Important Search Engine Tips

This page deals with the "general" concepts of search engine optimisation that we feel are important and worth noting.

This is the final page regarding optimising websites for search engines.  If you've gotten this far, congratulations - there's a lot to digest.

Headings, Links & Images: Use the title="" attribute

Here's a regular H2 tag: <h2>This is my 2nd level heading</h2>.  Here's a better H2 tag: <h2 title="Headings are good for websites">This is my 2nd level heading</h2>.  Use the title="" attribute inside headings, links and images to do two things:

1. If a user hovers over the heading, link or image, a little box will appear displaying your title - give users a heads up as to what its all about.
2. Search engines will read the title and pay attention to it.  Particularly on links, the title tag provides users and search engines a bit more info - and everyone likes more info, even search engines.

Don't overdo it though - not every heading, link and image should have title attributes, but do use them, especially on particularly important headings and the like.

Images: Use the alt="" attribute

Similar to the title="" attribute, images also have an alt="" attribute.  This is not search engine optimisation, this is simply good web design, but its important.  The "alt" means "alternate text" and it should contain the text you want to appear if the image doesn't (or can't) load.  Its also used by visually impaired people who have specially modified computers and browsers to report image content in a different way.

Cross Linking: Your Pages

Don't link every single one of your pages to every other page if you can help it (if you have a plain 6 page site, you can't help it and its not a problem; its only a problem on bigger sites with several folders and top level topics).  Over-crosslinking is bad and just 'averages out' the value of all pages with every other page.  You want a definite structure where there is a heirarchy.  Unless your website has 6 pages or less, your index page links to the index pages of your major folders and maybe a few random pages that you've worked extra hard on.  Each of the pages within each folder links to each other and the index page links back to the main page.  Randomly cross reference from one category to another, but not too often, otherwise you are just back to cross-linking all your pages.

Unless your website has 6 pages or less, your index page links to the index pages of your major folders and maybe a few random pages that you've worked extra hard on

Cross Linking and Backlinking: Other Sites

This subject could be an entire website all by itself, but we'll try and distill it down.  Sites linking to you are great - these are called "backlinks" and search engines consider them to be a vote that your site is valid and worth ranking.  If the backlink is from a site that has ranking for keywords that you are also after, then that is even better.  If the site backlinking to you is popular or big, even better again.  And if your website that is receiving the backlink does not return the backlink, that is best (refer Reciprocal Links below).

Generally speaking (and we mean "nearly always"), links to your site are great.  There's only 3 things that search engines care about: your content, your website structure and the sites linking to you.  Two of these things you directly control and therefore, the more sites that link to you, the better it is.  Part of any search engine strategy for your business website should include tactics to obtain backlinks from other sites.  Especially if you are not required to link to those sites in return.

The only cautionary note here: linking to sites that are part of a "spam network" (ie: several sites that are interlinked, which one or more search engines have tagged as 'spam') and being linked to from sites marked as spam can be bad.  Unfortunately, there is no tried and true test for this.  The rule of thumb we follow is simple: if it smells funny, don't eat it. If it looks spammy, meaningless or lots of re-used content (for example, sites that are nothing but feeds from other sites), don't link to it.

Generally speaking (and we mean "nearly always"), links to your site are great.

Reciprocal Linking

Made popular by the adult industry, reciprocal linking is an agreement whereby two sites link to each other, hence the term "reciprocal".  An example is if Site A links to Site B and vice-versa, usually from the same pages (Site A, Page 1 links to Site B, Page 2.  Site B, Page 2 links to Site A, Page 1).  Search engines consider this to be a reciprocal link and it carries less weight than a one-way link.  There is arguably still some value to a reciprocal link, but nowhere near as much as a one-way link.  Reciprocal links are basically perceived to be a "backscratching arragement" and not a true "vote" as search engines see things.

Don't get us wrong - linking to good quality websites is always good. And having good quality websites link to you is always good.  But reciprocal links just aren't as helpful in search engine terms.  They are every bit as helpful in terms of sending people to good sites and receiving visitors from good sites.  If possible though, you should ensure that the site you receive a link on is not the same site that you reciprocate the link from.

linking to good quality websites is always good...having good quality websites link to you is always good. But reciprocal links just aren't as helpful in search engine terms...

Website Sitemaps

Make sure your website has a sitemap and that you link to it from each page.  Whether it is part of your header, footer or navigation, ensure that every page contains a link to your sitemap.  If you're familiar with it, go to Google and get a Google sitemap done.  They have tools specifically set up for it and it allows you to specifically set out all your page and navigation information for Google.

Flash and Javascript

They look cool and are very impressive, but search engines don't or can't read them.  This is an absolutely critical point to remember when drafting your navigation - because search engines like text links that they can follow to other pages.  They like links that have the title="" tag to describe where the link points to.  Where possible, HTML, XHTML, DHTML and CSS are the best bet.  Don't misunderstand - Javascript and Flash are very cool and an integral part of the internet these days, just don't rely on them for your navigation, headings and textual content.

Javascript and Flash are very cool and an integral part of the internet these days, just don't rely on them for your navigation, headings and textual content.