Search Engine Rankings

There are so many books and articles written about Search Engine Optimization and they all have different views. The false information spreads faster than anyone can imagine. If someone takes the time to go to the search engines there is a webmaster section on most of them that will tell you how to design for each area they believe important. I decided to take a common sense approach to designing one site for all search engines that I hope will open some eyes as to what is right and wrong.

I think most of what I will say works since you are reading this article. I have an advertising budget that I couldn't even buy a stick of gum with. Most of my friends don't even know I have this site so the only way you can find it is on the search engines. When this was first built I had 2 pages and about 100 links on MSN and 7 links on Google. Then I got busy working on other sites and forgot about this for almost a year. While doing some research I happened to look on Google and found I was listed at #1 in an SEO category which is the hardest to rank in. What I will tell all of the designers out there is to forget about Page Rank and do not use it as a guide at all. This site was a PR2 with 6 links and the site behind me was a PR6 with 700 links. That told me there had to be a common thread and that Page Rank was not involved. In fact as you go through Google you will see many examples of this.

My first common sense rule has to do with web standards and writing clean code. Every industry has standards that should be followed and the internet is not an exception. The W3C is the governing body that sets the web standards but we are an industry that does not enforce the rules. It is up to each designer to follow these rules and there is no penalty for not doing so. Everyone is left to go their own direction. Here is where the common sense comes into play. The search engines belong to the W3C so they will have to follow the standards when positioning a web site. The less mistakes you have in your code, your chances of ranking high will increase. That is why I placed ahead of the PR6 site because I had no errors and he had over 100 just on the front page. Also any new technology that is introduced to the public will follow the rules just so as many buyers as possible will be able to use their product. Therefore validate all of your code before uploading it to the web. You will find that all of my pages I design will pass. I would not build a house without a strong foundation so why should I build a web site without the same strong foundation.

Write all of your websites to pass the rules set by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Not only is it a law but it is the right thing to do. Now you are probably scratching your head and trying to figure out what that has to do with anything. This is where the common sense comes in. 48% of all homes have internet access but 72% of the disabled use the net. There is a blind reader called "Jaws" that will read the code and convert it to voice. That is how someone that is blind can use the internet so write good clean code for them. Still haven't figured it out? The search engine spiders can not look at your website. They don't know what a picture is unless you tell them. You have to tell them the color of your text and background. The search engines have the biggest network of blind readers there is. Want to impress the search engines then impress a blind user that will be a loyal customer. Use less code and more content and every search engine spider will feed on it all day and you will find yourself at the top.

None of this is hard to do. If your code passes the W3C the chances of passing the ADA standards are good. Just don't build a site that is based on code the search engines can not read.

I hope this will just help one designer become better and they pass it on to someone else. There is nothing worse than to spend 3 days trying to get a new technology to work right in an existing web site but if it was done right the first time with valid code it could have been done in 30 minutes. That is how we build a solid foundation and make our customers happy. It is also how we make the future of the web easier to adapt to. Good luck in your designing.

Don and Anne Young

Does your site conform with web standards as set by the industry and the standards set by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)?

Common Sense Search Engine Optimization, Portland Oregon