7 Things Designers Need to Know About SEO

Programmers and SEO’s have been working together ever since the search engines figured out there is a combination of different things you can do to start ranking web sites in order, like mixing backlinks with content, with site speed, and so on and so forth.

The SEO world can sometimes a lot of trial and error, and it can also sometimes be very misleading, especially when you may be following bad advice from some SEO “expert.” What I mean by that is that although SEO requires a lot of “know-how,” if you  keep these two points in mind while you are planning SEO campaigns or designing a website for a great idea then you will always have a better chance of coming out on top (especially in the long run).

» Write the best content possible for your website. This will ensure natural links are built, and not only that, but a high quality site will always do better in the long run than one that is just manipulating the search engines.

» Stay away from black hat SEO techniques

If you are able to stick with these two things throughout your whole Internet career, you will be able to do very well in the online business. Number one is important because well, it is obvious isn’t it? You’re not going to be able to get visitors to come to your site (or come more than once) if your content is crummy – whether it be videos or articles or any other form of content.

The second point is important because if you do not steer away from strategies that most search engines find offensive or negative then you can be sure that your site will get penalized somewhere down the line.

That being said, there are obviously some “white-hat” techniques that you can do to your web site that will allow you to better in the search engine rankings.

1) Increasing your web site is one of them. Google has done its own research on this topic, and not only will site speed increase your SEO efforts, but it will also increase your conversion rates in terms of changing traffic into dollars. Choosing the right types of images, formatting videos correctly, and stripping down your CSS, JavaScript, Java, and all other languages so that they are more efficient are a few things you must do to make this happen.

Some basics include making all of your CSS and JavaScript files external. Ever find yourself getting lazy and just styling all of your elements right there in your HTML page? Well stop doing this immediately. Other best practices for making your page load faster include putting your scripts at the bottom (many people put these at the top including me – I thought it was weird when I learned how to do JavaScript from the guy doing the tutorials over at Lynda.com that he would always put them on the bottom, but now I know why!).

2) User activity is a huge part of SEO now ever since Panda rolled out with its new algorithm update. The more user activity your site has, the more Google thinks that there is actually a reason that people are going to your web site. One way to increase user activity is create a form for free quotes (if you run a service or product providing type web site). Another way would be to add comments on your page (which is also a great way to create content where there is none)

Side Note: If you are unsure about what the Panda update is, it is the Google algorithm change that was designed to destroy content farms. It was rolled out in February of 2011, and new installations of it continue to get rolled out (even to the day of which this article was written). Google was sick and tired of terrible content ranking in the SERPs because of their ability to mass produce content and get a high number of links just because of the amount of pages they were able to create. This was happening all over the place, with companies like Demand media that created titles based on terms that were getting searched for – they created an algorithm for creating title – and shelled out titles to freelance writers for dirt cheap. It was a very savvy way to manipulate the search engine algorithms. Some things that SEO’s should take note of that matter heavily post-panda include things like bounce rate, time spent on page, and irrelevant ads. Undesirable numbers in these metrics are all characteristics of content farms.

3) The golden triangle rule is still very prevalent. You want to get all contact information, your logo, and any free estimate forms all at the top left corner of the page. A phone number is a biggie. This is especially true if you are in the local business niche.

A while back, Google did an experiment that showed that peoples’ eyes generally go toward the top left corner first and then spread throughout the page in the shape of a triangle. If you can get your most lucrative information in that top left corner (which could mean different things for many different types of web sites) then you have a better chance of converting traffic into dollars.

4) You want every single page of your website to give incentives for people visiting your site to visit more pages than just the one they land on. Once again the Panda update is a very important factor for this. Bounce rate and time spent on page are now two very important factors for SEO (as well as conversion rate).

A great example for doing this is optimizing your site for every type of visitor that you could possibly imagine. People are going to be visiting your web site for all sorts of different reasons, not just because you are providing good quality content. For example, “SEO’s” may be visiting your site every single day. You don’t want these people just to come, see that they are unwelcomed, and then bounce! No, you want to make sure these people stay. Entertain them with a “submit page” – one that they have to go to a few different pages just to get a good idea of how your site can benefit there’s (even though you can make it extremely hard for them to do so). Just by making them visit a couple different pages to get all the info they need, you are totally optimizing your site for one specific type of visitor!

5) H1 and H2 tags are not dead. They are still a key factor for Google figuring out what your site is actually about. Make sure you have a couple of these on your homepage with the keywords you are trying to rank for in them.

You want to make sure (if it is possible for you) that your H1 tag is the first thing that is on your site. This H1 tag should contain the keyword phrase you are trying to rank for, and only that keyword phrase, if the keyword phrase you are trying to rank for is three words or longer. If it is one or two words, then you need to add a couple words to that phrase.

Your H1, H2, and H3 tags should not contain the exact same phrases. This is called keyword stuffing and is actually bad for you, as Google and other key search engines will take note of this an assume you are trying to manipulate their algorithms.

6) Off-site SEO is still prevalent. There are white hat forms of link building, which you can either do on your own, or hire a company to provide SEO services. You want to make sure you use the right anchor text when doing your off site SEO. These will be the keywords that you will find in your H1 and H2 tags.

Some white hat link building methods include creating awesome info graphics that people would love to naturally link to, creating authority articles on very specific topics, and guest posting. For a list of ways to create links, click here. Pay attention to the first point. It is why this article ranks consistently in the top 5 (currently at number two at the time this article was written) for the search term “link building.”

7) URL structure matters. URL structure is not just a preference. You will find in most of your Google searches, that if the keywords aren’t already in the main part of the domain name, then they can usually be found after the “/.” Your URL structure should let people know what the page is actually about, and good knows that.

Your URL should be as short as possible while still letting the search engines know what your page is about. That being said, try not to repeat search terms that are unnecessary. A good practice is to use to the Google keyword search tool, and search terms that are relevant to your article – see which ones have the highest search volume, and then use that for your URL structure – the only thing is that it has to make sense and correlate to the article, otherwise it is pointless.

In a perfect world, every SEO out there should also know a little bit about computer programming and vice versa. However, as we all know, it is not a perfect world; therefore there is a need for specialists in both professions. These tips are very important however, and perfecting them, can mean the difference between the top spot and the 3rd spot in the online world.

This article was written by Philip Russell. Philip helps to run and maintain www.inetzeal.com – for which you can find free SEO pricing for at any time. In his spare time, he enjoys writing articles that relate to search engine optimization and search engine marketing. He is also working on becoming a computer programmer and is in the process of developing his own string of web sites.