site. The search engines assume most traffic will enter the site through the home page. They also assume that the webmaster understands that and links the most important pages and information directly from the home page. If the site uses a ‘splash’ or some minimal home page, it is seriously limiting itself.

An optimized home page will act as a hub to all information on the site.  If a page is hard to get to from the home page, it will be treated as a supplementary page and NOT an authoritative page.

4.) Text Content

Good web pages provide good content.  Without good content, the page has no value and no purpose on the Web.  It should be assumed that good text content will need to be added to the site.  If the site’s design does not allow for the addition of content, it should be addressed as early as possible.  The goal with any optimization campaign should be to provide the content that users are searching for.  Grow your site, find out what people want, and provide it.

It is also very important to assess the visibility of the text content to the search engines.  Text content should be written in standard text.  Content that appears in Flash, images, JavaScript, behind HTML Forms, or in secure sections of the site will most likely be invisible to the search engines.

As we can see from the previous points, we have to address some things with each site before planning any real optimization strategies.  We must determine what the search engines see.  We must determine which pages are important and display them as such.  We must cater to both the search engines and the users.  This will provide a strong foundation for the optimization and help the site reach its potential.                 

Thank you for reading TreeHouse SEM articles.  If you would like to know more about any of these topics, feel free to visit TreeHouse SEM on the Web.

Steve comes from a rich Web background where he has worked on the design, development, and marketing aspects of hundreds of Web sites. Formerly from Mississippi where he attended Ole Miss, Steve moved to San Diego to pursue further challenges in the Web marketing arena.

Powered by Yahoo! Answers