Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of getting more website visitors from the “free” or “organic” search results on Google, Bing, and other search engines.

All major search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo have primary search results, where web pages and other content such as videos or local listings are shown and ranked based on what the search engine considers most relevant to searchers.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a way of designing, coding, and promoting website pages in a way that will help them rank higher on Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.  Good SEO is critical to a successful website. There are several SEO elements that are important. Let’s take a look at a few below:

SEO actually begins with the domain name for your website. The domain name can be very attractive to search engines and you certainly want people to know your name and be able to remember it.  Here are some very basic ideas to be considered in choosing a name for your website:

• Don’t Hurry Take a few minutes to write down several words or phrases that best describe the main goal of your business or website.  Now start trimming them down and think about what people will enter in the search box to find your site.  It is a good idea to search for some keywords relating to your business and notice the domain names appearing on the first page of the search results.
• Domain Name Should Be Unique You don’t want people to confuse your site with another website owned by someone else.  It is best not to just make the name a plural of another website, a hyphenated version or a misspelled version.
• Domain Name Should Be Easy to Type If a visitor has problems typing the name due to spelling or length or words they can’t easily remember, you have lost much of the marketing potential of our website.
• Domain Name Must Be Easy to Remember The worst thing that can happen is to build a terrific website that no one can remember to tell their friends about because they can’t remember the domain name. Once a domain name has been chosen, the actual layout and design of the website can begin.

There are many different aspects of good web design.  The following is a very brief overview of some basic elements or characteristics of effective web page design:

•     Webpage Titles – The web page title tells users and search engines what the web page is about.  A different unique title should be created for each page of the website.  Some say that title tags are no longer important, but they certainly can do no harm.

•     Webpage Descriptions – The major search engines just might use the description of your web page in search results presented to potential visitors.  Adding description tags to your web pages is a good practice just in case a search engine cannot find a good selection of text elsewhere on the page.  The description should be kept brief.

•     Headings – Most search engines like headings.  Heading text is larger than the normal text on the page, so this tells users that this information is important. By using multiple heading sizes, you can make it easier for visitors to navigate through web page content.

•     Website Navigation – People will visit your website in search of information and if they can’t find what they are looking for very quickly, they will not spend much time on your website.  All navigation links, whether they are text links, buttons or images must be prominently displayed on the web page in clear view of the visitor.  The website visitor must be able to get where they want to be in no more than 2 clicks, anymore and they’re gone.  The navigation of your website must be consistent throughout the site.  Text links are easier for search engines to see and understand.

•     Quality Web Content – The first purpose in writing good web content is to please the user, not the search engines. Cramming web content full of unnecessary keywords is annoying to the website visitor and can oftentimes cause search engines to totally ignore the site.  Your chosen keywords are important in the page title and possibly the first paragraph of the page content, after that, just write for your potential visitors. With search engines constantly changing the way they look at and list websites, the concept of good SEO is also constantly changing.  The best SEO techniques are of little value without a website with quality content that is always kept current.

Most people just don’t have the time to research and design a website for their business and choose to have it designed by someone who is knowledgeable in web design and knows how best to present the website to the world. The talented web designers at Smart Link Solutions will take the time to understand the goals of your business and your website. We have been designing professional business websites since 1996 and will focus our expertise in designing a web presence that will not only help separate your business from the competition but will also be optimized for the search engines.