Effective search engine optimization techniques are more than just a set of arbitrary rules that search engine operators made up to make your life more difficult. In almost all cases, if you improve the search engine optimization of your site, then your site will also become more organized, less prone to easy-to-fix errors, and a better site overall as far as user experience. Functionality and SEO go hand-in-hand for a simple reason: search engines want to provide their users with the best Internet possible.
Search-engines give priority to well-designed sites because they know that content and keywords are only half of the story. A site must also function well for a user to find it useful. Today, let’s talk about some of the simple things that you can do to improve your search engine optimization and the functionality of your site at the same time.
Use a strict file structure to organize your website
Are you one of those people who organize the files on their computer into different folders and subfolders so that it is always easy to find the documents you need? Or you a person who just saves everything to ‘My Documents’ and then wastes time digging through hundreds or thousands of files to find what you need?
Well, it should come as no surprise that search engines prefer that you be organized. They won’t directly reward you with higher rankings if all of your blog posts are kept in a folder called “blog” that has subfolders for different years and months, but the bots will know where to look and get used to coming back day after day to check for updates to your page. Similarly, you won’t get actual bonus points if all of the products in your online store are kept in a category-based file structure so that all of the “things” are in the thing folder and all of the “other things” are in the other thing folder. But search engines will know exactly where so send users based on this structure, and they will index your site more easily and accurately.
Use simple navigation links to help both humans and bot search your site
Fancy menu systems made using Flash or JavaScript might make your site look distinctive. If done properly, they can also make your site look professional and lend credibility to your business. But keep in mind that search bots are not people. They are looking at the code of your site, not how it actually looks when it is in a browser. So unless you are an expert web developer, there’s a chance that those fancy menus will prevent search bots from ever being able to navigate and index your site.
Simple HTML navigation ensures that search bots will be able to navigate your site. It also ensures that every person who visits your site will enjoy the same experience. Different browsers on different devices all process things like flash differently. Most smart phones can’t process Flash at all. You don’t want to invest time and money in something that looks fancy if it isn’t functional.
Can you do it on your own?
Talking about building a simple, SEO friendly, functional website and building a simple, SEO friendly, functional website are two entirely different things. There are a thousand little details that you will need to check and double check to ensure that your site is following all of the best practices for a functional website that also have good SEO. If this task seems too daunting to tackle on your own, then you might want to think about consulting with a qualified search engine optimization professional.
