SEO Web Site Development should be incorporated in the planning stages of any new or upgrading of your web site. SEO (search engine optimization) will not detract from the visual or communication aspects, it should add to the quality. Any web site that doesn't rank well in the primary subject matter (demonstrated by what we call keywords, terms, or information that the company has determined their target audience would search for) might as well be invisible.



I get a lot of phone calls from people who have had a web site designed that is visually attractive, has some basic product or services information, and unfortunately, is invisible to the major search engines. The problem is easily solved most times and it doesn't detract from the design or look and feel of the web site.

Search engine optimization is a deep and bewildering subject to many. It's very easy to get lost in the weeds and get so technical that most people get lost. But if you just adhere to some basic fundamentals, you can get some good results. It's all about making it easy for the search engines to figure out exactly what your web site is about and displaying it in the appropriate search results.

Even if you already have a web site up and running, there are small changes you can make to facilitate the search engines discovery. The search engines send out “bots” (software that visits your web site and catalogs the information) to scan your web site and determine the content. So it stands to reason that you should do whatever you can to make it easy for these bots to find what they need to properly index and rank you according to the information presented.

A good example of bad search engine optimization is to put your street address as an image rather than text. You see it all the time, a logo that lends itself to an image, has the street address right below it on the same image file. It looks nice, and actual visitors can see it plainly. But the search engine bots can't see it. So if someone searches on location, you won't show up since the search engines have no idea of where you are located.

Location may or may not be important to your business but you see the point. Images are good, but always make sure that you have critical information in a format that the search engines can see and index you under. It could be slogans, manufacturers your represent, headlines that describe your product or services, and etc.

By all means uses images where they add to the user experience, but always have the information available somewhere that the search engine can also see. Menus are another common area where images are often used but are invisible to the search engines. Menus that show the different pages and contents should be listed in some way that are also visible to the search engine bots.

So you can put your fancy images at the top or left side of your web page, but put another menu line at the bottom of each page that is in text. And when you name and title the page, be sure to use descriptive terms that are understandable to both visitors and search engines. Instead of putting home page, use a term that describes your business for the link. If you have a page on your product or service, don't list it by the generic term products, use the product name or something that describes the product.

The best time to make these types of choices is in the development stage of any new or revised web site. These are small and simple guidelines to apply through out your design. You can still have images, illustrations, or graphics of anything. Just make sure you also have the same information that is readable by the search engines.

And you should also do a little research on what terms might be searched on by your target audience. Just like in traditional marketing, determining how your prospect might search is important to determine what information you want to be listed under. Think of it like the yellow pages, what categories would you place your ad under? It's the same principal, just a little different medium.

It's just as easy to include search engine optimization basics into any web site design as not. Any visual design can be adapted to include elements that make it easy for the search engine to index and rank you according to the keywords or terms that are applicable to your business.

The search engines are looking at content, so make it easy to find the content that you want to be found by prospective customers. It's great to have a nice looking web site and snazzy graphics. But if your intended audience can't find you, it doesn't matter how good your web site looks.

So SEO web site development should be your first step in any new or updating of a current web site. Do a little research to determine the best keywords or terms. Then make sure that your web site design incorporates these terms to attract your key prospects. It will make a big difference in the quality of your visitors and increase your web site traffic too.