Search engines, such as Google and Yahoo, are one of the main ways people are going to find your website. And if you have done a good design job, the search engines will happily and accurately predict that your site can satisfy their need and they will find what they are looking for by visiting your site.
First of all, let’s clarify what search engines are looking for. They deal in information, which sometimes defined as anything that reduces uncertainty. In the context of a search engine this means answering a client’s question.
Most importantly, search engine users are people with a goal in mind; they are looking for something. Search engines use keywords to identify websites which are likely to give their clients what they seek.
A while ago, some designers thought it was clever to try to subvert search engines from this basic desire. They would load their meta descriptions with keywords which were popular among searchers, even though their articles had little to do with that topic, in the hope of fraudulently getting more traffic.
This was self defeating for two reasons. The search engines quickly learned to detect the trickery and punish offenders with lower rankings.
Then it also was realised that websites not only want traffic, they want targeted traffic.
So it is now best to give the search engines what they want; quality content that delivers on its meta keywords and description. In return the search engine will give you traffic which is looking for what you are offering.
It is a lot easier to sell to someone who wants what you have to sell.
So how do you keep the search engines happy?
- Semantics first, then appearance.
Many web designers believe that a successful web site must look really cool, but search engines are actually far more content-oriented.
To win this point, you need to separate out what you say from how it looks. This is why it is now best to put your content in your HTML file and then put the appearance in a separate CSS file.This will also force you to get your content (semantics) right before you worry about how it looks.
- No clever page names and headlines.
A lot of people with a media background try to entertain us by creating clever headlines that are a play on words or have some sort of a humorous double meaning. For example, an article in regional paper about a swimmer who was selected in the state team was headed, “Sally gets in the swim of things.”This may get a laugh from a human being (alas, it may not even get that), but it will tend to confuse the search engine which has a preference for literal meanings.
Your page headline is one of the first things that search engine examines. In the way of most machines it takes it as a literal description of the content which follows. So if the reader has asked for “state swimming team representative” that is what you need to say to match your article with their request.
- Effective use of keywords and the description.
Make sure you put meta-keywords and an accurate description in the head section of your HTML file. Be on the lookout for ways to identify the popular keywords in your community of interest.It is also important to use these keywords in the body of your article. Search engines check this out and downgrade your site if you try to use misleading meta descriptions.
- First, get the semantics right.
Certain tags like H1,2,etc actually have two meanings.Perhaps the more obvious meaning is that these tags tell your browser to present headlines and section headings bigger and bolder, so that they stand out visually and make for easier skim reading.
However, H level tags also tell search engines about the hierarchy of ideas in your article.
You were probably taught at school that a good piece of writing has one main idea (H1) supported by 6 to 10 supporting ideas (H2). Each of these supporting ideas may have a few (H3) supporting ideas, such as an example or a supporting argument or an explanation which expands on the H2 concept. And the hierarchy may even have a few lower order details H3,4….
The search engine actually uses these tags in order to separate the wood from the trees. It is always on the lookout for an H1 tag to determine the main idea of a web page. It may continue on to lower level tags, but eventually it will just say “too much information,” and give up trying to make sense of your material.
So when you draft material for the net, it is worthwhile editing what you want to say and creating those H2 signposts which are always the hallmark of clear expression.
- People may like a “cool appearance”, but search engines do not care.
Clever visuals may impress your readers when they get to your site, but remember that they will not do much to get them there, especially via a search engine. - Stay on-message as defined by your keywords.
If you want to get a good search engine ranking, discipline yourself to write good tight content which stays close to the advertised keywords for that page.Remember, that information is that which reduces uncertainty or answers a given question. Extraneous material may be very entertaining, but for a search engine it is often just unintelligible noise. It is a bit like watching TV in bad weather, the more “snow”, the harder it is to see the true picture.
- And you may find that well structured material is actually easier to write.
Elizabeth Browning said that “good plot is knowing where you are headed with your writing.”Try encapsulating everything you want to say in one headline and six to ten sentences. If this says everything you want to say, all you have to do is give each sentence an H2 tag and then expand on each of these main ideas. Sometimes it helps to express your H3+ ideas as bullet points.
In this way you will find it easy (or as easy as good writing can ever be!) to produce an interesting, balanced, readable article that delivers on the promises in its meta keywords, title and description, upon which the search engine depends.
And that is what search engines love. You may even hear one say, “Wow, that’s a really cool website!”
