These tips are intended solely for programming developers and not copywriters, site architects or graphic designers. We will be releasing SEO tips to help guide those individuals in future posts. If you are looking for some good e-commerce tips you can read Ian Lurie’s post 24 E-commerce development tips.

Here we go…

1. Make sure every page within a website possesses the functionality for customized page titles and meta descriptions or at the very least (for larger sites) the ability to assign unique business rules to these fields.
2. Each page should contain at least a single H1 header and if plausible, corresponding H2, H3, etc… headers as well. There should only be a single H1 per page which acts as the “title” for that page. The corresponding H2, H3, H4, H5 and H6 tags should be used to identify related sub-pages. Linking to the sub-pages via the headers is recommended.
3. Images on the website should possess a customizable alt tag field especially if that image is being linked to another page. As any developer knows, the alt tag field is used to describe what an image is depicting but it also acts as the anchor text (of sorts) for hyperlinked images so consult with whoever is responsible for optimizing the site to ensure the alt tags are search term enriched.
4. Choose a primary domain and apply 301 redirects (a permanent redirect) to all other domains and point them to the primary domain. 302 redirects (a temporary redirect) will not pass along any search engine value nor will any other type of redirect.
5. For redesigns or overhauls apply 301 redirects for every moved sub page to tell search engines that “this page has permanently moved here”. When redirecting sub pages make sure to point them to their replacement page and not the homepage. The only time you want to point a sub page to the homepage is when it no longer exists.
6. Each page should be named after the targeted search term assigned to represent it (or at least a portion of the term) and should be displayed that way within the URL.
7. URL’s should be structured in a way where there are multiple tiers. Websites with depth are seen by search engines as more relevant (if they are properly optimized) because it shows them that there is a wealth of supporting content on a particular subject matter.
8. The website should possess an auto-populated site map that is less than 150 links and is linked to from every page on the site. If there is a need to represent more than 150 links simply create a second site map page or as many pages needed to encompass the entire site. A quick note, larger sites with a lot of authority (link juice) and history can get away with simply linking to the high level landing pages.
9. Reference CSS and JavaScript code through an include file. This will lower the page size, move the relevant body copy further up the page and lessen the chances of search engine spiders receiving an error.
10. Create a customized 404-Error page that closely resembles the site map.
11. Every page should posses a single dedicated URL no matter how many different ways there are to navigate to the page or how many places the page appears.
12. Ensure that there are not any broken links within the site.
13. Assign the nofollow attribute to links that point to “irrelevant” pages like the privacy policy, terms of use, etc… You may want to consult with whoever is responsible for optimizing the site.
14. Create a robots.txt file and block search engine spiders from indexing pages not meant to be visible in search results such as the shopping cart. THIS ALSO INCLUDES STAGING SITES.
15. Do not use iFrames to display any information meant to be spidered and indexed by search engines.
16. For all of you dot net nukers, reduce your Viewstate code.
17. Place analytical script just above the closing body tag.
18. Direct users to a “thank you” page after they perform a conversion on the site.
19. Hook up separate RSS feeds for press releases, blog posts, articles, etc… Basically any content that can and should be syndicated.
20. Create xml feeds for sites that sell products, real estate or anything that can be uploaded to Google’s Merchant Center and related portals.

Obviously there’s more so what’s missing? Share additional SEO development tips below.

Presented at SEMpdx’s November 2009 SEO Fundamentals event, this presentation covers SEO tips for “universal search”. In other words, how to do SEO for “alternate” (non-text) content, which can improve your placement in search engines and/or help you gain more visibility with your content across the Web. Focuses primarily on image & video but touches on flash, audio (podcasts) and more.

(note – the presentation isn’t visible in the feed if you’re reading via email/rss/facebook – you have to click through to see it)

A summary of the “Optimizing Alternate Content” tips in the presentation:

• Filenames should match the content

• Optimize the HTML to provide contextual clues

• Make sure it’s crawlable

• Use proper formatting

• Leverage ‘attributes’

• Leverage syndication/distribution channels to get your content “out there” and found

Share your tips below or contact Amplify Interactive regarding our search engine optimization (SEO) services

Some news out of this week’s Pubcon Conference in Las Vegas.

It seems as if fast load times for your website might have a positive effect in influencing your search rankings. That all being said, having slow page load times seemingly will not negatively impact your rankings. Source.

This is reported to have come from Matt Cutts, head of the Webspam team for Google.

It’s a no brainer that, in terms of usability, a fast load time for your web pages definitely helps a user’s overall experience when browsing your site. We’ve all been to “that site” where pages take forever to load. I don’t know about you, but if I encounter a website with slow load times, I usually leave and look for similar information elsewhere.

It will be interesting to see if this ranking factor remains to be, more or less, a small influence or if it will become a bigger part of the search engine ranking puzzle.

The surprise answer – run display ads.

Just read an interesting article over at eMarketer “Display Campaigns Boost Search Effectiveness” about a study that  shows that display ad campaigns increase visits from search engine users by nearly 14% from both organic (SEO) and PPC search combined. Another benefit? Cost per click for PPC decreased as well – demonstrating greater efficiency of the PPC campaign as a result of display. Read the rest of this entry »

Finally – maybe Google will get a run for it’s money. I love Google as much as the next guy, but it’s been tough to watch the rest of the “competition” get left so far behind in the dust.

As you can read in this article on Search Engine Watch “It’s Official: Microsoft and Yahoo! Finally Strike a Search Deal” – the deal basically says that:

1. Bing will power Yahoo’s organic search results

I think this is a great move. Bing has made some pretty terrific strides in creating a better search engine. Spending another 100 mil on advertising it is making a dent as well. Bing isn’t perfect, but Yahoo organic results haven’t been all that great either.

2. Yahoo will handle the paid search

Again – this is a great move. If you manage paid search campaigns – you know there’s two specific problems with Microsoft/Bing.

1. AdCenter sucks to use. It just does. That’s not to say that Yahoo’s platform is great, but it is better than AdCenter and now they can focus on making it more usable.

2. Low search volume: WIth the exception of some verticals, the search volume is rarely there for clients to justify the time, energy & budget required to build & manage an additional campaign with Bing

So ideally, as a part of this deal we’ll just be able to opt-in or out of displaying ads on Bing with a simple check box. Just like you check a box to add the Google search partner network today.

This move will still be tricky and they’re both a long way from pulling it off. But hopefully by allowing each to focus on what they do best – maybe they’ll be able to actually compete and we’ll also have to start thinking about results from more than one search engine!