10 Quick Tips for On-Site SEO
I have compiled a brief set of tips that can help any improve the on-site SEO of any website…
- Page titles should be as descriptive as possible about the content of the page and include main keyword target of the page
- Headers should include target keywords of the page
- Content should be carefully considered and include the keyword and derivative keywords evenly throughout the page.
- Site navigation should be clear, precise, descriptive and use the correct anchor text whenever possible
- Alt attibutes (using keywords) should be used whenever images are displayed
- Content should be appealing, informative and encourage visitor engagement
- Locations should be frequently displayed for any location based service
- Always remember, a page is a page, each page of a website should be individually optimised
- Coding should be error free and kept to a minimum
- Make the file name of the page descriptive by using the target keywords
Developers Toolbox
Every workmen has his tools, and a web developer is no different! As company which offers web development services, we use a variety of different software packages and applications to produce top quality results. This post briefly covers which ‘tools’ we use, and how/when/why we use them.
NetBeans IDE
Web Archetype uses PHP to produce applications or complex websites for our clients. In order to code a complex application/website, a developer absolutely must have an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) which can organise all of their code and various files into a project which can be managed efficiently.
The IDE we use is called NetBeans. It is a free IDE which allows users such as ourselves to manage extremely complex projects into a well-organised folder structure. NetBeans is able to identify different web related files (PHP, JavaScript, CSS, etc) and treats them as such.
CakePHP MVC
CakePHP is a Model View Controller (MVC) framework which allows us to rapidly create basic applications and websites that are either complex, or have a large number of pages which are divided into multiple categories.
MVC frameworks allow developers to separate out various ‘concerns’ when coding, which leads to extremely efficient coding and results in a robust application/website which can easily be expanded on in the future.
WAMP (Windows Apache MySQL PHP)
Creating and managing code is extremely important in web development/design, however without a platform to execute the code, we would be unable to preview our work in real time. Having to upload changes to a webserver every few minutes would be extremely inefficient and would probably result in a website taking ten times as long to create!
For this reason, we use an application known as WAMP Server. As the name suggests, WAMP combines the Apache software, MySQL database capabilities and PHP scripting capabilities all in a friendly management console which can run on windows. WAMP is absolutely vital to us as Web Archetype because although we deploy websites onto a Linux server, we do all of our development work on a Windows platform.
phpMyAdmin
phpMyAdmin is a PHP driven web application which is used to manage one or more MySQL databases on a server. Although we do not use this for live websites/application, we do find it an easy way to manage our development databases during the design and creation processes of our projects.
Navicat MySQL
Navicat MySQL is an extremely comprehensive desktop application which allows users to manage multiple databases on multiple servers using local or remote connections. Currently we use this application to manage databases on projects which have been deployed to our Linux server and are being used by clients.
FileZilla
In order to deploy websites and application to our Linux server (or any other host providers), a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) application must be used. In our experience, FileZilla is the best FTP application we have used due to the fact that it is both simple, but has the capability for more advanced and complicated tasks.
Adobe Creative Suite
As mentioned in an earlier post, Web Archetype uses Adobe Creative Suite to produce all of the graphical aspects in our projects. The suite comprises of Adobe Illustrator which is used for vector image creation, Adobe Photoshop which is used for complex graphics and detailed images, and finally Adobe InDesign which we used to produce bespoke design documents for our clients (such as flyers or information sheets).
Browsers
Producing pages and pages of coding and graphics is all very well, but without a web browser there would be no end-result for people visiting a website. Leading browsers such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari and Internet Explorer are the clever applications which turn our code into the wonderful interfaces and general layouts that you see across the world wide web.
At Web Archetype we understand how important it is for websites to be cross-browser compatible so that everybody can access and use a website no matter which browser they are using. That is why all of our projects are fully compliant and are thoroughly tested against all of the leading browsers!
Our final words
I think that just about covers the main software application we use here at Web Archetype, and hopefully demonstrates how we choose our tools carefully so that we are able to produce the best possible results for our clients.
Read More5 Top Tips for Website Usability
The idea behind most websites is to deliver information, products or services to an end user. But what happens when that end user has difficulty in finding that information, those products or services? They leave the website and turn else where for their needs. Not only does usability help people quickly and easily find what they’re looking for in a website, but great usability will also help search engines rank and categorize websites. This article identifies five key points which are essential in retaining visitors through usability friendly websites.
A needle in a haystack
The ability to search is one of the most important aspects of usability on a website. A search field allows any user to access to what they are looking for in a quick and convenient way. It is this for this reason that search engines are among the most popular websites in the world. Just imagine if Amazon or Ebay didn’t have the ability to search, however another competitor did have such capability… it wouldn’t take very long for both Amazon and Ebay to go out of business. Efficient search capability is a must have for any website boasting a product database, a list of services, or an organised collection of information.
Helping your visitors to not get lost
Having descriptive titles and keywords is an important factor in usability because they help users quickly identify content that they are looking for, and helps them stay on track. People don’t like to read online, especially for long periods of time. Most people are more likely to skim through a large body of text to find what they are looking for, and if they don’t find what they are looking for, they are likely to leave.
Descriptive titles are like road signs that lead the end user to where they are going. A simple but effective tactic is to use the same keywords within the body of a paragraph; this will remind the user that they have come to the right place to find the information they are looking for. Another tactic when using keywords is remembering to use the same keywords in the first and last sentences of a paragraph.
‘X’ marks the spot
Having a clear, categorized site map with descriptive link titles is another key for great usability. Generally a user will resort to the site map in order to browse the entire collection of links. Sometimes a visitor will not know exactly what they are looking for, and and a site map will allow them to get an understanding of what your website has to offer.
Having a site map will go a long way towards helping people find what they are looking for, and it will also help search engines categorize and rank your website. In fact, a site map is a major key in any successful SEO (search engine optimization) campaign!
Hello, is anybody there?
Giving the user an easy and accessible way of contacting a relevant person/department is a great way to improve the usability of any website. Examples of this include listing e-mail addresses and phone numbers in obvious places, or even having a forum or live chat module available on the site. Generally, listing a phone number is often the best way to help people find the information they are looking for (but don’t worry about mass incoming phone calls, as most users will only make a phone call if your website usability is poor).
In addition to using a phone number, you can expect most users will be willing to drop an e-mail or open a live chat. Some users will even be willing to post on a forum, which is a great way of generating a base of knowledge and useful information and is definitely something you should encourage your visitors to do.
Note: Although live chat features are extremely effective, there is a general feeling of distrust among web users that there might not be a real person on the other end. Try to make it clear to users that there will be a real person answering, and avoid using bots for ‘live chat’ functionality!
A picture paints a thousand words
Using a diagram, model, or photo can often do a much better job of explain something then using words. Rich media (otherwise knows as photos, videos, and sound clips) is more convenient for your users; looking at a picture, watching a movie, or listening to an audio clip is much more pleasurable than trying to read and comprehend something a wall of text.
Some studies have actually shown that a website with rich media is, on average, able to retain user attention for up to ten times longer than a website without rich media. Therefore, opting to use a variety of rich media is a full proof way of improving the usability of any website.
Our final words
Usability is the focus of evolving the internet so that users are able to find and accomplish their online goals in a quicker and more convenient manner. It is for this reason that usability is so important for both personal interests (such as keeping a healthy flow of visitors coming to your website), but also for the bigger picture of evolving the internet into something that everybody is able to gain from.
Read MoreAdobe Creative Suite: Initial Thoughts
As Web Archetype starts to venture more towards the design aspects of website creation, we have officially decided to begin using Adobe’s comprehensive collection of design software known as Adobe Creative Suite 5.
Having used Adobe Photoshop for the past few years, and Adobe InDesign for the past few months, it seemed appropriate to upgrade to the full suite of products and begin using Adobe Illustrator to produce high quality vector images. As stand alone products, Photoshop and InDesign are fantastic applications that are worth every penny to any designer – however with the addition of Illustrator, any user can dramatically improve their efficiency rate overnight.
The ability to ‘link’ Illustrators EPS files into InDesign is extremely valuable and significantly improves graphical integrity of any documents produced. Adobe has managed to create a very fluent and natural flow between their design products, and when using the Creative Suite it becomes clear why Adobe dominates the design software market.
Stay tuned for more thoughts and reviews on Adobe products and other design/development software.
Read MoreHow clear is your user experience strategy?
Earlier in the month, I read a blog post by User Experience guru Paul Seys. His post, titled ‘The devil is in the detail‘, talks about how a simple question during a web development meeting led to a client company having to make a fundamental decision about themselves.
I won’t go into too much detail, as you can find out more by reading the post yourself – however I feel that Mr Seys has landed on a very interesting point.
When designing a website for a company or individual person, I often find that some clients will have to seriously consider the underlying principals of what they are trying to achieve. To me this not only emphasises the significance of a creating a public website, but also demonstrates that a website can unify and consolidate the purpose and goals of a client.
Nowadays websites serve as so much more than just a way of marketing; they offer potential clients and customers the opportunity to understand exactly what a company stands for and get a feel for who they might be dealing with.
It is my personal opinion that creating a website offers a hidden level of value to any company. Of course there are the obvious advantages of being able to reach a large amounts of people, the ability to market various services and products, and even having a public place where a company or individual can present their agendas – however I think the most valuable advantage of creating a website, is that the thought processes involved in the creation, often helps to identify a clearly defined experience strategy for the client.
Having identified these principals during the web creation process, it is common for even large companies to realise that they have made fundamental decision about themselves that, surprisingly, they hadn’t openly discussed or defined before.
Read More