In this post, we will be looking at Guideline #9 from ‘Google’s Design and Content Guidelines.’  Guideline number 9 stresses the importance of limiting the number of links on a web page.

Google Design and Content Guideline #9: “Keep the links on a given page to a reasonable number (fewer than 100).”  Why should you limit your links to less than 100 per web page?

Good question:  Fewer links make it easier for visitors and search engine bots to navigate your web page(s).

As a rule, visitors don’t like having to search through hundreds of links in order to find what they’re looking for.

The more links you have on a web page, the more confusing it is for the visitor to determine what is and what is not important.  Pages with multiple and randomly placed links often frustrate visitors and aesthetically may result in what some refer to as ‘link splatter.’

Organized web pages, and links, are easier for visitors and search engine bots to use.

Having too many links on a web page, especially outbound links, can also impact search results.  For instance, some webmasters take part in link exchanges and/or build partner pages for the express purpose of cross-linking, resulting in low quality links.  Abusing these practices violates Google’s webmaster guidelines and, as Google says, “Can negatively impact your site’s ranking in search results.”

When linking, think ‘quality’ and ‘relevance.’

For our final blog on the Google Design and Content Guidelines, we will be looking at Google’s image guidelines.  Stay tuned!

Writing Web Words Inc:
Based in Toronto, Ontario, we are a full service Web Writing and Content Development Company that helps small and mid-sized businesses maximize their online potential via Web Content Development, SEO Copywriting,  Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Social Media Marketing services.

In this segment on ‘Google’s Design and Content Guidelines,’ we will be chatting about dynamic pages and ensuring that they can be found by search engines.

Google Design and Content Guideline #8: “If you decide to use dynamic pages (i.e., the URL contains a “?” character), be aware that not every search engine spider crawls dynamic pages as well as static pages. It helps to keep the parameters short and the number of them few.”

First and foremost, if your website only has static pages, this guideline does not apply to you. 

Static pages are web pages that only display information found in a pre-formatted file, such as pages written in HTML.  If your web page relies on a database for some of its information, it is a dynamic page.  Dynamic pages are automatically created from PHP or another technology, and generally have a “?” in the URL.

Search engine bots are able to index dynamic web pages; but they take longer to find than static pages.  Although search engines are evolving to become friendlier towards dynamic pages, there are a few ways to ensure that the bots find your dynamic pages.

First, rewriting dynamic page URLs with large parameters into more user-friendly versions is a good idea.  Parameters are something like “OrderBy=avail” or “&PropType=”, are found in the page’s URL, and are designed to input the visitor’s request.  Simplifying web page URLs allows the bots to find them more easily.

Second, by limiting the parameters on your dynamic web page URLS to only 1 or 2 per URL, it will increase your chances that the search engine bots will find the web pages.

Third, it is possible to create static copies of your dynamic web pages.  This is a slightly more advanced technique, which involves “telling” the search engine that the static web page is a copy through the use of a robot.txt file.  A Google search on this topic will lead you to more information about how to do that.

Lastly, consider using mod_rewrite, which allows you to create rules for rewriting URLs on the fly, be they static or dynamic.  This means you can present simple, clean, easy to read  and SEO-friendly URLs that are easily read by search engines and visitors alike. 

Mod_rewrite is becoming more commonplace among the better Content Management Systems (CMS) out there and is the best solution for those that don’t have the time or tech-savvy to do it manually.

Writing Web Words Inc:
Based in Toronto, Ontario, we are a full service Web Writing and Content Development Company that helps small and mid-sized companies maximize their online potential via Search Engine Optimization (SEO), SEO Copywriting and Social Media Marketing.

This week, we will be continuing our discussion of ‘Google’s Design and Content Guidelines,’ looking at the importance of fixing broken links and correcting HTML errors.

Google Design and Content Guideline #7: “Check for broken links and correct HTML.”

Following our recurring theme of search engine optimization, broken links and incorrect HTML could have a negative impact on your website’s performance in search engines, the user experience, your image and your bottom line.

Consider Search Engines: Broken links within your site (internal links) prevent search engines from finding and indexing all of your web pages.  The inability of search engine bots to find your web pages and index them can negatively affect your website ranking.

Consider Users: If your website has broken links, links that do not lead anywhere, your visitor’s will not be able to find all of your web pages, oftentimes causing them to abandon your website in frustration.

Consider Image:  In addition to causing frustration, broken links will hurt the usefulness and professionalism of your website and business image.  They may even cause visitors to question your credibility.

Consider The Bottom Line: Broken links to landing, product and/or service pages can cost you time and money.  Imagine investing in a SEO or Pay-Per-Click campaign, all the while sending prospects to a non-existent page.  Or worse, your prospect has hand on wallet and is ready to make a purchase:  The only problem?  Your checkout link is broken.  Ouch!

Common Causes of Broken Links:
• You rename a page(s) and forget to change your internal links
• Another website links to an old or relocated page
• A search engine continues to rank a deleted page
• Someone has bookmarked a deleted or moved page
• Someone links to your page but misspells the link URL

You have little control over how external links (other websites/bookmarks) are managed and created.  But you do have control over your internal links.

Check Links Periodically:
Links can be checked either manually or by using software.  Manual checks involve clicking through all the links on your website and making sure that they load properly. 

You can also use software such as The W3C Link Checker and Xenu Link Sleuth to check links on larger websites.

Ensure HTML is Correct:
Although HTML can have errors, it may still appear to load normally in a browser.  Ensuring that your HTML is correct has a few benefits that make it worth the extra effort. 

For example, correct HTML allows search engine bots to find and index all your web pages.  HTML that is error-free also loads faster than incorrect HTML, leading to a better experience for your visitors.  Finally, correct HTML ensures that your website will load correctly on all browsers, now and in the future.

In order to check if your HTML is correct, you can use The W3C Markup Validation Service.

Happy Linking!

Writing Web Words Inc:
Based in Toronto, Ontario, we are a full service Web Writing and Content Development Company that helps small and mid-sized companies maximize their online potential via Search Engine Optimization (SEO), SEO Copywriting and Social Media Marketing.

In this blog post, we will be expanding further on our discussion of text descriptions and their role in search engine optimization.  This blog series in based on ‘Google’s Design and Content Guidelines,’ and we will be looking at Guideline #6.

Google Design and Content Guideline #6: “Make sure that your <title> elements and ALT attributes are descriptive and accurate.”

From our previous post on Google Design and Content Guideline #5, we know that ALT attributes are written to describe and provide a textual context for images.  They also help search engines find and identify images on a website.

Ensuring that all ALT attributes are descriptive and accurate will assist search bots in finding and correctly indexing your web pages.  ALT attributes are not needed for all images, but they are essential for important images, such as your company’s logo, products, etc.

<Title> elements do the same thing for web pages that ALT attributes do for images.  Using <title> properly in HTML provides an accurate description of your webpages.  What you write between <title>Insert Text Here</title> tags will appear in a web browser’s title bar, bookmark lists, and as a hyperlink to your website in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).

As a result, it is important to pick a clear and focused title that accurately reflects the content of your web page(s).  Titles that are short and unfocused such as “Part One” are ineffective.  “Part One” provides no context or sense of what the web page is about.  However, most windows, menus, and bookmark lists only allow 60-80 characters, so your title cannot be too long.   “How to Play the Guitar” is an example of a good title, especially if your website teaches people how to play the guitar.

Stay tuned for next week’s blog posts, in which we will be discussing links and HTML.

Writing Web Words Inc:
Based in Toronto, Ontario, we are a full service Web Writing and Content Development Company that helps small and mid-sized companies maximize their online potential via Search Engine Optimization (SEO), SEO Copywriting, Social Media Marketing and other leading edge interactive marketing services.

This installment of our series on Google’s ‘Design and Content Guidelines’ focuses on the importance of using text with images, so that Google’s search engine bot can easily find and index your web pages.

Google Design and Content Guideline #5: “Try to use text instead of images to display important names, content, or links. The Google crawler doesn’t recognize text contained in images. If you must use images for textual content, consider using the “ALT” attribute to include a few words of descriptive text.”

The first part of guideline 5 is pretty straightforward – use text on your web pages as much as possible!  Although images are always more visually appealing for the visitor than text, search bots cannot process images, nor can they process text within images.  Using text ensures that your web pages will be found.

If you need to use an image on a web page in lieu of text, you can place an ALT attribute along with the image.  For a visitor, an ALT attribute will appear as a description of the image if it does not load.  For a search bot, it will provide a textual description of the image that allows it to be found by a search engine.

ALT attributes are written in HTML or XHTML and specify what should be on the web page if the image or item does not load.  When loading a web page with pictures, you will often see text descriptions appear briefly, before the images load.  These are the ALT attributes for those images.

Not all images on your website need ALT attributes, but the most important images should have them.  When writing an ALT attribute, keep the description clear and brief, loading it down with keywords is not necessary and can appear as spam to search engines.

In addition to helping search engines and visitors, ALT attributes also help to make content accessible to visually impaired visitors to your website.  

Now you know a little bit more about the importance of text and ALT attributes.  These tips are just another way to ensure that your web pages are found and understood.

Writing Web Words Inc:
Based in Toronto, Ontario, we are a full service Web Writing and Content Development Company that helps small and mid-sized companies maximize their online potential via Search Engine Optimization (SEO), SEO Copywriting, Social Media Marketing and other leading edge interactive marketing services.

When we last discussed Google’s ‘Design and Content Guidelines,‘ we looked at the importance of information-rich content on your website.  This week, we’ll be discussing the importance of keywords.

Google Design and Content Guideline #4: “Think about the words users would type to find your pages, and make sure that your site actually includes those words within it.”

This guideline refers to On-Page SEO, or SEO writing.  SEO, as we learned earlier, refers to search engine optimization, a process that enhances a websites chance of being found and ranked by search engines.

The backbone of On-Page SEO, or SEO writing, is ‘writing with keywords.’

Web writing is different than print writing because it is focused on structuring information so that it is easy to find and easy to read online.  Shorter and simpler sentences, focused language, and the effective use of keywords are the most basic ways to implement On-Page SEO techniques.

As we learned in the first part of this blog series, search bots are like pacman; they follow links and pages, digesting relevant information about your web pages in order to index and rank them.  Keywords are another tool that allow search engines to find your web pages and to determine relevance.

For the best results, choose and use keywords that clearly describe the subject of your website, as well as synonyms that visitors might also use to find your website.  For example, a website about training for a half-marathon would have keywords such as training, half-marathon, running, half-marathon training, etc.

Google’s Keyword Suggestion Tool allows you to choose keywords based on popularity and relevance.  It is widely used by web professionals and helpful for generating keyword ideas.  Like most Google applications, it’s free.

Stay tuned for next week’s installment of Google’s Design and Content Guidelines, in which we look at guideline #5!

Writing Web Words Inc:
Based in Toronto, Ontario, we are a full service Web Writing and Content Development Company that helps small and mid-sized companies maximize their online potential via Search Engine Optimization (SEO), SEO Copywriting, Social Media Marketing and other leading edge interactive marketing services.

When we last discussed Google’s ‘Design and Content Guidelines,’ we looked at the role that sitemaps play on your website.  This week, we’re going to be talking about the importance of an information-rich website with well-written content.

Google Design and Content Guideline #3: “Create a useful, information-rich site, and write pages that clearly and accurately describe your content.”

Creating a website with high-quality, useful and original content is one of the best ways to garner traffic and rank well in search engines. A useful website informs, is easy to use, and gives your visitor’s a reason to take the next logical step.

No other method (a clean hierarchy, sitemap, or keywords) will be as effective as a well-written, information-rich website - the backbone of any long term SEO Strategy.

A unique and information-rich website that is frequently updated also ensures return visitors and links from other webmasters, resulting in more organic (natural) traffic and higher search engine rankings.

Writing web pages that clearly and accurately describes your content is essential in order for both visitors and search engines to find you online.  It is a skill that anyone serious about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) needs to know.

When writing web page content, keep these tips in mind:
•    Keywords: If your website is about knitting, the word knitting should appear in your content.  As well, keywords related to knitting (synonyms) should also appear throughout your site.
•    Paragraphs: Short and well-organized paragraphs that cleanly layout your content are essential for readability and viewer enjoyment.
•    Plain language: Now is not the time to sound like a dead English poet.  Use clear, commonly used, and accurate language.  It’s not poetry, it’s utilitarian and it should be written that way.

Up next, we’ll be tackling Google’s design and content guideline on keywords.  Read on!

Writing Web Words Inc:
Based in Toronto, Ontario, we are a full service Web Writing and Content Development Company that helps small and mid-sized companies maximize their online potential via Search Engine Optimization (SEO), SEO Copywriting, Social Media Marketing and other leading edge interactive marketing services.

In the second part of our series on Google’s ‘Design & Content Guidelines,’ we will be explaining the importance of a sitemap.

Google Design and Content Guideline #2: “Offer a sitemap to your users with links that point to the important parts of your site. If the sitemap is larger than 100 or so links, you may want to break the sitemap into separate pages.”

A sitemap lists the pages of a website in a hierarchical fashion and is an orderly way of presenting the entire website content to your users and search engine bots.

There are two kinds of site maps; a html sitemap and XML sitemap.  A html sitemap is one that visitors might use to find information on your website.  The second type of sitemap is created in XML and resides in the root directory of your website.  Its purpose is to help search engine bots find your web pages.

It’s useful to offer a sitemap with links to your most important web pages for both humans and bots.  Doing so will lead to improved site navigation and will greatly enhance the chance that all of your pages will be indexed.  Sitemaps also help websites with many pages, dynamic content, and poorly linked pages to be found by search engines.
 
Breaking down a html sitemap into 100 links or less increases its accessibility, making it easier for users to find content on your website.   XML sitemaps - on the other hand - can support thousands of links before they need to be split into 2 files:  Google Sitemaps allows up to 50, 000 URLs per XML file.

Happy Indexing!

Writing Web Words Inc:
Based in Toronto, Ontario, we are a full service Web Writing and Content Development Company that helps small and mid-sized companies maximize their online potential via Search Engine Optimization (SEO), SEO Copywriting, Social Media Marketing and other leading edge interactive marketing services

Google Webmaster Central ‘Design & Content Guidelines’: A Series

Under its ‘Design and content guidelines,’ Google’s Webmaster Central has outlined 10 guiding principles for optimizing a search engine’s ability to find, index, and rank your website.  In a 10-part series, we will be exploring each one of these guidelines and how your website can benefit by implementing them.

Google Design and Content Guideline #1: “Make a site with a clear hierarchy and text links. Every page should be reachable from at least one static text link.”

In non-tech speak this means: cleanly order your web pages and connect them with html or text-based links.

Web pages are indexed on search engines by the use of search engine “bots.”  Think of bots like Pacman.  They will index/eat any web page(s) that they come across.  The more pages that a search engine can find, the more likely they are to be indexed.  Thus, a clear and logical web page hierarchy will improve the ability of a search engine bot to find and index all of the pages on your site.

In your website’s hierarchy, the homepage is the root.  All important and frequently-searched for content on your website should link directly off of the homepage, because pages that are directly linked to a homepage are the most easily-found by Google.  All secondary and less-important content should link off that “first layer” of the hierarchy. 

Static links are links that are formed by html or normal text.  Websites made with Javascript, Flash, or other more complex forms of coding format links in a way that do not allow the bots to find them.  If the bots cannot find your link, they cannot follow it to a page, and they cannot index that page.  Furthermore, ensuring that every page is connected by at least one link ensures that it is easy for the bots (and people!) to jump around your website and find all of your pages.

Stay tuned for more ‘Google Design & Content’ Best Practices.

Writing Web Words Inc:
Based in Toronto, Ontario, we are a full service Web Writing and Content Development Company that helps small and mid-sized companies maximize their online potential via Search Engine Optimization (SEO), SEO Copywriting, Social Media Marketing and other leading edge interactive marketing services.

Common to northern climes, The Web Expert (TWE) often makes his appearance towards the middle of a web project.  Like a Ninja, he appears out of nowhere.  Often unassuming, he may even be likeable; but be warned: he waits in the wings, waiting to strike.

Usually the son, nephew, or friend-of-a friend’s second cousin, The Web Expert may be called upon to ensure that the web project is going according to plan; albeit with little clue of what the actual plan is.  Upon learning of the project, he’ll offer up his services.  After all, he has a wealth of experience, having developed and authored numerous other family members’ websites.  In fact, he just completed a site about scrap-booking for his mother.  He’s accomplished and quite proficient with FrontPage.

He may not know what you’re paying these so called Professional Web Designers and Web Writers, but intuitively knows that you’re paying too high of a price for all that professional advice.  In fact, he can do the job for far less, or free!  It’ll take a while though, as he’s only available during the summer months: school starts in September. And what’s the rush, anyways?  It’s not like you’re paying for it.

Omnipotent about all things Web, the expert knows about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and how to get your website to the top of Google:  He informs you that it’s a simple matter of stuffing keywords on a web page, sitting back and watching the magic happen.  And if that doesn’t work, spam the search engines – they love that!

He asks you why you’re paying for web content when the Internet’s littered with it – and it’s free!  “It’s all about cutting and pasting,” he says.  It’s not really copyright infringement, it’s the Internet.  And besides, nobody reads online.

He knows that in order to keep customers on your website, you MUST entertain them using Animation, Music and Video; preferably all at the same time.  That’s why everybody loves the Circus.

As for professional hosting, why pay extra?  He goes on to inform you that you already have web space available courtesy of your ISP.  As well,  you can save on the purchase of a domain name by piggy-backing on your ISP’s domain.

So what if your Web address appears as www.myisp.com/mybusinessname - it’s free!

You ask him about developing your database, letting him know that you’ll need the ability to make monthly product and service description changes.  He informs you that he hasn’t taken that course yet…

For all you do Web Expert, This Bud’s for You.

Ray Litvak
Toronto Web Writer