Friday, February 15, 2008
Search Engines
I received a call the other day from a graphics designer. She wanted to know, in a nut shell, how come my websites come up higher on search engine results than hers. I said, “well that’s complicated.”
In a nut shell?
There is no way I could explain how to optimize a website in a few minutes. The fact is, I learned through trial and error over the past 13 years. Basically however, it comes down to hard work, attention to detail and integrity.
People have tried many different ways to “trick” the search engines into ranking their sites higher. People have used everything from hidden text to repeated words in the source. The search engines all work a little differently and they are vastly different than in 1995 when I started, but they also work in many of the same old ways.
I have found that if I create my client sites to effectively communicate the message they are trying to convey, that my sites do better on search engines. Basic rules apply such as appropriate page titles, headers and text, as well as the name of the folders and pages themselves.
If you look at the source code of my client websites, you’ll see many “meta tags.” These are used to help other computers digest the web pages and the entire site. I also use special ones for my own site maintenance and internal features. Everything from page level descriptions to GPS coordinates can be found in my meta tags. Does it help? Probably not so much, but it doesn’t hurt either.
The secret?
Create websites to comply with section 508 of US Code (www.section508.gov). I was “forced” to learn how to develop websites for people with disabilities when I was creating and managing military websites in the 90’s. Basically, I create web pages to be read by screen reading software for people who cannot see well. I have found that if screen readers can read the pages, so can the search engines.
There are many more tips and tricks I use, but they all are applicable to fast loading pages, content that is in context, and with an eye toward valid HTML and 508 compliance.
And now you know how this old dog reaches a little higher on the search engines than most.
Labels: 508, search engines, web development
