Search Engine Optimisation
Have you been approached by SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) companies offering to work some sort of miracle that will get your site on the first page of Google for all sorts of keywords? Well, maybe they can – but it will cost you. And again,. maybe they can;t. There is more b/s spoken about SEO than almost anything else on the web.
When we build a website we optimise it as we build it – which is the easy way to do it. SEO is not something you can just ’bolt on’ afterwards. Here’s a few hints and tips for you:
Page title tag
- ideally a maximum of 63 characters (including spaces) with all major keywords /phrases included if possible. Don’t repeat any single word more than twice.
META content tag
- one or two sentences containing the main key phrases. (Don’t worry about any other META tags, they are not important)
Keyword rich text
- make sure your major keywords/phrases come up regularly in the text on your home page but don’t overstuff the text with keywords. Apart from anything else it needs to read OK for humans too.
Use H1 and H2 header tags
with key words for section headings but don’t over-use
Use appropriate ALT tags
for images (but don’t stuff with keywords)
Check your menu system
- make sure that whichever navigation system you use can be easily followed by search engine spiders. If you are using a Javascript based system you must have text links as well, or at least a site map with a link to it on the home page.
Easy navigation
- never more than 2 clicks from any page to any other page (1 is better).
Avoid ‘black hat’ techniques
DO NOT on any account employ any ‘dubious’ techniques (‘black hat’ SEO) – Google is likely to penalise you heavily for this. This includes but is not limited to :
~ Text that is the same colour as the background
~ Duplicate pages or obvious ‘doorway’ pages that are written purely for search engines
~ ‘Stuffing’ pages with keywords and phrases or using phrases that are not in context. Keywords/phrases should be between 5% and 20% (max) of content
~ Don’t use images or Flash instead of text. Google cannot read Flash
~ Don’t link to ‘link farms or FFA (free for all) sites
Links
1. Once you have done all the above you have done about as much ‘on-site’ optimization as you can and it is time to look at links.
2. MAKE SURE you submit to the Open Directory http://www.dmoz.org as soon as the site is complete, and follow their listing guidelines
3. Now get going on your incoming links campaign. Find as many relevant sites as you can and ask them if they will consider linking to your site.
4. The best links are links that:
~ Are from popular sites with a high Google page rank (check the PR of the page your link will be on) ~ Are from sites that are themed with your site in some way – i.e.the link is relevant ~ Include keywords in the link text.
Reciprocal Links
A lot of sites will only offer you a link if you give them one back. It is usually worth creating a links page just for this. Only put links up which are:
a) relevant to your visitors
b) (obviously) not in direct competition with you
Ideally you will swap links only with sites that have an equivalent or higher PR than your own site/links page. (Get the Google toolbar if you don’t have it – it shows Page Rank)
OK, that’s about it for search engines. Just a couple to finish off:
Google is critical, most others a waste of time. Make sure you list in DMOZ (the Open Directory) and Google WILL find your site, but get as many other links – reciprocal if necessary – as you can. DMOZ is also the basis for unpaid results for several other search engines.
DO NOT use any automatic submission software or site as it will submit your site to a load of FFA pages and Google may penalise you.
Finally, for more on Google factors look here
Domain Registration Pitfalls
Quite often when we get a new client they will tell us proudly: “We have already registered a domain”.
I know they feel good about this but my heart sinks. Which registrar is it with? Which ISP? Do they have a control panel? If so, do they have the password? Can you change the IPS tag from the CP? Can you repoint the DNS? Change the nameservers?
A quick guide to the technobabble:
IPS tag: A short sequence of letters and numbers that identifies the registrar with control over the domain name
DNS: The system that determines which physical computer or web host a domain name points to. If you change the physical location of your web site files you have to re-point the DNS so the domain name sends the browser to the new location
Name server: A computer on the internet that translates your domain name to a numerical value (IP address) that points to your website.
Registrar: The organisation that registers your domain name for you. When we host your website for you we set up the website on one of our (Webfusion) servers. We need to transfer the domain name to our registrar (123-reg) which involves getting the existing registrar or ISP to change the IPS tag. Sometimes this can be done through a control panel the client has access to, but you may have to ask the registrar – often by fax – to do this for you. The ‘work’ involved on the part of the ISP is a few mouse clicks and the entry of a few characters into a box, so why does this so often prove difficult?
Well, some clients have had domains registered for years. They may just be paying a ‘parking’ fee, but others will have been sold a full hosting package which they did not need at the time and which they are not using. Such accounts are good cash cows for ISPs and when they are asked to change the IPS tag so we can gain control over the domain they will make it as difficult as possible as they have nothing to gain and a bit of regular income to lose.They also want to sell you a hosting package hemselves (if you do not already have one). The answer is to be firm and be persistent. In the case of a .co.uk or .org.uk domain name you can as a last resort get Nominet (the authority in ultimate charge of UK domain names) to change the IPS tag for you, but there is a charge for this of £80.
Because too many ISPs are difficult about changing the IPS tag we much prefer to register your domain name ourselves. We charge £10 to register a .co.uk domain and put up a holding page. (Once you have a web hosting contract with us we incorporate the regular renewal charges for your domain in the annual hosting fee).
The moral of this article is: if you are thinking of a website for your business and you do not yet have a domain name, then get your chosen web design company to register the domain for you; it will be much simpler and usually cheaper than doing it yourself. (If you have a domain hosted with us and want to move to a different web hosting provider we will change the IPS tag within 48 hours via a simple email request with a follow-up phone call. We do not usually charge for this)
Web Hosting – an Introduction
What is it?
For your website to be available 24/7 worldwide it must be stored on a computer or network that is intrinsically reliable and has a robust connection to the internet with guaranteed bandwidth. It is not hosted on machines at our Oban premises as we only have a standard broadband connection to the web.
We create our clients’ websites here then upload them to state of the art servers in a brand new data centre with cooling systems, high-level security and fire detection/suppression systems and power back-up capabilities to ensure that in the event of a power cut, customer data remains online and available. There are knowledgeable support staff on duty here 24 hours a day, with engineers either in the building or on call. Building security systems, automatic data backup systems and multiple gigabit connections to the main internet backbone complete the picture.
Why is there such a range of products advertised?
Obviously this all costs money, and this is what you are paying for when you pay hosting charges. In addition, our charges cover maintenance of the registration of your domain name plus our personal support. You may wonder why some hosting is advertised at £2/month or less while a dedicated server can cost you up to £200 per month. You may ask, what is a dedicated server? Do I need one? Is the hosting Webcraft offers good value?
Well, a dedicated server means yours is the only website on that server. That means you are not only paying for your own physical machine, you are also paying for all the ancillary facilities in the data centre plus support for that machine. You only need a dedicated server if your site has a large amount of traffic.
Most of our clients’ sites are hosted on servers that host many other websites on the same physical machine. That allows us to keep costs down and offer a huge range of features without compromising the performance of your site. Because your site does not have a whole physical machine to itself we are able to offer comprehensive hosting and support packages for between £10 and £15 per month.
Is ultra-cheap hosting worth it?
We think our hosting is exceptional value for money. Occasionally though a potential client says they have been offered hosting for a much lower figure, so how is this possible? Well, the data centre may well not even be in this country, it may be in the US, with all the hassle that the time difference can cause and expensive support issues if you need to phone them (assuming this is even possible – support is often through a ticket system only). In addition there will usually be many more sites on each physical machine, resulting in reduced performance. There may be no database facilities, or limitations on data storage and there are often restrictive monthly bandwidth limits. As with most services, you get what you pay for.
Occasionally and reluctantly we build and maintain sites that are hosted elsewhere. We cannot offer any performance guarantees in this case, nor can we guarantee that your web server has the necessary facilities to run all the features you may want on your site now or in the future. Overall, our advice is to always let the company responsible for building and maintaining your site host it for you as it will make it much easier for them to support and maintain it.
Finally, we have our own WordPress blog!
We have been using WordPress for our clients for about eighteen months now, but our own blog – which so far has been rarely updated – was a poor thing hosted by and created in Blogger, a proprietory alternative to WordPress. Finally, as one of our New Year resolutions, Webcraft has its own WordPress blog.
We are very excited about WordPress at the moment. After years of dodgy content manageent systems with security loopholes and tortuous upgrade paths WordPress is something we are happy to recommend, host and set up for clients.
In fact, we are so confident that we are offering a complete package – hosting, set-up and training – for just £299. Why not get in touch today?