SEO design guidlines even your mom will understand

Whenever someone finds out that I am have a background in Internet marketing, it never fails that I am asked the exact same question over and over again – “What can I do to get my website more visible to search engines?” I usually ask for their website address so I can take a look at what they have done so far. 99% of all of the websites I see do NOT follow the simple guidelines for design and content development that search engines provide.

In an effort to make this as easy as possible for you, here are some of the more relevant design and content guidelines provided by Google, Yahoo or MSN that you should follow -

• Make a site with a clear hierarchy and text links. Every page should be reachable from at least one static text link.
• Offer a site map to your users with links that point to the important parts of your site. If the site map is larger than 100 or so links, you may want to break the site map into separate pages.
• Create a useful, information-rich site, and write pages that clearly and accurately describe your content.
• Don’t overdo the use of graphics. Visitors can read the text on an image, but search engines can’t.
• Think about the words users would type to find your pages, and make sure that your site actually includes those words within it.
• Try to use text instead of images to display important names, content, or links.
• Make sure that your TITLE and ALT tags are descriptive and accurate.
• Check for broken links and correct HTML.
• Use only well-formed HTML code in your pages. Ensure that all tags are closed, and that all links function properly. If your site contains broken links, search engines may not be able to index your site effectively, and people may not be able to reach all of your pages.
• If you move a page, set up the page’s original URL to direct people to the new page, and tell them whether the move is permanent or temporary.
• Keep your URLs simple and static. Complicated or frequently changed URLs are difficult to use as link destinations. For example, the URL www.example.com/mypage is easier for spiders to crawl and for people to type than a long URL with multiple extensions. Also, a URL that doesn’t change is easier for people to remember, which makes it a more likely link destination from other sites.
• Make pages for users, not for search engines. Don’t deceive your users or present different content to search engines than you display to users, which is commonly referred to as “cloaking.”
• Avoid tricks intended to improve search engine rankings. A good rule of thumb is whether you’d feel comfortable explaining what you’ve done to a website that competes with you. Another useful test is to ask, “Does this help my users? Would I do this if search engines didn’t exist?”
• Limit all pages to a reasonable size. We recommend one topic per page. An HTML page with no pictures should be under 150 KB.

This is a small list of the things you can do to improve your website design. To see a comprehensive list of guidelines provided by the big 3, click on their logo below to read their specific guidelines.