Read Building Web Sites All-in-One For Dummies® Online
Authors: Claudia Snell
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If any of the code is created by using a word-processing application, check the code for redundant tags.
Dreamweaver has a Clean Up Word HTML command, which removes markup specific to the Microsoft Word application. It also cleans up font tags and a plethora of other tags created by the application.
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Avoid adding custom styles to each document.
Instead of adding styles to the head of a document, use a CSS (Cascading Style Sheet), which will create cleaner code for the search engine robots to follow. For more information on CSS, see Book III, Chapter 3.
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Use a unique
This enables the search engine robots to accurately index each page of your site. For example, if one page shows a map and directions of how to get to your client's site, the page title might read:
Directions to
your client's bricks-and-mortar store
.
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Add an alt tag for every image on the page.
Make sure the tag text matches the content of the page and mirrors the keywords and key phrases used in the title and meta tags.
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Validate your code.
Most HTML editors have a command to validate or clean up the code. For example, Dreamweaver has a Clean Up XHTML command. This command removes empty and redundant tags; plus, it has an option to combine nested tags when possible. You can also validate your markup in Dreamweaver by choosing FileâValidateâMarkup.
Create a title, alt tags, descriptions, and keywords
Prior to the site being submitted to the search engines, you need to add the elements that will propel your client's Web site to the top of the desired results page. You do so by creating a unique title for each page, alt tags for each image, a description for each page, and keywords. This is especially important if your client's site promotes multiple products or multiple services. When this is the case, you optimize the pages for each product or service as if they were individual Web sites. Therefore, the title, alt tags, descriptions, and keywords for these pages will be tailored for the product or service your client is promoting. The following steps show you how to optimize a page in Dreamweaver:
1.
Open the document you want to optimize.
2.
Open the Property inspector.
When you initially open a document and haven't yet selected any elements, the Page Properties button in the Property inspector is available.
3.
Click the Page Properties button.
4.
In the Page Properties dialog box that appears, click the Title/Encoding category.
The Page Properties dialog box refreshes to show the current title and encoding.
5.
Type the desired title in the Title text box. (See Figure 1-1.)
The title you choose for the page is the result of your tireless research to determine the optimum keywords to optimize the page for search engines. Redundancy intended.
6.
Click OK.
The dialog box fades from view.
7.
Choose Insert
â
HTML
â
Head Tags
â
Description.
Figure 1-1:
Adding a title to the document.
8.
In the Description dialog box, type the desired description in the text box. (See Figure 1-2.)
The description you type depends on the product or service your client performs. If your client performs multiple services or sells multiple products, each page needs to have a different description.
Figure 1-2:
Adding a description to the Web page.
9.
Click OK.
The description meta tag is added to the head of the document you're optimizing for search engines.
10.
Choose Insert
â
HTML
â
Head Tags
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Keywords.
11.
In the Keywords dialog box, type the desired keywords.
The keywords and key phrases you enter are the result of your research of other Web sites selling products or services similar to your client's. Keywords or key phrases are separated by commas. (See Figure 1-3.)
Figure 1-3:
Adding keywords to the document.
12.
Click OK.
The keywords are added to the head of the document you're optimizing.
13.
Select the image to which you want to add the alt tag.
14.
Open the Property inspector.
The Property inspector enables you to change many parameters of the image, including the alt tag.
15.
Type the desired text in the Alt text field, as shown in Figure 1-4.
The alt tag is added to the document when you save it. Figure 1-5 shows the code of the document that was optimized in the preceding steps.
Figure 1-4:
Adding a descriptive alt tag to an image.
Figure 1-5:
The code of the optimized Web page.
Hiring the Right Professional Help
If you're not a guru when it comes to search engine optimization, you or your client has to hire someone to take care of this task. If not, your client's site will be all but invisible to people using search engines to find Web sites of similar products or services. After all, if a site isn't optimized, it ends up on the fifth or sixth results page of a search â or higher if the product or service is extremely popular. For example, a Google search for
same day shipping
yields 14,300,000 results. FedEx doesn't rank number one because of its expertise in shipping the product on the same day; a team of SEO experts was employed to get this result. Still, FedEx hedged its bet, too, and has a sponsored link that appears above its number oneâranked search result.
Many companies claim to optimize Web sites for search engines. Most SEO companies use a combination of proprietary software and consultation with the client to optimize a site. The company suggests changes that the client needs to make to ensure that the site ranks near the top of the major search engines. Of course, your client's major competitors are also working to have their sites rank near the top of the major search engines. If you think SEO is a one-time shot, you're sadly mistaken. The site will need to be optimized on an ongoing basis. If you or your client thinks you can get off cheaply by hiring a company that claims they can do it in one shot, think again.
As we mention previously, lots of companies claim to be SEO experts. When choosing a company, here are a few questions to ask:
⢠How long has the company been doing SEO?
⢠Is SEO its main business or just a service offered?
⢠Does the company have a proven track record of getting results for their clients?
⢠Can the company provide testimonials and references from satisfied clients?
⢠Can the company clearly demonstrate a logical process by which it optimizes the site for maximum visibility in the search engines?
⢠Does the company offer ongoing optimization as part of its contract?
⢠Will the company submit the site to the major search engines?
⢠How often will the company resubmit the site?
⢠How many members does the company have on its staff?
When you're searching for a search engine optimization company, you should also find out the company's code of ethics â in other words, what steps it will take to optimize the site. If it seems as though the company might employ some non-ethical tactics to optimize the site, look elsewhere. Search engines quickly catch when any form of chicanery is used to vault a site to the top of the search engines. In fact, you can examine the code of one of the SEO company's clients and see for yourself whether anything is rotten in the state of Denmark.
Deciding between SEO and paid advertising
In addition to, or in lieu of, SEO, you can use
keyword advertising,
which shows your client's paid ad on results pages. The ad is listed in the Sponsored Links section of the results page for the keyword or key phrase your client pays for. The frequency and the page on which the ad appears is determined by the amount your client agrees to pay per click and the total amount the client has budgeted for pay per click advertising with the search engine company. If your client allocates a large enough budget for pay per click advertising, his site will appear in the sponsored links section on several results pages. For example, FedEx Expedited shipping appears on 22 results pages for the key phrase
same day shipping.
In spite of what must be a huge keyword advertising budget, the company must employ a talented team. The page that comes up for this key phrase uses all the techniques we point out in this chapter. If you compare FedEx with the company that comes up as a sponsored link in a search for Tampa Wedding Photographer, you know there's a huge difference in budgets, as this sponsored link appears only on the first results page.