A search engine friendly website is a website which that follows all the rules that a search engine has laid out. This rules can be pertaining to the design, development, programming or even content. At times this is misleading since at the time of the development the website is not made for the search engines but instead for the users. However the website can be later optimised to allow search engines to find it faster.

Thus to get a better idea of how to go about optimising your website to make it Search Engine Friendly (SEF) there are few tips:

Adding Text to everything:

It is a good idea to place many images and videos on your website. It is also fine to use flash. It is a well-known fact that images and videos are more appealing to the visitor than plain text. However the same is not true from a search engine for which only text matters and all else is simply junk. Thus adding text in the attributes of images and other similar elements can help.

Validating the HTML code:

It is a good idea to validate your HTML code. To start with the HTML code should be have uniform starting and ending elements. For example if you title tag starts like <TITLE> then it is good practice to make sure you not only close it once done but also maintain the same case, like </TITLE>.

If there are HTML errors in the code it can adversely affect your website. Hence there are several validator tools that you can use to make sure your website is correct as listed here:

• W3C Markup Validation service (http://validator.w3.org/)

• W3Schools (http://www.w3schools.com/website/web_validate.asp)

• Free Formatter (http://www.freeformatter.com/html-validator.html)

The importance of the ‘Title’ tag:

Creating an appropriate ‘Title’ for every page of your website make it more appealing to the users. The first element that loads when you browse to a website is its title. Thus if you make sure the titles of your pages are good and relevant it will help the overall usability of the website.

The fact is that even the search engines (Google) appreciates the presence of a title tag. Setting appropriate ‘Title’ tags is in fact one of the basic tasks and requirements while optimising a website from the SEO perspective.

It is one thing to have a ‘Title’ tag and it is completely another to get it right. The common practice is to place the name of the website in the title tag. Though this is good, one should also include the name (heading) of the page along with the name of the website to make it more relevant to both the users and the search engine.

JavaScript Generated Links:

One of the biggest mistakes that many people make is to have JavaScript Generated links on their websites. This is a definite “no”. The reason for using direct links instead of JavaScript Generated ones is quite simple actually.

Search Engines like Google can simply not understand JavaScript and hence the entire purpose of it is lost. The direct and straight HTML navigation links are the best.

Duplication of content:

The search engines including Google will generally penalize the existence of duplicate content. Hence it is a good idea to create unique and original content for the entire website. The issue of duplicate content can also arise if website content has been placed from another existing website. On the other hand there is another way to solve this issue.

It is possible to maintain a file by the name “robot.txt” in the root directory of your sever. All you need to do is to set the URLS that you do not want to get indexed here; thus making duplicate content irrelevant.

These were factors that help getting your website to the top of the search engine rankings as well as improve the usability of the website. However the businesses are looking for more than that though. They are looking to improve their conversion rates as well so that more number of potential customers get converted. Thus here are a few tips on how to do that:

Placement of Call to Actions elements:

Almost all websites will have the Call to Action element on their websites. But that might not be enough. It is a good idea to have it pop out or in fancy fonts so that it can be spotted easily.

The layout that is easy to use:

Nothing can be worse than visiting a website and getting lost somewhere along the way. In this sense, the flow of pages and the placement of the necessary action buttons should be strategic. It will pay to put some time and effort into laying stress on such matters.

The fine balance between content and Graphics:

There are times when images can tell a lot more than the text, but then again there are also times when the user does expect an explanation in the form of some textual content. An image is usually always useful though it should be chosen wisely such that it also partly does the job of the textual content. As far as the content goes, it is best to keep it short and sweet. In fact, the best way to go is to provide all the factual content in a nice and easily readable format and thereafter add some examples or descriptions that may be longer.

Other attractions on the Website:

Amongst the other tools and features that can improve your conversion rate are the Newsletter for one. This has proven to be quite efficient. At the same time having landing pages with some kind of an offer like a giveaway or a discount coupon also goes a long way in serving the purpose.

Why Alakmalak?

Alakmalak has been into SEO as well as Digital Marketing for just about the same amount of time as they started their Web Development services. The SEO team here utilizes this experience and outlook to provide efficient SEO services at all times.

• Being found easily and making the most of it
• How to Create a Search Engine Friendly Website
• The Basics of SEO Friendly Design and Development