Archive for category Search engine optimisation

Once upon a time, website designers only had to think about design – was the website functional? Did it meet design principles? Was it user-friendly?

Then, a few years back, someone cottoned on to the fact that it was no good having a pretty website if search engines couldn’t find it. And, lo, Search Engine Optimisation became the flavour of the moment.

And thus began the debate between designers and content providers.

I think we will all admit that both good design and good SEO is pretty important. We have all seen those content-driven websites that hurt our design-sensibilities; and at the same time, we are all probably well aware of gorgeous websites that may as well not exist because they are invisible to search engines.

Most clients want their website to get traffic – so SEO is vital. But, at the same time, they want their customers to hang around their site, so design is also a key element.

But how easy is is to acheive both? Or at least be content that you did the best – SEO or design – for a particular client.

Good news – content providers and designers don’t need to lock horns. Just follow these five steps.

1. Develop the design and the SEO simultaneously.

All keyword phrases need to researched, chosen and integrated into the design in its earliest drafts. From the text, to the tags, to the codes. Otherwise, the designer runs the risk of keywords being developed and added later, and stuffing up the visual appeal. Also, it could mean a change to the directory structure, which bring in a greater chance of errors such as broken links.

2. Remember the adage KISS (keep it simple, stupid)

Now that web design is well and truly established, there is no need to do too much fancy stuff on a web page (unless, of course, you are designing a site for yourself and you want to showcase your talent). People are no longer impressed by Flash and other once-fancy add-ons. In fact, almost the opposite - Flash can take a while to load and be frustrating when you are just looking for some quick information. And the bonus is, simple designs work much better with SEO – and are easy to alter if needed.

3. Sometimes design is king, sometimes SEO.

That’s right, you win some, you lose some. The key is to know which is which.  Let SEO drive the website for removalist company, which relies on Google for business; and feed your artistic passion working on the website for the local interior designer, who relies on referrals, rather than the internet, to keep food on their table.

4. SEO is not the devil

If website designers are honest with themselves, they have always done SEO, in some form or another. It just didn’t have a name. Sure, there are some fly-by-night companies out there that are almost the modern-day equivalent of the snake oil salesman – promising clients top search enginge ranking and acting as if it’s some big secret. It’s not. It’s just a matter of basic knowledge of search engine algorithms and how wesbsites work.

5. Accept that sometimes your ‘perfect’ design will not work with the required SEO content.

And, vice versa. Sometimes design will win out, sometimes SEO.  As long as it all balances out in the end – and the client is aware of and approves the necessary sacrifices – it really isn’t the end of the world.

Good luck.

Search engine optimization, or SEO, is not just a catch phrase being thrown around in the online world. It is a highly effective and extremely important marketing tool for the website designer or owner. In this three-part series, we will discuss the need for SEO, common problems with SEO, and winning SEO techniques.

What Is Optimization?

Optimization is the process wherein a website is naturally pushed up in the search engine results. The goal of an optimization campaign is to achieve a placement as high as possible on the search engine results page for a particular keyword, in order to draw clients and customers to your site in the most natural way possible.

The Need for SEO

So why should you take the time to optimize your site? The higher your results in the search engine, the more successful your site will be. Statistics show that moving up just one spot will increase your success substantially, and if you do not show up on the first page or two, you will struggle to success. If you can get into the top five or ten results for your chosen search terms, you will be in good shape.

Two Problems with SEO

So what problems will you face as you work to optimize your site? Well, the first is the vast amount of competition you will face. For instance, if you want to use the term “graphics designer” as your main keyword phrase, you will struggle because there are millions of other sites using that same keyword phrase. If you can achieve top results, it will only be with a tremendous amount of effort, and this is not going to be cost effective.

To combat this problem, focus your optimization to a narrower target market. This will allow you to streamline your keyword phrases to eliminate some of the competition.

The second problem you might face is dilution. When you type in “graphics designer,” you will get blogs, portfolios, landing pages, advertisements, forums, and informative articles, all on the same search engine results page. If your site is in that mix, you might not get any hits, the percentage of people searching for your particularly type of site, whether it be a blog or a sales page, is going to be much narrower with this broad of a search term. For every 100 searchers who see your link on Google, perhaps only 10 are looking for what you offer. This is because of dilution.

Keyword Planning

The best way to avoid these two pitfalls is to properly plan the keywords in your SEO campaign. This requires identifying your target market first. Ask yourself these questions:

• Am I looking for local traffic or worldwide traffic?
• What terms would draw my exact target market to my site?
• Are these terms too broad? Will they bring up too much competition or result in dilution?
• How can I narrow the terms to still reach my target market but avoid these problems?

Your goal is to find keywords and keyword phases that have a high search value. In other words, they bring more specific results, which means it is more likely that a person searching for that term is, in fact, looking for what you offer. Your graphics design website can be targeted for a particular niche. Instead of focusing on “graphics designer” as your keyword, make it more specific. Choose “freelance graphics designer Colorado,” or something similar that fits your website.

Remember, it will take time to fine-tune your SEO goals, and you may need to adjust your keywords from time to time. You may find that they are too specific and end up excluding some of your target market, or you may find that they are too broad and cause too much competition. But with time and proper planning, you can find the right balance and choose a popular keyword that will also drive the right traffic to your site.

You might find using some SEO tools useful, or checking out some search engine optimisation packages from various SEO providers around the net.