So you have a beautiful website that you paid a pretty penny
for and you are completely happy with it... except no one can
find it. Many web designers do not understand search engine
positioning, so when they design your website little or no
thought is given to the elements of design that may affect your
rankings on search engines. On the other hand some search engine
positioning companies offer services that will boost your
rankings but at the expense of your design. A good search engine
positioning company can get your website ranking for key phrases
without affecting the overall design and navigation of your site.
You can make small changes to your website on your own as well
utilizing the tips noted in this article. There is a happy
medium, you can "have your cake and eat it too."
The first step in designing a website that will rank well on
search engines is to build the proper table structure. This
framework for your website will easily guide the search engine
spiders through your site taking the route you want them to. A
good table structure is essentially a map to the spiders, it
guides the way as they travel through your website.
This table structure is very beneficial to your website ranking
as it guides the spiders to the text rich, most important content
of your site as quickly as possible. The spiders will enter your
site at the first table, the header, and then travel through to
the empty cell in row 1 of the second table, the next stop is
your content area, the "meat" of your website. After going
through your content the spiders will then continue onto row 2
where you have inserted a table holding your navigation, if your
navigation is image based, as most is, it holds very little
content that matters from the spider’s perspective. The spiders
will then follow through to row 3 where you have your footer, a
place to add in valuable text links rich in targeted keywords.
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If this table structure does not fit your design at all there can
be work arounds. A good example of this is shown on
http://www.far-sited.ca. Notice that the index page upon load
has a very simple look, no text, clean, crisp image. This is a
good way to present your business with a simple entry page. If
you scroll down the page you will see that there is in fact a
lot of text below this main image. With a simple 100% x 100%
table you can achieve this affect on your website. This table
will open the same way in all resolutions giving your index page
the look of a text free page when in fact it is not.
100% x 100% table used as mentioned above:
If you choose to use the 100% x 100% table noted above you
should still try to stick to the general table structure shown
first for your internal pages. There can always be room for
adjustments based on the size of your site however most websites
use left hand navigation and this table structure is based on
left hand navigation. If your navigation is across the top of
your page, maybe reconsider it. It can remain at the top. I have
designed a few websites that are ranking well with this top
navigation, but for the best result, the left hand navigation
using the table structure first mentioned in this article is
best.
All in all I cannot stress enough that a well designed site will
rank higher. Even if you do not have a complete SEO overhaul of
your site, this table structure will increase your rankings over
those that do not have a clean, properly structured website.
Though the table structure is not noticed so much by the visitors
to your website aside from the look of it, it is very noticed by
the spiders and they will go through your website based on it.
For an added edge, have your site designed with this table
structure, or do it yourself. Make a point of not only giving
the visitors to your website the information you want them to
have but also the spiders and as quickly and easily as possible.
About The Author
Mary Davies is the owner of Beanstalk Search Engine Positioning
(http://www.beanstalk-inc.com). Mary works and writes with years
of experience in website design and search engine optimization.
