Key SEO Factors in Web Design :
Key words and key phrases are simply words that accurately describe your business in
very specific terms. The secret of keyword success is avoiding general terms that
describe just about any business. For example, in my business stating "Expect
professional services when contacting us" could just as well be talking about home
construction, banking services, or brain surgery.
By inserting "web design" and stating "Expect professional web design services when
contacting us" the text content is very specific for people and search engines to
understand exactly what I offer.
Keywords are used in two ways: 1) in the META which is hidden in the HTML and
accessed by search engines to understand the theme of each web page, and 2) in the
actual text content of headings and paragraphs that display on your page for visitors to
view. Here is the list of key SEO factors in web design that you can control, and brief
examples or explanations using my main site home page for reference. You MUST use
your keywords in each of these to maximize the SEO value.
META Title Tag (70 characters, or less)
Small Business Web Design Services (summarizes the essence of what I do)
This is the MOST important SEO factor on every page. It needs to be different for each,
and relative to that individual page with top key words near the beginning. This is not
the place for your company name unless you are extremely well known.
META Description Tag (155 characters, or less)
Custom web design services of small business websites including CMS is my primary
business plus matching graphics. (A complete sentence with key words near the
beginning) This description is often used by Google as the introduction as listed in their
search results.
META Keywords Tag (200 characters, or less)
web design, small business, website, blog, cms, website design, blogger, custom web
design, graphic art, small business website, search engine optimization, seo
The preceding META code may be viewed while visiting any website page and a
screenshot from my home page is inserted in the ARTICLES version of this podcast.
Right click on a blank area of any web page and then select "View Source" to see the
actual code used to create that page. The META will be near the top if used by that
designer.
Screenshot of META from my home page (smaller than actual size with the Title highlighted):
Heading and Subheading (Headline) H Tags :
Example H1: Small Business Web Design Services Introduction (only ONE H1 headline
per page)
Example H2: Quick Links to the Most Popular Design Services (use H2 or smaller H3
tags, also)
The H tags are like newspaper headlines with the H1 being of higher importance, then
H2, and then H3 tags which should be used as subheadings relative to the preceding
H2 tag. Search engines assign a higher portion of ranking and importance to H tag
"Headlines" compared to text content in paragraphs.
Alt Attribute for Graphics :
<img src="http://www.jimdegerstrom.com/images/sbrc-header.jpg" alt="web design
services header" /> (The alt= text is "web design services header" and this is the banner
logo, or header, at the top of each of my pages)
The ALT text describes graphics which search engines cannot view, yet the text IS
indexed by search engines and provides added keywords to help define each graphic
and the theme of your page.
Hyperlinks in Text Body :
Near the bottom of my home page is a link, or hyperlink, to "web design and graphic art
advice".
This link is to my blog, and while the word blog is not included in the hyperlink, it does
appear nearby. The text in “on-page” links should include keywords. The description
"web design and graphic art advice" adds value because key words describe what my
blog features, and not just the fact that it is a blog.