8 Important Elements for Small Business Web Sites
Summary:
Advice to help
small business owners check code in their website design.
Article Body:
Key visitors to
your commercial pages include web robots that crawl the internet and catalog
your content. Having proper HTML source code, plus the right combination of
text and graphic presentation, is just one secret to success. Proper code may
mean higher robot ratings, and the "look" is equally important. Once
a new prospect finds your website, you have 5 seconds to get them to
stay.
As a small business website owner, you may have asked: "Why don't we get
any hits?". Did you know web pages can load and appear correctly with
improper or deprecated HTML code? A browser may ignore your mistakes, and
display what it thinks you meant, and it may look great. Web robots may not be
as forgiving.
Following is a list of 8 basic elements for good search engine placement that
need to be considered in your design and website promotion. For details on
code issues from the worldwide authority, visit the World Wide Web Consortium
to view DOCTYPE and other quality standards.
1. DOCTYPE Statement
2. Page Title
3. Proper HTML Code
4. META Description
5. META Key Words
6. First Paragraph of the Home Page
7. An Extra Page of Just LINKS
8. Backlinks (Links to your pages)
These 8 key items are either missing or poorly designed in 85% of all websites. Some search engines may only list the other 15% in their directories. In
other words, as few as 15% of the 6 billion web pages online ever make it into
some search engines. Even worse, some mistakes may result in your
page being blacklisted, and the search engine web crawlers may never come back
to see if it's corrected. This could explain why you "never get any
hits".
Websites can be simple and professional without using fancy software to create
your pages. Veteran programmers hand code and many create the HTML in NotePad.
Web authors who choose to use Flash, frames, or the latest software may be
losing a significant portion of new visitors (customers) because the visitors
may lack the technology or the newest version of browsers. If they are turned off
and left without giving your site a fair viewing, it could mean lost
profits.
Most designers use prepackaged software to create web pages. If the software
leaves out any of the key elements, the code is hidden, and you'll never know
your site was not optimized for search engines. The designer may not know, or
care, about these items as long as the page looks attractive. Note: Search
engine algorithms vary by company, so some elements such as "an extra page
of links" may not be as important today with some search robots. Backlinks refer to marketing your site and
getting other websites to link to yours.
Finally, business visitors want information. They do not visit your home page
to be entertained. Most have a need (problem) and want a fast answer
(solution), so designs should be created to minimize the use of music or video
unless that's your core business.
Anything that distracts from a positive first impression may violate my
"5 Second Rule".
Comments
Post a Comment