Are you setting up a website and want to make sure it is search engine friendly. One of the major things you need to consider is the navigation on your website. If it is done wrong then you could come across a lot of problems. The aim of this article is to give you some advice and tips on the best way to set up your navigation.
There are a few things you should have on your website navigation to ensure it is set up right for the search engines. Below is our advice on the way to do it properly:
1. Use Text Links
It is important to know that search engines can only read text and so it is important that your links are text so that the search engines can follow them. A lot of web designers want to create menus in flash to have extra effects. This is great for the way it looks but will not help your SEO efforts. We would recommend using text links in your menu to ensure your whole website can be indexed.
If you do want to have an interesting menu then we would recommend adding a footer that contains your main links and then adding links in the text of your site so that search engines can navigate your website. If a search engine can't find your pages then they can't appear in the results.
2. Use Keywords
When you are setting up your menu it is important to use your keywords in the links. It is not only the links to your website that count but also the links on it. For that reason you should aim to have your keywords in the links to your pages within your site. This will help to reinforce to the search engines what these pages are about which will be invaluable to your SEO campaign.
3. Include a Sitemap
If you have a large website that has lots of deep pages it might be difficult for the search engines to find all of them. If this is the case then it is a good idea to set up a site map for your website. There should be a link from your home page to your sitemap. As your sitemap will include a link to all the other pages on your website it will be very easy for the search engines to navigate your website. The more pages you can get indexed by the search engines the better.
4. Include Links in your content
When you are writing your content it is a good idea to include links to other pages within your website. This gives a few advantages, firstly it adds colour for your users as they can easily more through your information. In addition it allows you to include your keywords in the link text which will help with your SEO efforts. The more useful links you can add to your website's content the better.
When setting up your website it is important to consider how useful the search engines will think it is. By having a quality linking system it will help to show the search engines that you are a valuable website which can only help your rankings. In addition it will also help people once on your website to find what they are looking for.
