Best Web Design Practices For Your Business - Search Engine Optimization

We've all heard the age old axiom of "if you build it, they will come." Sadly, what most people don't understand is that this concept doesn't apply to the internet. It doesn't matter if you have the best website in the universe, a beautiful flowing design brimming with well organized and easily accessible content. Unless you properly optimize your site for search engines, the likelihood of receiving traffic is slim.

Unfortunately, there is no one real tried and true method for Search Engine Optimization (or SEO for short) that will always remain the same. The technologies behind sifting through hundreds of millions of web sites and retrieving relevant information are constantly evolving.

Here are some tips to help your ranking with search engines.

• Relevant Content – Text is one of the most important factors in determining whether or not a search engine deems your site relevant to a query. Try and write the content of your site to provide as many possible search phrases as possible. If your company is ABC Hardware, try and put words that you think someone looking for the type of products or services you provide would search for. Instead of having "Our company has a large selection of tools", try using "Our company has a large selection of tools including drills, saws, hammers and other hardware.".
• Text vs. Images – Much like having Relevant Content, putting information about your business in text is better than just having it in an image format. Instead of just having your company name and contact information on an image with your logo, try adding it in text format somewhere else. Search engines cannot read images.
• Don't Overdo It – When considering what sort of keywords to add to the content of your website, the instinct might be to load it with as many specific words and phrases as possible. Be careful, however. If you have the phrase "ABC Hardware" thirty different times over the course of three paragraphs, the search engine may see this as keyword stuffing. This will raise a red flag and will be detrimental to your standing.
• Clean and Proper Code – Too much HTML and JavaScript on a page can cause a search engine to choke when it's indexing your site, causing it to just skip ahead. The less code you have, the better off you will be. Having improperly formed HTML code can also confuse a search engines. The easier you make it for search engines to index your page, the better off you'll be.
• Sites Linking To You – A major factor in determining the ranking of your site is the number of other web sites that link to you. These days, however, just a simple link isn't enough. Search engines often check to see if the site that is linking to you has content relevant to your site. Try finding other sites that relate to your business where you can post in forums or blogs.

These are just a few tips to help you out with standard, generic marketing. Remember that even if you follow all of these rules, it can still take a month or three for your site to work it's way up in a search engines ranking. Many of the large search engines such as Google offer what's called "Pay Per Click" advertising. These are programs that allow you to pay a certain amount of money to have your site come up first in the search results. Many Web design firms are well versed in the intricacies of PPC and can help you set up a program that's right for you.

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Best Web Design Practices For Your Business - Layout and Design

Most owners of small businesses don’t necessarily understand the need for a Web site. Even if your company does not engage in any sort of e-commerce, a presence on the internet is almost crucial in today’s world. Not having a web site is equivalent to not having a business card. A well designed and marketed Web site can provide a business with almost unparalleled exposure at the fraction of the price other advertising means can provide.

There are several factors, however, that separate a bad Web site from a good one. If you are new to the internet, or perhaps looking at expanding or redesigning your current site, here are some important things to keep in mind.

• Consistency – Consistency is perhaps the most fundamental rule in Web design. When a user lands on your site, their expectations of how the rest of the site looks is based on the first page. If elements of your site constantly change with each page, your user will become easily disoriented.
• Simple Navigation – When you are planning the structure of your Web site, keep in mind that users will want to access information as quickly and painlessly as possible. The hierarchy of your navigation should be simple and intuitive. It is also important to keep standards in mind. For example, if you go to a Web site looking for contact information, you would immediately scan the navigation for a “Contact Us” or “About Us” link.
• Search Features – Many times, a Web site will have too much information to warrant the user clicking from link to link just to find. If your Web site falls into this category, you might want to consider installing a search feature.
• Minimal Movement – More and more each day, Web sites are implementing animated features. While these may look cool and add a bit of pizzazz to an otherwise bland design, it is far too easy to overdo. Many businesses like to have a quick introduction on their main page to draw the user in. This is sometimes called an “elevator pitch”, and lasts between 15-30 seconds. If this is something you feel the need to do, just remember that the more movement or blinking text on a page, the more your user will quickly become distracted. If you have an animation, have it play through once and then stop. Also try and limit it to one per page at the most.
• Target Audience – A very important factor in designing a site is to remember who your target audience is. If you have a company that sells baby products, you probably won’t want to have a dark color scheme with a science fiction type theme.

While not a comprehensive list, these are some of the most important things to keep in mine when planning your Web site. Perhaps the best rule to adhere to is Keep It Simple. Assume that the people visiting your site have little to no experience on the internet. It doesn’t take long for a user to get discouraged and click that X in the upper right hand corner of the screen.

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