Search Engine Optimisation - Top 10 Tips

Title tags ( the writing in the blue bar at the top of the browser) are quite important because they are what the Internet user sees before they click on your link, so the description on the title bar should be a description of what the content is about. If it is not the same then at the very least you end up annoying surfers and making it harder for them to find what they are looking for.

A great example of this is the overuse of the word "review". It seams every off the shelf shopping cart has a review section, which of course is hardly ever used, so to find a review of a product, you have to sift through large amounts of poor quality web sites that look like a half eaten dogs breakfast, that do not have any reviews of the product your looking for meaning you often giving up in the process. This helps no-one and renders the word "review" practically useless as a search term on the internet.

The internet is nothing other than a big group of connections, the more QUALITY connections you have coming into your site the more popular it is seen to be, and the more likely search engines are going to take notice. However there is a right way and a wrong way to go about this. Many people get caught up in the excitement of having their very own website (they should, it is exciting) but human nature being what it is we like to see results yesterday.

Generally the first thing to pop into a new webmasters head is "I need links, I need lots of em, and I need em now" The credit card is whipped out of the wallet so fast it nearly causes whiplash, and they go on an un-researched spending spree on links.

Now bear in mind that while this frenzy of link purchasing is going on, no actual real content is on your web site (no I'm sorry buttons do not count ) So now the new webmaster has some inbound links, and he even managed to get one or two good ones, so the traffic picks up, and he starts seeing some impressive numbers flowing through his website, but he is concerned because he is not getting any sales or even any phone calls.

What the new webmaster has done is very much like building an 8 lane highway from Adelaide to the Simpson Desert, then packing it with tour buses and tourists. The first thing the tourist is going to do when he gets off the bus is go "what now, there's nothing to do or see here" What do you think the tourist will do?, he's going to hop back on the bus so fast it will make your head turn.

Do yourself a favour work on your content, write about your product, create a FAQ of common questions customers ask about your product, anything useful, as long as it is your own.
As with everything in life that is worthwhile, it takes commitment, hard work and patience, if it didn't then everyone would be doing it and page 1 on Google would be mighty long.

While it is certainly possible to have a "flash only" site rank well in Google, bear in mind it is also possible to put a man on the moon, the link in common they both share is they both rarely happen.

From personal experience I have found Web Designers tend to use Flash to excess. As soon as I see the dreaded "skip Intro page" I'm out of there. Several times I have nearly been launched vertically when an unexpected music beat starts playing when visiting flash sites. Couple these annoyances with the fact many people do not have the correct flash player installed on their browser and you are starting to limit your potential Audience. While this is more to do with web design than SEO, its probably one of those areas that cross over.

Be wary of funky young web designers who look like they spend their weekends at IKEA, they will be eager to create you a cutting edge work of art. My advice is if you want a work of art, visit the Adelaide gallery. If you want a web site that will increase your profits, stick to a formulae. People now expect certain things to be in certain places on web sites, your job is not to disappoint them. The best way to come up with a design is to have a good look at what not to do. There is a wealth of information on some of the most poorly designed websites on the net.

While both of these can achieve very good results in search engines it is far easier to get a static HTML site to rank well. Put simply there are less hurdles in the way of getting the site optimised for a HTML site than there are for Dynamic sites, this is mainly the case if you are doing your own site and lack specialist knowledge.

Our advice if doing a site yourself would be to stick to basic HTML sites unless you need a dynamic site. I'm guessing your next question is; why would I need a dynamic site, what am I missing out on? The primary reason to use a dynamic site would be if your primary application was database driven, for example an online shop would need to be a dynamic site, or perhaps you use a Content management system like Joomla or Mambo.

The main problem with dynamic sites and to simplify things as much as possible, is that the page you want does not exist until you request it, this may be hard to get your head around but that is essentially what happens. In summary if all you want to do is get information out to potential customers (like the site you are on now) then stick with HTML.