Search engines can be the lifeblood of any internet business, in some cases 99% of all business comes through Google, Ask and Yahoo then there are the 'others' Alta Vista(the original) 'Hotbot' and various other search engine aggregators like Lycos an so on. What any business person who runs a business connected to the internet has to be aware of is when the rules change.
Ten (or more) tips to help you get ahead of the curve.
know your subject
Understand who your users are
Start with the content
Ensure the site is easy to navigate
One topic one site
Choose the colours
Less is more
Use pen and paper for the design
Photo quality
Navigation menu items
Know your subject
There is no point in having a pretty website with poorly written content.
Understand who your users are
It is very important to know who your users are and who your target market is.
Start with the content
Content is paramount, with grammatically correct, spell checked content.
Ensure the site is easy to navigate If you have a web designer ask them for their advice (and accept it when given)about the design.
Ask the SEO practitioner about the Search Engines.
If you are using a template, don't make the page too long, and stick to the suggested template.
Also make very sure that internal links to help with navigation are used, this is was envisioned by the creator of the internet.
Tim Berners Lee was a British Professor who worked at CERN in the 1980 - 90's
I strongly recommend his book (no I do not get any commission of its sale)
One topic one site
To make it clear, easy to use, and easy to optimise, my rule of thumb is simple: One topic, one site!
If you cannot afford the domain names, then stick to one page, one topic.
Choose the colours that you feel comfortable with; If it is your first website, choose the colours you feel comfortable with.
For bigger branded websites, obviously the marketing people will have that decided according to the branding.
Less is more; Less is more.
It is far better to keep it simple and build on it than fill the site with rubbish.
Navigation:Do not add too many menu items, it can lead to confusion. Make the menu match the context of the site.
Some ideas to expand the SEO of your site content: some technical details
I admit it can be terrifying to sit with "a blank" canvas, your users will be that blank canvas to you, so this is where you research a "user profile" by looking through your existing client records, hopefully you will have taken detailed notes such as birth dates (for that all important birthday hello) and so you should have in your sweaty little hands all the information you need to build a profile of what they want and what they want to look at.
It may take three or four iterations or attempts to get it right but when you do the users will reward you well.
Hilary Albutt
IncredibleSoftwareSolutions.com
SEO Marketing and Optimisation
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Contributor's Note
This is a free article and is free advice to help you to get the most out of your new web site. It is not intended to replace the advice of your own SEO practitioner but as an added source of help and guidance from my own experience
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