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For Search Engines to properly index a website, the webpages located on that website should be structured well enough for the automated spider programs to easily read through. Good website development should always include basic optimization. Sadly, many website developers are either not diligent in writing the page code or charge extra for "optimization". Another common reason websites are not created with basic optimization is related to templates. When a template is used to create a website, elements of basic optimization are either not part of the template options or require additional steps to create. There are two things to consider when evaluating the configuration of a webpage: webpage optimization and page content.

Webpage Optimization

The word "optimized" is often used to describe all things dealing with SEO, but in terms of page optimization the Search Engine spiders will look at specific elements contained on a page. These include the following:

1. Meta

Meta is an html term that refers to code used to describe general webpage information. Webpages can contain various meta elements, but should always include keywords, page title and page description. Search Engines spiders looks for this information to be on every page they crawl.

2. Page Size

If a page is too large it will take a long time to load and crawl. Search Engines do not like slow pages (neither do website visitors). Ideally page size should be less than 40kb and not over 100kb.

3. Image Quantity and Sizes

Large images or a large number of images results in a slow page. Again, slow pages are not good for site visitors or Search Engines spiders. The smaller the image size the better, but try to keep them no larger than 100 kb to 150 kb.

4. Alt Text

This is an html tag that uses text to describe an image. Technically ALL images should have alt text. However, there are cases when alt text can be excluded, such as a gif image that only serves to add a small line between two areas of text. If such images are used they should be minimized, because some Search Engines may devalue a page based on missing alt text. This is also a good place to use keywords that, in addition to describing an image, relate to the content on your page.

5. Anchor Text

This is another html tag. It is the text displayed for a link. For example: Great Website Solutions, The above link goes to our homepage at www.blowfishweb.com, but the anchor text, text displayed on the page, is "Great Website Solutions". All text links contain anchor text, so this is another good place to use keywords that relate to the webpage content.

6. Header Tags (H1, H2, H3)

Another important html tag, header tags are used to determine the most important content on a page. Titles on a webpage should be contained within these header tags. H1 is considered more important, but some Search Engines may also consider the H2 and H3 header tags. Since header tags, particularly H1 tags, are valued higher than other page content, these H1 titles should include keywords relevant to the page content.

Page Content

Page information is not only important to site visitors, but also important to the Search Engine spiders crawling for content. Each webpage should have a purpose with all page content focused on that purpose. Informational items that should express that purpose include:

1. Title

The title of the page should list the main topic (keyword or keywords) of the content. The title is displayed to site visitors and therefore should be reader-friendly. Different browsers will cut the title at various lengths, so keep in mind that visitors will not see the end of longer titles. Experts in SEO disagree on how long the title should be. Some SEO experts argue that this is a good place to list many keywords, and others argue that Search Engines will devalue a long title. A good rule is to keep the Title to less than 12 words.

2. Keywords

Keywords are words or short phrases that relate to the page content. These are simply listed and separated by commas (case is not important and spacing between commas is optional). Keywords were at one time the heaviest weighted factor in determining page content. But once website developers realized this, many website developers simply began packing their keywords with tons of words and phrases that might generate a search hit. As a result, Search Engines still consider keywords, but they are not weighted heavily. Keywords should be relevant to the page content, and not too long. Again there is debate as to how many keywords are too many. Between 8 and 16 keywords is generally recommended.

3. Description

As opposed to the keyword list, the description should be written in complete sentences, as some Search Engines actually display the description with the search results. Again, the description should not be too lengthy, but two to three short descriptive sentences should be fine. Keywords should be included within the page description, as some Search Engines will look for this.

4. Body Text

Search Engines read through the body text of a page to catalog the page content. As Search Engines have gotten smarter, their formulas now consider body text more heavily in rating a page‘s value. To a Search Engine spider, a page with little content does not appear to have many valuable topics. Therefore, pages should minimally include two paragraphs of content. Keywords should be included within the body text. Frequency of keyword usage is also important, but with limitations. If a keyword is overused, then Search Engines may determine that the site is a potential spam site.

ACTION STEP 4

If you have a current website that is lacking any of the above elements, since page optimization deals with the webpage code, unless you have time to learn some basic html (see the Tizag.com HTML Tutorial) you will need to contact a professional to help you include these key elements into your website. If you are starting a new website, be sure your web developer includes these essential elements into your webpage. You may want to help by providing potential keywords, page description and of course the content. This basic optimization should NOT cost you extra, over and above the website development costs.